The death of Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul gave the band a mission — to tour and support the final album he recorded with the group, but what comes next for the band? Speaking with The Ex-Man podcast host Doc Coyle (as heard below), guitarist and co-founder Tom Maxwell shared his doubts about continuing the band without Paul.
“When he died — I’m not gonna lie — my passion, my love affair died as well with him,” said the guitarist. “I don’t even know if there’s gonna ever be another Hellyeah record. I don’t even know if I wanna make another Hellyeah record without him.”
He continued, “I’m at a point right now where I’ve done some amazing shit with some amazing people and I’ve released a lot of great records. And I’ve found success in those — more elsewhere than others. Like I said, my love affair has kind of been cockblocked a little bit. I don’t find a need or a necessity to continue without Vince.”
The guitarist was asked about touring with Paul. The band welcomed longtime friend and Stone Sour drummer Roy Mayorga into the fold to help them out. “It didn’t feel right, even though we had Roy, who’s a brother,” the guitarist stated. “There’s a lot of shows where I felt I was just phoning in my presence — I wasn’t there.”
He then added, “I don’t know if I even wanna do another Hellyeah record. I just don’t have the emotional need and drive. I feel personally, as Tom Maxwell — I’m not speaking for anybody else at all — but I don’t know what I wanna do. I write songs all the time, and I write ’em for me, like I always did. I don’t see myself doing another Hellyeah record; I really don’t.”
Considering a future minus Hellyeah, the guitarist stated that he was open to doing something new and still has plenty of music that he would like to share. That said, he added, “I don’t see it happening with what I have at my disposal right now. I need a breath of air, a new lung.”
Citing a need to find the right players if he continued, he added, “I’m not a kid. Doing music and being in a band and being in an explosive band is a young man’s world. And for me to be productive, I need to be with other productive motherfuckers that have juice. I have juice, but do the other people with me have juice? And if they don’t have juice, I’m totally cool with not having juice and being home. I’m not throwing in the towel — nothing like that — and I’m not saying that I’m fucking done with shit. But what I am saying is it’s gonna take something… For me to fucking leave my house, it’s gonna take guys, gals, aliens — I don’t give a fuck — with a vision and something special about it.”
He concluded, “Moving forward, if something new were to come along, it would have to be something that is real and honest and transparent and fucking badass.”
Hear more of Maxwell’s interview with Doc Coyle below.
Hellyeah’s Tom Maxwell Speaks With The Ex-Man Podcast
Vinnie Paul in Pictures Through the Years