Show & Tell - an interview with Patrick Lachman of Damageplan

PATRICK LACHMAN of DAMAGEPLAN
01.29.04

Few bands can boast the kind of impact Pantera has had on the current metal scene. They played sledgehammer hard, uncompromisingly brutal, in-your-face metal.

That's past tense. Pantera is no more.

"Get over it."
- Patrick Lachman

Since Pantera's breakup, there's been a pretty public dialogue [read:bashing] between the ex-bandmates; former Pantera front man Phil Anselmo [now of Superjoint Ritual] and brothers Dimebag Darrell [guitar] and Vinnie Paul [drums]. Sure, it's made for interesting fodder and it's likely garnered Superjoint some much-needed publicity, but by and large it's really just been a sad exchange of he said/he said.

Time to put that crap to bed.

Pantera founders Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul have a new band now. Sure, it kinda sounds like Pantera but let's be real clear on one thing; that will never, ever be a bad thing. The definitive sound you recall when you think of Pantera IS Dimebag and Vinnie; as much a part of them as they are of it.

"Get with the fuckin’ Damageplan because this shit’s here to stay..."
- Patrick Lachman

The band's name is Damageplan. You already know Dimebag and Vinnie. The bass player's name is Bobzilla. The singer is Patrick Lachman [former guitarist of Halford].

We spent some time talking to Patrick about hooking up with metal legends, going from guitar to vocals and making albums that kick your ass from start to finish.

Show & Tell: Hey, Patrick, how are you?

Patrick: Faaantastic. How you doin?

S&T: I’m doin’ pretty good. Where are you calling in from?

P: We are traveling through Corpus Cristi, Texas right now on our Texas run of the promo tour.

S&T: Okay, and this is mostly radio shows you’re doing?

P: Yeh, radio interviews, personal appearances, stuff like that.

S&T: They’ve got you booked pretty solid?

P: [laughs] Yeh, we do as many as seven a day.

S&T: So tell me a little bit about hooking up with Dimebag and Vinnie. Were you friends before listening to the music? Did you come on board while they were making the music?

P: Actually, I met Dime, I think it was at a show in January of like 2000. I’d always been a big fan of... both their work actually. And I had a friend who was working for Washburn and there must of been 4 or 5 hundred people lined up to see Dime and I just cut to the front of the line and walked in behind him. [laughs] And just stuck my hand in his face and said, “Hey man, good to meet ya, love your shit,” and just told him that I was playing with the rebirth of the Metal God, the latest incarnation of Halford. Basically told him we were bringing it back to the old school metal, that’s really what Rob’s forte is. He was just like, thrilled about it. He just completely stopped what he was doing and was like, “Right on, man, make that shit fucking brutal,” total Dime style... That was it, about 30 seconds and I just said, “Get back to what you’re doing, I’ll catch you somewhere on the road or whatever.”

And sure enough, when that record came out, he just fucking went berserk. He ended up getting a Halford tattoo on his leg [laughter], I’m serious. And he flew all the way from Dallas to Vegas, we were playing with [Iron] Maiden and Queensryche at the Aladdin Theater, and he flew out just for the show and came backstage and he was just, fucking, speechless. He’s like, “I can’t fucking believe how fucking badass that was, man.”

S&T: That would have been the second time you met?

P: Yeh. It was one of those things, y’know, just instant friends, I had that rapport with him. Then, I had another friend that was a monitor engineer for Pantera so when they came through, I saw them every fucking time and I’d just end up going backstage and hanging out with Vinnie and Dime in particular, the other guys were unavailable for whatever reason, and [Vinnie and Dime] always seemed to have that hospitality and just a really cool vibe about them. They came to LA, we just ended up getting fucking ripped. Then in Long Beach Arena, on the Real Steel Tour, ended up getting ripped with them again. It’s just fucking hilarious. I guess that was sort of the initiation of it. We had that rapport and friendship that really had nothing to do with rubbing elbows or trying to play together. They were doing their thing and I was doing my thing.

But eventually, yeh, I did start coming to Dallas, periodically. And every time I’d go to The Clubhouse or I’d go to see them play, they did a couple of gigs with Gasoline... and we went to a couple of concerts... so it was just basically dudes hanging out. Then when it came time that they decided they were gonna do something new, fuck, I jumped at the chance, just to be a part of it. I said, “what do you want me to do?” Dime’s like, “I think I got the guitar stuff covered,” and I said, “fuck it, I’ll play bass, I’ll fucking sing, whatever you need,” he goes, “yeh, that’s really what we’re interested in, a vocalist.”

S&T: Had you done any vocals before? Was there anything in your head like, “I can definitely do this because...?”

P: Being a musician is kinda like being in professional sports; you can change positions if you’re good at what you do. I think everybody has a second instrument or melodic ideas or...

S&T: Guitar to bass, sure, I got it. But guitar to being the front man for these guys... There’s a big expectation, a lot of pressure...

