Interview with Phil Demmel of Machine Head
By Robin Steeley
Machine Head is a band that has rightfully taken its place among some of the best metal bands of all time. Since their very first album they have established themselves among the leaders of the genre today. The band created their best effort in recent history with “Through The Ashes of Empires” and has recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of their bestselling album “Burn My Eyes”. The newest addition to the line up, replacing Ahrue, is Phil Demmel, an amazing guitarist who has been part of the legendary bands Vio-lence, Torque, and later Technocracy.
I met Phil more then a decade ago when I was eighteen years old and booking shows at a little dive called Izzy’s Tex Mex in Modesto, California. He was in the band Torque and they played an incredible set that night, at one point in time it got so crazy someone moshed through a huge plate glass window. I had a $100 guarantee with the band and at the end of the night I was given $50 to pay three bands. The owner had once again ripped me off. I ran to the bank and took the money out of my rent funds, came back and explained the situation to Phil. He sat me down in a booth and gave me a serious lecture about the music industry and knowing it was my rent money proceeded to give me my money back.
If it wasn’t for Phil Demmel, I would have quit music that night, I never forgot the words he said to me and after quitting that club went on to booking and managing bands and owning a nightclub. I have to say that if anyone were to ask me who my biggest inspiration was when I started working in the industry it would have been Phil Demmel. So I was more then excited to finally get a chance to catch up with him and talk about old times. After reacquainting ourselves, we got down to the real business, what Machine Head is up to today.
Crave: Are you excited about the “States Turn Blue To Gray Tour” in May?
Phil: Yeah, I think it should be a lot of fun; it’s a really strong package. I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing in the states again, it’s been awhile.
Crave: It’s been many years since Vio-lence, has it been good making music with Rob again?
Phil: Yeah, definitely it’s very cool I have always respected him as a musician and it’s good to be with this group of guys that I have always admired as musicians and I love the band, so I’m at home now.
Crave: Do you think the bands overall sound has changed over time, has it kind of gone back to the roots??
Phil: Maybe it’s back to our roots as far as being a little heavier. But it’s a totally new band now, and I think we have a lot of new elements as well and I think we’re taking a huge step forward more so then getting back to our roots. We have moved on to better things.
Crave: What did you think about the Chuck Billy Clash of Titans benefit?
Phil: It was a lot of fun; it was good to be back with all those guys and play. I have played so many crazy shows now with Machine Head. As a whole, it was fun and a good thing to do for Chuck Billy but I think the stuff I have done now since I have been in this band has been amazing.
Crave: What has been your favorite show so far with Machine Head?
Phil: We played the Download festival, Donnington’s Monsters of Rock with Metallica, Slayer, and Slipknot. I got to meet Dimebag two months before he died, and it was one of my favorite days ever as a musician. He came up to me and said “Dude, I love your new album, you’re a shredder, and a great guitar player.” Having that guy tell me that was something I will never forget. It was amazing.
Crave: What happened with Vio-lence, Torque and Technocracy?
Phil: They basically did what they were going to do. I had fun playing with those guys, and making music with them, and we had reached our potential. Torque was great, we got our album out and we got to play festivals, it was great to have an album with me singing on it. Technocracy was cool, being part of a band like that. It’s probably not the heaviest thing I’ve done but as far as musicians go, I was probably playing with the highest caliber of musicians then I had done before. The projects all just kind of reached their peaks, and doing the Vio-lence thing again for a minute, we did a few good shows and a tour with Halford and Testament that was cool. I got to get a lot of closure with all three bands and now it’s on to bigger and better things.
Crave: What’s your favorite track off ‘Through the Ashes’?
Phil: I think “Imperium” is such a strong song, and so fun to play. There is like two or three, I love “Descend” there is just different moods the whole album takes you through, “In the Presence” for the cool solo part and it’s a song I wrote part of. I think the one tune is “Seasons Wither” that is basically what we’re going to be sounding like. We released the album in Europe first and we went out and toured before we came back and released it in the states we did another song, and that was “Seasons” its basically what the future Machine Head is going to sound like.
Crave: What was the first album you ever owned?
Phil: It was Elton John’s Greatest hits, I love Elton John.
Crave: What CD have you been listening to or bought lately?
Phil: I have been listening to the new Lamb of God; the new Chimaira stuff is awesome. The new God Forbid is gonna be totally amazing.
Crave: What would be a perfect day off for you?
Phil: (laughing) I just work when I'm at home. I'm still a union carpenter so that's what I do pretty much when I'm at home, more work. I don't have too many days off, but I do some golfing, play some basketball. Wintertime I do a lot of snowboarding.
Crave: What is the craziest thing you have ever seen happen in the pit?
Phil: I have seen someone break their leg, nothing too crazy. I've seen plenty of bottles flying at me sometimes. I had to hop in the pit one time and beat the crap out of some dude who was spitting on me. That was pretty crazy.
Crave: Has touring and being away from home gotten any easier at this stage?
Phil: It's easy, I love being on the road. It's easy being away from home.
Crave: Do you have any advice for new artists looking for a career in music?
Phil: The music business…a lot of it is who you know, so networking means getting your music heard, having people see your face. And you have to be good. For the most part, I mean there is a lot of Crap that does get signed. But just being good, networking, getting out and meeting people.
Crave: You guys have been touring off 'Through the Ashes' for a long time, what's coming up next for you?
Phil: We're doing the States Turn Blue To Gray tour in May to early June, In a couple weeks we are going off to Saudi Arabia, were doing a festival with the Darkness and Sepultura Easter weekend, then we'll do the states tour, then a couple festivals in June in Holland and Bones Uncles huge retirement show, 110,000 people both nights and that will be our last show of the summer. We're going to try to fit Japan in their somewhere.
I can't wait for Machine Head's next album and being a fan since the beginning, I have high expectations and I bet I won't be disappointed. For More information about what Machine Head is up to go to www.machinehead1.com.
