KNAC.com Interview

Vinnie has denied that this interview is legitimate.

http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20010614003/tscript.htm

Above you can also see an online chat with Vinnie from the other day.

This interview disappeared off of the knac.com website, but here it is.

Fucking Hostile: A Pantera Exclusive 
Robyn Doreian, Correspondent 
Monday, June 04, 2001 07:56 PM


Pantera Frontman Phil Anselmo Vents His Spleen About Life Before
Metal, His Private World Off The Stage And The Fiery Relationship With
His Bandmates 

It was during "Cemetery Gates" that the wheels really came off.
Crouched on the floor of the stage at Melbourne's Festival Hall, Phil
Anselmo croaked the words to this bruising Pantera classic with the
force of a cane toad with piles. 

The problem was that Phil was drunk. Not just a few sheets to the
wind, but totally and utterly shit-faced, and things just continued
to go from bad to worse. 

Halfway through the gig, the vocalist was insistent on performing a
guitar solo and commandeered Dimebag's instrument for the purpose.
This brought the proceedings to a grinding halt, while Phil got down
to some serious guitar noodling. 

The band downed tools and gathered in front of Vinnie's drumkit, with
Darrell staggering around the stage, taking the piss out of their
highly pissed vocalist. Phil later conceded that it was the worst he
had played on guitar in 10 years. 

With in-between song banter including "shut up you pussy nigger
faggots" and "the only time I am sensitive is when I take a shit,"
this was clearly not a great night for rock and roll. 

Backstage after the shambolic gig, heated arguments ensued, with
powerhouse drummer Vinnie Paul overheard saying, "Our singer has the
body of a man, but the mind of a 15-year-old." 

The tension between band members was palpable. 

In response to Paul's cutting remark, Anselmo wasted no time in
replying: "He has the mind of a fucking 12-year old and the fucking
body of a hippopotamus, so fuck him!"

"They don't like me with a microphone in my hand doing that," he
continues. "They like everything tight, technical and mechanical. If
it wasn't for me, this band wouldn't have a lick of emotion. I am the
motherfucker up there with the mic and I write all the fucking words."

"I am not taking anything away from them, but I ain't gonna take shit
off a bunch of motherfuckers that I feel I have taught the school of
metal to. I am not here to badmouth dudes in my band who will
definitely read this shit, but if they have a problem with me, bring
it on motherfucker!" 

How would you describe your relationship with the other band members
at this point in time? 

"Everyone is kinda going through their own little thing," he states in
a more rational tone of voice. "We are not 21-years-old anymore and
life gets more complicated as you get older and take on more
responsibilities. On a personal level, everyone is wrapped up in their
own lives, which is the way it should be, but on a musical level we
are and have always been very keyed into what Pantera is and what it
should sound like." 

"As irreplaceable as I am in this band, so is everyone else. They know
damn well that if they want another Pantera record, it is Anselmo that
they are going to call up and say, let's get back to work
motherfucker, and I will be there ready to roll. That is understood." 

So why exactly were you so completely shit-faced onstage? 

"Some nights it hits you harder than other nights and Jesus Christ it
hit me hard that night!" explains the now apologetic singer. "I was
having a good time drinking." 

"For a long time I used to have to take medication for my back and
could not drink at all, but I have definitely been drunk onstage in
the past five years and maybe I just overdid it, as I was a little
excited." 

"It was the drunkest I have been in two years and later on shit
happened that I don't even remember as I blacked out. They dragged me
to some bar and I don't even recall being there. I shouldn't be out in
public like that. Send me to bed dickhead - hide me!" 

"The whole band was fucking furious and I realized what I had to do,
so I cleaned my shit up and the next night we went out and destroyed.
Everyone was all smiles and back patting and all this bullshit I can't
stand. I know when I do a great show or not and to this day I am my
own worst critic. I apologize to the fans for that show but they will
see us again, and maybe they have had a couple of bad days at the
office. You know what I am saying?" 

But surely calling people nigger faggots compounds some people's view
of you as a racist homophobe? 

"That was just drunken bullshit man," he says in a laid-back manner,
"and it meant nothing at all. I take one person at a goddamn time and
either you are beautiful or you ain't and it all comes from the
fucking inside." 

"I am wise enough now to know that what we are all wearing on the
outside of us is a big shell and when you die you will look like a
fucking roach. Whatever life energy was inside you and whatever you
did with that, was completely up to you. This is just a dressing for
the soul and I am not going to downplay someone's skin color for
my own trippy bullshit. I don't give a fuck what color you are. My
hero is boxer Felix Trinidad from Puerto Rico for fuck's sake!" 

"I don't give a fuck what people think as those people will never,
ever look me in the eye because they should take a good hard look at
themselves in the mirror first. Don't worry about Philip Anselmo so
much. Worry about your own goddamn self and let the world spin on." 

There is not much that Philip Anselmo truly does give a shit about.
Basically it boils down to music, boxing and a damn good shagging when
he feels like it. He maintains this feeling of nonchalance has been
with him as long as he can remember. 

* * * 

Born in Texas of hippy parents, his father left his mother when she
was 19-years-old and pregnant with the young Philip still warm in the
womb. 

When he left home at 15-years-old, his parents were equally as
enthusiastic about his departure as he was. On one occasion he even
managed to burn their house down. 

"It was not out of spite," he says laughing, "it was just a fuck up,
but it was kinda funny. I was about 13-years-old and burnt a nice big
chunk of it, and did enough damage so they had to move out of the
motherfucker for three months whilst they rebuilt it." 

Not surprisingly, to this day his relationship with his parents
remains difficult. 

