DOWN Drummer Says Band Is Working On 'Really Unique' DVD

Lord of The Wasteland of Metal-Rules.com recently conducted an interview with DOWN drummer Jimmy Bower. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal-Rules.com: I read that the band has a bunch of acoustic stuff in the can. Are you guys throwing around the idea of possibly releasing an acoustic album?

Jimmy: Yeah, we do have some stuff and we are definitely going to work on that soon. We have a lot of projects that we are working on, but right now we are just trying to push the record and tour as much as we can. For the next two years, we are going to be busy. I'll be lucky to see my bedroom at home for more than a week (laughs).

Metal-Rules.com: On the CDs, you have Ross Karpelman playing keyboards. The new song "Nothing In Return (Walk Away)" and "Stained Glass Cross" from "Over The Under" both have a real cool southern vibe to them with the added keyboard. Why don't you perform those songs live with a touring keyboardist?

Jimmy: We have never played "Stained Glass Cross" live. Why? I don't know. I love that song. I actually wrote that song. On a Canadian run, we tried having Ross play with us but it was a little weird because he had other obligations with House of Shock, a big haunted house in New Orleans. It's just not practical for us to bring him in right now. We were kind of concerned about how that would work out. It's cool to have it on the record and stuff but I don't know about live. Personally, I think it would be killer. It would be like [Bower's 2000 side-project THE MYSTIC KREWE OF] CLEARLIGHT or something. Ross has other obligations right now but I wouldn't doubt it if maybe we do something like that in the future.

Metal-Rules.com: The spread between the first and second album was seven years and then it was another five years in between the last two. Is this gap going to narrow in between "Over The Under" and the next CD?

Jimmy: Well, I think in the past everybody had a lot of obligations with their "real" bands. PANTERA was still going, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY was strong, EYEHATEGOD was still going strong and DOWN was thought of as more of a side-band. Now that we all have come to terms and made a commitment, it won't be five years until the next record comes out. This is our band and we plan on growing old with this band. We intend to work hard for the rest of our lives to make it as cool as we possibly can. The reason for the breaks in between the records is pretty obvious. It was scheduling and all that. "Let's jam!" "Well, Pepper's on tour." "We could do it here but Kirk's going to be on tour or Jimmy." "Phil's doing something with PANTERA." Or, "Oh, shit! There's a hurricane in the Gulf!" You name it and it happened.

Metal-Rules.com: What are the tour plans after this run of dates finishes up in November?

Jimmy: I think in January we are going to Europe. Then in March or April we are going to Australia. Then hopefully back to Europe again in June for festivals. Then we will probably do another North American run. We want to try and hit as many countries as we can and hit all the places that we've never been to. If you really look at what we've been doing before the record came out, we've been a damn busy band.

Metal-Rules.com: Has there been any discussion about recording the "Evening With Down" shows for release as a live album or DVD?

Jimmy: Well, when we were in Europe in 2006, Jim Van Bevan came with us. He's a director — he did the SUPERJOINT [RITUAL] videos and the [MARILYN] MANSON movie — and he came with us and shot 350 hours of footage while we were playing and some backstage stuff. We are going to get that together and edit it for a cool DOWN DVD. It will definitely be really unique.

Metal-Rules.com: Is it going to be a show, as well, or just a backstage kind of thing?

Jimmy: I think it's going to be a blend.

Metal-Rules.com: Will there be some older stuff from the early Nineties?

Jimmy: Yeah, we have video from that day I was telling you about where we wrote "Losing All", "Temptation's Wings" and "Bury Me In Smoke". We look like kids, man (laughs). We'll intertwine all of that together. It should be a very interesting DVD. It's taking a lot longer than we thought but we really want to make it good.

Metal-Rules.com: Is it something that will be out in the near future or is looking more long-term?

Jimmy: No, it will be in the near future. Like I said, we have 350 hours of footage to edit, so it's a lot of work, especially for Jim Van Bevan. He has to edit everything down, then we could edit everything together. Right now we are just trying to pump out what we can, when we can.

Read the entire interview at Metal-Rules.com.