HELLYEAH's VINNIE PAUL Is Looking Forward To Possible OZZFEST Appearance

Former PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott recently spoke to Chris Harris of MTV.com about the formation of his new band, HELLYEAH, also featuring NOTHINGFACE members Jerry Montano (bass) and Tom Maxwell (guitar) alongside MUDVAYNE's Chad Gray (vocals) and Gregg Tribbett (guitar).

"Since May of last year, I started getting phone calls from Jerry, who I've known for a long time, just saying that they planned on putting something together and they needed a heavy hitter — they needed me," the drummer explained. "And I was like, 'Man, I'm so busy with my record company, and I don't know if I'm really ready to do this again' and all that. And after about seven or eight calls, he finally caught me one night when I was in the right frame of mind. I had been drinkin' and listening to some music, and I said, 'You know what? Let's give this thing a shot.' The next day, I talked to everybody in the band, and everyone was so super cool and had the same mindset."

According to Vinnie, HELLYEAH's self-titled debut, which drops April 10, is "the best record I've been a part of since [PANTERA's 1992 classic] 'Vulgar Display of Power'," he said. "The thing that makes me feel that way about it is, when we made 'Vulgar', it was just magic. It happened. Everybody's mindset was in the right place. After that record, we never had that same vibe. We still made amazing records, but there were all these forces pulling us in different directions. So when we made [the HELLYEAH] record, I had that same kind of feeling. It was just too easy. Everybody was into it. And I feel these songs are that strong, and I think everybody brought something special to the table.

"It's just a special record," he added, "and I really believe we're gonna be f---ing kick-ass live. We haven't done any live shows yet, but I know that everybody comes from a band that's been known as a kick-ass live band. So I know the five of us together are going to make some hellacious noise."

Abbott said HELLYEAH will tour extensively this year but that they're still mapping things out. Playing this summer's Ozzfest would make perfect sense for HELLYEAH, considering all the bandmembers have taken the festival's stage before. And if Sharon Osbourne extended an offer, the band would gladly take her up on it, Abbott said.

"We will definitely be on tour all summer, and we're definitely looking forward to it," he said. "Ozzfest would be awesome. That's all I can say about that. I'm a veteran of Ozzfest. Everybody knows it's the premier summer tour, so if we were offered to be a part of that, that would just be super, man."

Read the entire article at MTV.com.