HellYeah is now on tour with their Celebration of the Life of Vinnie Paul. While they stopped into Maryland, Empire Extreme got to sit down with bassist Kyle Sanders and talk about the tour.

EE: You excited about the tour, I know this is like day 2 or 3?

Kyle: Yeah just getting back I got the groove. So far so good, we started off In Atlanta my hometown.

EE: Hows the fan response been for the tour with it being a tribute to Vinnie?

Kyle: The fans are the ones who talked us into doing it, we weren’t sure if we wanted to or could do it with the record being done and vinnie’s stuff recorded we had to support the album. It’s a 4 week tour.

EE: Since you joined the band a little after it was created, how was it like meeting Vinnie for the first time?

Kyle: It was Exactly like I hoped, sometimes you don’t want to meet your idols for fear of them not being very nice, he was amazing. It was a very natural process.

EE: How was it like making the album?

Kyle: We had all the nuts and bolts done when it went down. We took a break from the studio, Chad had to do some vocals still, when Vinnie passed. We took a little time off, and went back into the studio again, and it was hard especially for Chad since he writes all the lyrics. The record took a turn from that.

EE: Hows it been touring with NonPoint for this run?

Kyle: we have played before, they are great live and have such amazing energy and works as a solid bill.

EE: If you could have a Dream tour, who would it be with?

Kyle: I grew up with Metallica, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, if I could do a tour like that with those guys.

EE: So I usually ask what dead musician would you want to bring back, without it being the obvious of Vinnie and Dimebag?

Kyle: Cliff Burton is the reason I started playing bass. If I could sit down and have a beer with him and talk shop with him that would be awesome.

EE: Do you have any projects you’re working other then the HellYeah Stuff?

Kyle: I opened up a Rock School out in Gainesville Georgia called Let There Be Rock School. When we lost Vinnie and didn’t know what we were going to do, I always wanted to open a school up. This was the time to do it and do something positive. We opened it up this year in March on St Patrick’s Day. We already got a good handful of students and good instructors.

HellYeah put on a hell of a show that ranged from pure chaotic energy to a very emotional dedication video to Vinnie Paul. The crowd and Chad were on full rage that night, Chad jumping right into the face of the crowd a few times. The set was perfect with a blend of new songs and old. I’ve been a huge fan of HellYeah but never got to see them Live, and this was amazing to see and Roy Mayorga had some big shoes to fill playing drums but I know that Vinnie was looking down and just loving how bad ass they all were. NonPoint also killed it once again, I probably have seen Nonpoint like 30 times since the first album dropped and every time they just keep bringing it and bringing it again, this was such a good bill, and openers Sleep Signals started the energy up from the start and it didn’t finished until HellYeah left the stage.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

See author's posts