 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recently, legendary Down bassist Rex Brown (ex-Pantera), always a man of many words and interesting stories, was kind enough to speak with us regarding, among many other things, the release of the group’s latest sludge-caked masterpiece III - Over The Under…
Todd: What can you tell us about III - Over The Under?
Rex Brown: “…It’s the most cohesive and collective piece of music that Down has ever done. It’s not a brutal sounding record in any way even though at points it does have it’s heavy sides. It’s just one of those things that came together that we really focused on where we wanted to go… …We tried to make it a collective piece of work where it wasn’t like everyone else’s shit that just comes out. You know how everyone can go on iTunes and just select one song? …We wanted to make a fuckin’ record, ya know? We made a record instead of just goin’ in for one little tune on MySpace, ya know?”
Todd: In comparison, was there a significant difference in the songwriting processes for II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow and III - Over The Under?
Rex: “On the last record, we all got in the same room and just kinda hashed it out. We put it into these huge jam sessions and then way down the road, we figured it out. With this one…we had the Pro Tools in the actual jam room where we were working. …We had a guy in the control room sitting there workin’ on it. …Look, if you can’t get to a good song…I mean a good fuckin’ killer riff, a turnaround and a good, catchy hook within five minutes, then you’ve got some fuckin’ troubles, ya know? So that’s what we wanted to do with this thing. There’s a couple of songs that are over, but that’s okay, too, ya know? We just wanted to make it as solid and to the point as possible…”
Todd: Have you found it easier to compose, both lyrically and musically, as you’ve gotten older?
Rex: “I think when your eyes are open and you’re not fuckin’ hung over, it’s a lot easier to focus on what’s goin’ on (laughs). Everybody’s gotten those demons out of their systems, so to speak. That definitely helps. In a way, as we mature as human beings, of course things get a little more complicated, but at the same time, they get a little easier, so it’s hard to say one way or the other if that really contributed to anything on this record. I’ll let the fans decide that one.”
Todd: What was the main motivation behind the five year gap between II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow and III - Over The Under?
Rex: “Basically…we kinda put this thing to rest at the end of 2002. Phil went and did his Superjoint Ritual thing, Pepper went and did a C.O.C. record, I produced and played bass on Kirk’s Crowbar record…I had moved out to L.A. where I am right now. And then all this terrible shit happened, ya know? Dimebag get’s fuckin’ murdered onstage…there was a lot of bad stuff goin’ through the press. (Hurricane) Katrina hit, Phil finally got his back worked on…had the surgery and had to go through rehab… Through the process of all this terrible shit that happened…we all got together on the phone and tried to make sure everybody was okay, ya know? We said ‘…Let’s come up with a plan, get together and jam…’. So we jammed and we said ‘…We’ve never been to Europe before. Let’s take this thing and go to Europe…’. This was like last May. We booked twenty one shows over there and sold out every fuckin’ show… …We were just lookin’ at each other goin’ ‘…What the fuck? Down had never been to Europe before and there’s this huge mass appeal. Now we gotta do something about it,..’, ya know? So everybody put everything they had goin’ basically on hold and said ‘…You know what? We need to make the most classic record that we can possible make at this time…’. And we did.”
Todd: What are your current touring plans?
Rex: “We start September 27th in Reno. These will be our first dates in the States in five years. We’re heading through to November in the Sates, which is what we wanted to do, ya know? We wanted to put out the record and then make a big splash…do the whole fuckin’ thing. After that, we’ve got some really big plans that are in the works that I really can’t talk about. If you start talkin’ about them before they’re finalized, you pretty much fuck yourself, so… Everybody will know about it before Christmas time. …We just wanna play the record for the kids and go eyeball to eyeball with them, ya know? This band is ready to fuckin’ go play live and show ‘em what the fuck…this band is all about. It’s between the fan and the band, ya know? …We need to tell everyone to buy the record because the artwork on this thing is fuckin’ super sick. It’s one of those things that takes you back to a time when you actually bought records to listen to fuckin’ records. You didn’t listen to it for just one fuckin’ song, ya know? You listened to it for the whole record. We wanted it to be like ‘…Dude, have you heard the new fuckin’ Down record?’. I keep sayin’ record and not CD or track because it’s a cohesive record, ya know? Basically, when we went through Europe, we were learning to walk again as a band, ya know? Then we started to move our feet a little faster, ya know? Then we went and did Heaven and Hell with Dio and the gang in Canada in March right when we were in the middle of doin’ this record. That’s when we really learned to jog again, ya know? …We also went and did it in Australia with Dio and the same camp and dude, it was a perfect fit, ya know? Those guys a fuckin’ great. It’s Black Sabbath…the greatest Black Sabbath you could ever fuckin’ see. I’m dead serious. No Ozzy bullshit. Dio gets up and sings his balls off every fuckin’ night. …It’s just awe-inspiring. Now, were learnin’ how to fuckin’ run and…and we’re gonna start doin’ laps, ya know? We’re gonna start doin’ fuckin’ hurdles and sprints, ya know? …This is not a side project anymore. This is a band…this is everybody getting’ on the same page and kickin’ some fuckin’ ass.”
