Philip Anselmo Talks Revival of Superjoint, New Music + Future Plans

The ever busy Philip Anselmo was the guest on Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show. The discussion turned to Anselmo's revival of Superjoint, the band's plans for new music and his plans for the rest of 2015 and beyond. Check out the chat below:

How are you my friend?

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. And Jackie, how you doin’ darlin'?

I'm good. It's really great to hear your voice. Superjoint are out on the road on the Blackest of the Black tour. Phil, the first time around in a lot of ways, Superjoint was a dangerously unhealthy situation. Now, how much of it is personal, a case of wanting to set it right?

Really none. Honestly, I was against doing it at all anymore because of ... I guess some of the negative times that we had gone through and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to revisit really. When we did the Housecore Horror and Film Festival Year 2, there was a whole bunch of arm twisting and “Please,” ya know, “come on, man. Superjoint, Superjoint, Do it, do it, do it.” So, ya know, I reached out to Jimmy. I asked Jim, “So, what do you think?” You know, and we got together and we all jammed. It felt really good and I think part of that reason is because we’re both in much better situations these days. It was fun, ya know, it was a blast. Nothing to it, ya know. Getting together, getting the right people together and all that stuff was, I guess, it ended up being very enjoyable. So, it was, like I said, it was fun.

Onstage, how much more musical have you become as a performer compared to when you were in your 20s?

Well, ya know, back in the day I guess, if you take a look at the Pantera days as well as the early Superjoint days it’s like energy was a main thing. It was stage presence was everything. Going bananas was everything. I feel like these days it’s more about the song. It’s more about playing the songs well. Ya know, I don’t really feel like I need to be jumping around for anybody. So really it’s like, I don’t know, everything comes really naturally and there is an energy to that. I don’t know. I'm feeling good, man. I think everybody’s feeling good about it.

You always seem to be involved in more than one band. How often do your ideas for one band overlap into another?

Not very often because normally I have, I guess, a vision, so to speak, for each band. But, you know, if you’re just sitting around with the guys writing riffs, so to speak, and you’re not positive where they really fit depending on the band, you know. Of course, there’s gonna be sessions where you’ve written stuff for several different bands. So for me it’s pretty easy to I guess separate ‘em and keep ‘em all unique, so to speak.

What does Superjoint give you license to do that maybe wouldn't make sense in another band?

I think there’s freedom in every different band that I do, you know. Superjoint I guess would be no different. With Superjoint, there’s obviously a direction. There’s a great appreciation for the hardcore that we grew up with, spanning several different influences, many different bands. Basically, a Superjoint riff wouldn’t go over at all if it were a Down situation, you know. I really wouldn’t introduce a Superjoint riff into a Down situation or any other bands I'm doing right now, you know. It’s, it is unique in that sense. But, you know, it’s once again, it’s a freedom. It’s a freedom of being the old free agent that I am. My only touring bands are Down and Superjoint, and The Illegals when I get a chance to. But, I'm in a lot of different projects, doing a lot of different projects, and have had a lot of different projects that haven’t seen the light of day to, I guess, anybody outside of my close circle of friends and the general public have not heard yet. There could be a chance of that in the future, I would hope so because I think some of it is damn well worth the time for people to check out and look at all the diverse styles that we us fellas around here, mess with. I think each and every one of the bands has their own identity and once again, I mean when I say it, that mere fact right there of identity is clearly important.

Phil, how is the new Superjoint music coming along?

It's coming. It's coming along as about as well as it can. Right now we have enough music for an EP or a short-ish LP. Lyrically I'm kind of at a snail's pace because Jimmy, myself and Kevin -- really all of us contribute riff-wise with this group we have together now with Steve K and Blue on the drums. Everybody has their own input. We have a lot of, what I would call, pretty damn good skeletons right now and they need a little bit of meat on the bones and some I'm more familiar with than others and have a clearer idea of what I'm going to sing or what the pattern will be over the top of the music. So, it's coming, woman. It's coming. I'd like to get the new record out sometime next year, so it's coming around.

A new Pantera compilation and bundle are being released, perfect for anyone getting into the band for the first time. What's the single most important thing you want a new fan to get out of that music?

Interesting question. I don't know, to me it's like if you got older fans that know the music very well, and they are collectors -- this is something that they might want. But as far as the newer audience goes, it's kind of like what music is, sometimes, it's a lesson. Like the old chicken and the egg theory. Pantera was absolutely unique in our own right. I think that, the youngsters out there today that are curious or want to know what's up, I guess this record here is a good start to check it out. We shall see, lady.

What are your plans for beyond this tour for the rest of 2015?

The rest of this year I've got the Blackest of the Black Tour with Danzig and Prong and a few other bands. That's a fun tour. Then I have Horror Fest in San Antonio Texas this year starting Nov. 13-15. That's going to be a blast, awesome bands, awesome horror flicks and a different city this year. Very cool. After that, really, I'm going to put my head down and start grinding on that axe and start putting these songs together on Superjoint and probably mess with some new Illegals, which is also in the works and it's hideous. Blazing, grinding fast. Miserable music and I love it. Then, I guess looking at Pepper's schedule and what he's going to be doing with COC, eventually I would think early next year we'd be starting to mess with some new Down, as well. So, once again, I've got a lot of irons in the fire and I didn't even bring up like three different projects that I'm doing at the same time. Always plenty of new music for the people out there, love it or hate it, or be indifferent to it. Hey man, I'm just a rock 'n' roll fella trying to get by in this rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

Thanks to Philip Anselmo for the interview. Keep an eye out for new Superjoint and catch Philip at the Housecore Horror Festival. Details can be found here. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend show at this location.

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