"It didn't get bad with them until recently," he explains, "and that
is just personal shit I have to deal with. You know the feeling when
someone looks you in the eye and they really do not know what they are
looking at, or understand what they are seeing in front of them? Well
that is a strange sensation when it is your parents who are doing
that." 

"I know a lot of kids out there go through the same goddamn thing and
you might not think much about it, but later in life, somehow there is
a resentment that grows in you. You see and are surrounded by people
that are reminiscent of your fucking parents." 

"The only side of my family that I have to give credit to is my
father's side as they don't ask anything of me ever," he continues. "I
have a lot of little brothers and sisters and I don't know how long my
old man is going to be around, as he drinks quite a bit. But he just
won't quit making babies! He is 55-years-old and has a one-year old
child, and that is my baby brother running around. It's like, dad,
come on!" 

His teen years consisted of sleeping in cars, living off cans of soup
usually stolen from supermarkets, and relying on the charity of
friends. 

"I have seen a whole lot of crazy shit and lived with a lot of weird
motherfuckers," he says reflecting on his formative years. "I used to
bring women to these people as that was a big deal back then. Women
have always loved me so I was always welcome at these places as I had
like 20 chicks with me. I didn't have a dime in my pocket, but that
didn't seem to matter." 

It was during his days of dossing on stranger's floors that he
developed a taste for drugs. 

"I got introduced to them through living with every sleaze ball
possible that would let me crash out on their sofa for the night," he
explains matter or factly. "I was like 16-years-old and they offered
me all kinds of stuff to try. These days, drugs come with the
territory. I am not a tennis player but a fucking rock singer, so
motherfuckers will approach." 

Are you clean from hard drugs? 

"From hard dope yes," he states, "from heroin? Totally!" 

How do you reflect on your OD? 

"It was just some shit that happened," he says. "No big deal. At that
time I just thought I was invincible." 

Can you remember what it was like when you died? 

"It was very peaceful, very warm and quiet with no more thoughts in my
head," he says calmly. "I guess it was kind of like being in the womb
in a strange way. It took me two years to remember that because after
the OD I lost a lot of memory and it took me a long time for me to
uncover that. It was very blissful I will tell you that. It is nothing
to fear." 

You talk about it in terms like it was almost a relief.

"Maybe I am," he says quietly. 

* * * 

At the conclusion of Pantera's set in Melbourne, Phil announces from
the stage that "he has a giant dick, is a metal singer, and hates the
world." All of the above are indeed true, but away from the metal
circus, the singer is not quite the cocky bastard he would have you
believe. 

"When I am away from Pantera, I lead a very isolated lifestyle," he
says. "I don't do anything and I don't go anywhere. I just sit in the
fucking woods and hang out with people who are close to me, but even
then, not much. I am alone quite a bit." 

There was however a time when he lived with six women. 

"Oh Jesus," he says, "I have had harems! I will explain it like this.
Think of being the average man and how hard it is to have one fucking
girlfriend, and then imagine what it would be like to have six of the
motherfuckers around. They are all trying to vie for your attention
and time and shit like that."

"I just had to clean my house man. I am not going to say that having
six women at once was not a beautiful thing, but there is a time for
all that shit and there is a time for re-grouping, and I am
re-grouping. Right now I am doing a lot of thinking." 

Confessing to prefer his own company, he also admits to being a more
complicated character than the simpleton he often presents himself as.

"For some people life is very easy," he says, "and I don't want to
call them simple minded or anything like that, but I am a complex son
of a bitch and I envy the simpler mind a lot. When I suffer with my
mind, it makes different things blossom inside the old skull cap." 

What sends you into this state of mind? 

"I have felt the same way ever since I can remember having a memory,"
states the frontman. "I like bad things. I was raised with a sketchy
family. It is not my fault." 

You don't seem terribly happy. 

"I have a lot on my mind right now and it is just for Philip Anselmo
to deal with," he says. "That is exactly what is going to happen as I
have always dealt with things head on in the past." 

Do you drink purely for enjoyment or to bury shit? 

"Probably both, which is alright," he says. "Lately I don't know what
I am doing beyond this second. I am just putting one fucking foot in
front of the other which has always worked for me before." 

* * * 

Once off the road and back home in New Orleans, there are many things
in Phil's life that warrant his attention. Family issues aside, he
maintains that his enthusiasm for Pantera remains as strong as ever. 

"Bored with Pantera? Absolutely not!" he barks. "How am I going to get
bored with touring the fucking world and playing to thousands of
motherfuckers who adore you? I couldn't even bag groceries at the
fucking grocery store. This is all I know." 

One thing, which has been playing on the unkempt vocalist's mind, is
the plethora of side projects and the music he's keen to make
accessible to anyone who wants to hear it. 

"I really want people to have the opportunity to hear the records I
have done over the past 10 years that have never had the chance to be
released," he says. "It is important to me that I get them finalized
so people can get them. I don't care if they sell 20 or one million
copies, I just want them out there so people can have the
opportunity to hear them for themselves." 

While he is currently involved in around 10 projects aside from
Pantera; Body And Blood, Eibon, Enoch, Necrophagia, Amicuss (with
Amen's Casey Chaos), Christ Inversion and Viking Crown, there are two
that he is particularly excited about. 

"Superjoint Ritual is fucking vicious," he snarls. "It is a long
unrelenting record and it is so fucking powerful that it is scary." 

And then there is Down. 

"What we have worked on so far is phenomenal and it deserves to come
out through a major label so we will probably negotiate a deal," he
says. "But I would never give the other stuff to a major label, as
they wouldn't know what the fuck to do with it. Like what the fuck
would Elektra records do with band like Christ Inversion?" 

Fuck knows. 


* * *

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