If you’re reading this then chances are you are very aware of who Phil Anselmo is so I’ll cut right to the point. As the frontman for some of metal’s greatest works of art including the cowboys from hell that is the mighty Pantera, Phil has been around the circuit more than most could imagine. While his physical health including his voice has taken a beating over the years, the man doesn’t know the word ‘quit’ and continues to fire off some of the most brutal music to this day. The new Illegals album “Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue” dropped just recently which we reviewed ahead of it’s release last year and it’s a mighty fine follow up to the 2013 debut “Walk Through Exits Only”, we talk to Phil Anselmo himself about the new record and how both physical and mental health is a driving force in his career.
I’ve spoken to many great musicians over the years, lucky enough to have met a few of them too. I’ve even been lucky enough to talk to most of the Pantera boys thus far, Rex and Vinnie and of course, they have been highlights of conversations without a doubt. I will say though that there is something with Phil Anselmo that brings a whole “new level” (pun completely intended) to an interview that has remained on my wishlist up until now, he has a presence that’s unlike no other and the history of his musical endeavours is I think a big part of why that is. But his personality is the other main reason why I think that is too, Phil is known to be a character, a real nice guy but intimidating at the same time but heavy emphasis on nice guy. His first words when I called him up was “Hey Andrew” but in such a fashion that immediately brushed away any anxious or nervous feelings about speaking to the great man himself. This is after all the same guy who once performed in front of an estimated 500,000 people in Moscow in 1991 at the Monsters Of Rock festival, who helped create one of the most iconic records in history in “Vulgar Display Of Power”, who collaborates with Pepper Keenan in a brilliant band like Down and who still has a hand in creating stupidly insane heavy records like the new album he is currently promoting with his band the Illegals, “Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue“.
We don’t get into it straight away, Phil sorts out his last caller before bringing his attention to me and cracking some joke about the computer screen. The mood was already light and energetic, I was ready for anything. We ended up chatting a little about Australia, his love for Aussie metal, in particular the band Portal and so the subject of his last appearance in the country which was at Soundwave Festival 2014 with Down came up. “That’s a long time, that was a great fucking trip man!“, Phil remembers excitedly. “I got to meet my main man in Portal, I got to meet a bunch of cool fucking bands, it was a great tour.”
I remember that performance well. Soundwave 2014 was somewhat looked at as a bit of a let down in terms of the lineup, at least by the opinion of the majority of punters there but for me there was some killer bands on that year including Down who I was emphatically excited to see. And they absolutely killed it too and bringing up that subject again of Phil’s presence, his stage vibe is bar none a highlight. But getting back to our conversation, I had to ask whether there was any chance we could see Phil himself back down under again at some point in the near future and sadly there was a reason why he doesn’t make it to Australia as often as he likes.
“Well here’s the deal and I’ll try and make it as short as possible. Late last year I was told I had to have several back surgeries and it’s just a follow up sort of thing, nothing major, no big deal. As a matter of fact it’s tomorrow but that’s great so once I’ve had that, in the next few weeks to a month we can even start announcing shows so if we come back that would be great.”
It’s no secret that Phil has had to deal with back issues over the years, it’s goes back as far as the Pantera days where things for a while did get out of hand but Phil insists that currently it’s not a serious issue. “Honestly it’s just more little things that have been grinding up in the last decade which I think if the doctors can nip in the bud and get this one little problem even if it’s just 50 percent, then that would be great but fuck, give me 100 percent! I’ll be a sprinter in the next olympiad!”
I had to laugh at that last comment but it shows that Phil is in great spirits about the whole thing and seems very optimistic about the future which is great to hear. For now though, the focus is on the new record which came out on January 26th and is really a tour de force of devastating grindcore type metal. It’s a little different to the first album “Walk Through Exits Only” which simply came down to various factors including the need to change it up a little as Phil explains.
“Well we wanted to do it differently because the last record I guess I wanted it to be first and foremost more of a thrash record but with this record I wanted the songs to not necessarily be simple but I wanted it to flow a little more. I believe Australia is a big seed in the influence of this record, particular with bands that are black thrash and to me those bands are still a big deal. It really sets the tones as far as the guitars go, when it comes down to it I really adore Portal and even all the spin offs and fuck, even bands like Vomitory. It’s just the style and for me there was a big part of me that romanticised and preferred Morbid Angel, I always loved their style. Also Anal cunt’s “Morbid Florist”, that is an explosive record and when you incorporate a vast amount of influences like Morbid Angel or whatever, that’s what I took from this.”
In my review of the album I described the songs as ‘heavy in attack but chaotic in style and grandeur’. There was no other way to describe the convulsions that emanated from each and every track but somehow it all flowed really well which was exactly what Phil and the band were trying to achieve. Lyrically and also stemming from the lengthy album title, there was also some personal things going on that catapulted the theme for the album.
“I went deep in my family history and went into my life and in their lives and their relatives and there’s a lot of depression that is rampant along the family bloodline“, Phil says. “Just looking at our lives and to determine things for myself and really take stock of their lives and their experiences.” Phil continues when asked if it was a therapeutic experience because of the family history involved. “Oh it always is. I write all of them so I got a lot of material to go through.”
I ask Phil how the writing has changed over the years with all the different bands that he has been a part of as I was curious to know whether the thinking behind each project shifts to accommodate the type of band and style of music he is working with but it turns out there’s more to it than just that. “I think it’s changed“, Phil replies. “For me I can only sing about things that are relative to my life that may be relative to other people’s lives which can be anything which remains to be determined. But when I’m doing a specific style with my vocals I try and put a twist on many different styles, I mentioned 3 major influences for the new Illegals record and in the spirit of that I try to give it it’s own flavour.”
There’s a million questions that can be asked about the many iconic bands he’s been a part of but to be honest, at this point they have probably been all asked and answered to some varying degree. I’m reminded of the funny Saturday Night Live skit back in the 1990’s featuring the late Chris Farley where he plays the part of an interviewer asking iconic people like Paul McCartney hilariously obvious questions like “What was it like to be in the Beatles”? Or something to that effect and so I decided to purposely avoid those questions, I’m a big enough fan of Pantera and the like to know the obvious stuff and I certainly didn’t call up Phil to chat about the past.
There was more than enough to engage in a proper conversation about what he’s doing right now and maybe Phil appreciates that, I can only assume it gets tiresome answering the same questions all the time. But what I did want to ask was what the motivation was for the Illegals and whether his active lifestyle in the music world as well as some of his other endeavours of passion including horror films and his record label Housecore Records is something that comes from the type of person that he is.
“In my experience I think it’s always very healthy to try and write all kinds of different music because if I’m going to call myself a musician, why not do all these different styles“, Phil comments. “It’s interesting and it’s in my DNA so fuck it, why not!” But he continues by saying that his life is not as super busy as it may appear, at least from a career point of view. “Is it really that much though? I mean I write songs and music and there’s boxing too. I like what I love, I guess why it seems active is because the things that I adore, I REALLY adore!”
Our conversation at this point was coming to an end and while there was much to discuss as far as his current projects and of course, the great history including the ups and downs that he’s had so far, time wasn’t on our side. But I had to tell Phil that we need him back in Australia as soon as possible and Phil couldn’t agree more. “Well the best thing I can do is have this surgery so I can get out of this shit. Last year I weighed 240 pounds, this year I weigh 185 pounds. I haven’t been this size since the Pantera days so I would love to come down to Australia, I love Australia, I mean god I miss you guys!”
We miss Phil too! Let’s hope his surgery goes well and that we see him back on the road as soon as possible.