Todd: At this point, do you have any idea what type of set list the group will be working with? I’m assuming you’ll be trying to work in material from each disc…
Rex: “…The tentative thing is that we’ll be playin’ well over two hours, which is cool. We’ll be goin’ back and playin’ some stuff like “Jail” off of the first record and fuckin’ “Never Try”, which is a song from the new record. We wanna add some depth to the set instead of playin’ the same old fuckin’ riff every time, ya know? I’m excited. I’m really pumped up about gettin’ in and figuring out how were gonna approach this. Phil’s got a pretty solid set list… That’s what supposed to happen, but with us, ya never fuckin’ know. We show up at the gigs every night and we play over two fuckin’ hours. We put as much blood, sweat and tears as we possibly can into the show. It’s about the kids, ya know? That’s what it’s all about. It’s about the fans.”
Todd: What led to your involvement with the (Igor and Max Cavalera-fueled) Cavalera Conspiracy?
Rex: “It was cool. …I hadn’t talked to Max and Igor in a long time, ya know? They called me in and said ‘…What are you gonna be doin’?’ and I said ‘…You’re basically right down the street from me. Let me come down…’. They sent me track and said ‘…What do you think?’ and I said ‘…Dude, I’d fuckin’ do it in a heartbeat…’, ya know? So I went down and kinda hung out with them… …I went down and played on the track and it’s really fuckin’ cool. It goes back to the old Chaos A.D./Arise shit ya know?”
Todd: In hindsight, what is the main difference between playing with (former Pantera/Damageplan and current Hellyeah drummer) Vinnie Paul and Jimmy Bower?
Rex: “They’re two different drummers. That’s all I’ll fuckin’ say. They’re both great fuckin’ drummers. It’s hard to find someone that you can lock in with, especially twice, ya know? Playin with Vince was wonderful and playin’ with Jimmy…once we get goin’, man, for this style of music, it’s pretty Goddamn… We call ourselves the Rhythm Dixx. That’s our little thing. We’re the Rhythm Dixx and you ain’t fuckin’ with us, so just shut the fuck up. That’s how we are to the other guys in the band.”
Todd: Musically, what are your influences?
Rex: “For me…I go back to classic fuckin’ ‘70’s Rock, ya know? Anywhere from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin to Free and Bad Company…that’s where my real roots are, ya know? Old Aerosmith…heavy songs, not the ballads. The old, old Aerosmith. You know what I’m talkin’ about?”
Todd: Anything prior to 1980?
Rex: “Anything prior to ’77, I’d say, but anyway…that’s what I’ve always been a fan of. …I’ve always played music…ever since I was a small child. My Grandmother used to play the piano (at movie theaters) before the pictures had sound and shit, ya know? She used to play in a band with her brother Jack way back in the day… I guess that’s where I get my inspiration to play music from because I used to sit around and listen to her just play…fuckin’ Ragtime stuff, ya know? And my Mother was from the era of all the Swing bands, so I was also raised around all of that. My sister was seventeen years older than I am, so I got all the fuckin’ Beatles records, ya know? And here I am a child of the ‘60’s growin’ up listening to all these heavy fuckin’ bands like Sabbath and Zeppelin that I told you about before. I really got into The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and that was a style of music…that I really enjoyed playin’. That’s the Metal roots through all of that. That’s what I dig playin’ and that’s just what I’m good at, but I could play ya a fuckin’ Country song and I can play you a Jazz riff or whatever you want to call it, ya know? I was always in music classes and the whole bit, so… …Music is a universal thing, ya know? When you’re in a bad mood, put something on that will make you upbeat or if you wanna be in a somber mood, put on a fuckin’ Frank Sinatra record, ya know? It doesn’t matter. I can listen to all kinds of shit. …I’ve always been open as far as music’s concerned. If a song’s good, it’s good. If it sucks, I don’t care to listen to it, ya know?”
Todd: Overall, how would you describe the music Down creates? Do you feel the ‘…Sludge Doom…’ classification is accurate or fair?
Rex: “Well, I think we’re all influenced by the same Goddamn thing. …Basically, what I’m saying is you can call us whatever you want, but I call us Down, ya know? Look, you’ve got five different guys from four different bands that have written hundreds of different songs, albeit all different from each other… …Because we all grew up listenin’ to the same shit, it’s all the same in a certain way. I can’t say more than that, but when you hear Down, you know it’s fuckin’ Down. We don’t sound like any of the other bands that are out there now, ya know? There’s a bunch of bands that want to sound like us, ya know, but we don’t sound like anybody else. And that was the case with Pantera, ya know? There were so many bands that wanted to sound like that and used that whole deal. I was just like ‘…Wait a second, man, ya’ll are kinda walkin’ on our toes because we’ve already done that….’, ya know? That’s just the way it is, bubba. …I just love fuckin’ music and I love playin’ music. That’s all I can say. I don’t have any big political thing. If there’s any message that I have to give you, it’s check out the music and fuckin’ enjoy it, ya know? If you don’t like it, don’t like it. If you like it, fuckin’ come on and join the fuckin’ party, ya know? That’s basically it. When it comes down to it, I don’t care if people fuckin’ hate it. I just hope they fuckin’ love it.”
Select Rex Brown Discography
III - Over The Under (2007) ***
Rebel Meets Rebel (2006) *****
Lifesblood For The Downtrodden (2005) ****
Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow (2002) ***
Reinventing The Steel (2000) *
Boggy Depot (1998) **
Official Live: 101 Proof (1997) *
The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) *
Far Beyond Driven (1994) *
Vulgar Display Of Power (1992) *
Cowboys From Hell (1990) *
Power Metal (1988) *
I Am The Night (1985) *
Projects In The Jungle (1984) *
Metal Magic (1983) *
* as a member of Pantera
** with Jerry Cantrell
*** as a member of Down
**** with Crowbar
***** as a member of Rebel Meets Rebel