Brandon Marshall: So was it tough to try to get everybody in the same room at the same time?

Chad Gray: Yeah, we have been talking about this since 2002. We where supporting Disturbed when we where playing in Nothingface and Mudvayne and we just started talking about it drunk in New Orleans one night, shit faced and joking around, next thing we knew we woke up the next day and shook off the hangover and it still sounded like a cool idea but when do you do it, you know? We first tried in I think '04 and we wrote one song but I got so busy with Mudvayne I just didn't have time for it. We have a window of opportunity in the summer of '06 I believe and I just looked at Greg and said look dude I'm doing this and I'm taking a break from Mudvayne one way or another. I have been touring with them non-stop for 7 or 8 years and we never had a break, so I said I'm taking this summer off and I was talking to Tom (Hellyeah's guitar player) and I said we are getting together and he said 'fuck yeah man'. We look at it like we can go home and watch TV sitting on our asses or we can make music with other people and explore ourselves artistically and at first he said 'No', but I have a 15 minute conversation with him then I got on a plane and flew to Dallas and here we are. We wrote and recorded the record in under a month and it was mixed in under a week and a half.

BM: Sounds like something was in the air when it was flowing that smoothly. Did you view it as friends jamming and have fun or did you look at it from more of a professional view?

CG: And that was just it, we didn't want to look at it from that perspective and we don't want any pressure on the next record and just go in and do it. I think it's just more honest that way and just more spontaneous and more dangerous and it's just raw, you know what I mean? That's the way it has to be and that's how music should be written, we were writing as we were recording so there is no getting what we call 'demo-itis' where we just demo everything and then we go and retrack literally everything, but when you write as you record you're just done with the song. We did some overdubs and I would come and I would do the vocals and that was it, that would be the song! We had Vinnie Paul mix it; he is a fucking ridiculous producer. He's a really smart tech guy too and he's just a smart guy when it comes to shit. You see produced by Vinnie Paul on the Pantera records and you wonder how real that is, you know what I mean? You see executive producers on shit like that with everybody, I have been an executive producer on a record and I didn't do shit on it. When you see it on something it's whatever, but when you go in and see it, it's like ok, this isn't bullshit and he knows what he's doing. He's getting the tones, he's mincing things up and he's editing the record and mixing it.

BM: We are going to play a word association game. I feel bad for you guys answering the same questions 85 times a day so I want you to give me the first thought that comes to your mind

Castle Donnington '07?

CG: Beer

BM: Jägermeister?

CG: Beer

BM: Guitar Hero?

CG: Beer

BM: Black Sabbath?

CG: FUCKING METAL

BM: What do you want to drink right now?

CG: Beer

BM: What kind of Beer?

CG: Coors Light

BM: I'm going to wrap this up but do you have any last words for you're fans and what can they expect from Hellyeah and Mudvayne in '08?

CG: Mudvayne is coming, and beer!

 
« Continued from Page 1

| 02.21.2008 | Interview by Brandon Marshall |