P: Sure.

S&T: Did you just look at it and say, “fuck it, I can sing?”

P: I’ve always been a singer of sorts, never a lead vocalist, but I always sang, always wrote lyrics, always worked with the singers I’ve played with, always done backup vocals. I guess I was used to having a guitar, the power of being able to fucking crank up an amp and just tear off a riff, it’s a thrill to me, but this is a whole new vibe. It’s not something that I ever really aspired to but given the opportunity, I’m just gonna tear a hole in it. It’s so fucking cool, it’s a new toy to me, it’s actually a lot more expressive than playing guitar is.

S&T: Was Halford wrapped up at that point?

P: It was kind of a transition. I knew that Halford was leaning towards going back to Priest, I sorta had that vibe from the beginning and I’m kinda surprised it lasted as long as it did. It was a great experience and I love Rob, I still keep in touch with him, but he’s thrilled to death to be going back to Priest and that’s where he belongs.

S&T: And we’re all thrilled to have him back.

P: [laughs] Oh, hell yeah. That’s one of those things that binds us all together. Me, Vinnie and Dime and Boz, fucking huge Priest fans, y’know. Dime walks around 24/7 with that razor blade necklace, British Steel style.

S&T: [laughs]

P: Basically they had a feeling that Pantera was coming to an end and I knew that the Halford thing was not, y’know, a career kinda gig... It was a good place to be at the time, it opened a lot of doors for me and, uh...

S&T: ...And you played with Rob Halford, man!

P: Oh yeh, it’s fuckin’ amazing.

S&T: [laughs] There’s no other way to look back at it, you got to play with Rob Halford.

P: Oh yeh, rippin’ off the solo to Electric Eye, and then I look over and there he is, fucking singin’ it. Words can’t describe that feeling.

Ironically, the first concert I ever saw in my entire life was fuckin’ Judas Priest, Screaming For Vengeance, 19-fucking-82, 10th row, center aisle. The weird thing is I wasn’t really watching the guitar players as much as I was just fucking tripping out on Rob. To have someone with that kind of vocal capability, such an innovator... Often imitated, never duplicated. He’s the fuckin’ shit. Priest and Sabbath, that’s what started it all, like it or not.

S&T: No argument here. So, there’s gonna be inevitable comparisons to Phil, it’s unavoidable.

P: Right.

S&T: Have you been getting a lot of that already?

P: Y’know, I think that that’s gonna happen because I have Vinnie and Dime playin’ with me and I think that makes me sound more like them than if I sang the exact same way with two other musicians, y’know?

S&T: I agree.

P: So, I think that’s gonna fade out pretty quick because there’s no imitation goin’ on there. It’s just comparison for the sake of comparison. People sometimes can’t accept the unhappy ending, that, “yeh, one of your favorite bands of all time is not happening anymore.” Oh well, get over it. Get with the fuckin’ Damageplan because this shit’s here to stay and it speaks for itself.

S&T: I don’t think that there’s... You can experiment and push the envelope and things of that nature but those guys are what they are...

P: A leapord can’t change its spots.

S&T: Right. I got the sampler and I really like it, but that’s them. Its a recognizable sound. There’s no way to escape that.

P: The funny thing is initially, I think, they tried their best to sound different. They used different guitars, amps, drums, heads, whatever... just to try to separate themselves from the Pantera sound. But the bottom line is its Vinnie and Dime no matter how you slice it, y’know? And there’s nothing to be ashamed of so they just went back and just embraced it and said, “you know, what the fuck are we doing trying to not sound like ourselves? This is us. We fucking invented the shit, so fuck you, here it is.” That’s when things really got on track.

I got on board and I wrote the songs I wanted to write, the lyrics, all the melodies, everything, 100% creative freedom from these guys. That’s a huge compliment for me, that they would allow me to run with it. I tried to write for the songs, y’know? I wasn’t trying to sound like anyone in particular. I had no limitations so that allowed me to be so much more diverse which is just, fucking liberating as hell.

We did stuff that was as heavy or heavier than Pantera and we went to places that they never could have gone, y’know? And called it Pantera.

S&T: And I think like you said, the comparisons will die down.

P: People hear what they wanna hear and they’ll label you no matter what. The bottom line is I love it and I’m proud of everything I did so call it what you want.

S&T: Have you done any live shows yet?

P: Y’know, we’re just about to. After this promo tour’s over, we’re gonna head to Japan for a few shows?

S&T: So that’s your first batch of live shows together?

P: That’ll be the world premiere. And I love Japan, too. It’s a great place to play. Some of the best fans in the world. No words can describe how hardcore they are, they know your schedule before you do. You get off the plane and there they are. You get to the hotel and there they are. You get to the gig and there they are. Just undying support for music. It’s really like no other place in the world.

S&T: What’s after Japan? You come back stateside?

P: There’s a possibility of going to Australia/New Zealand on the way home but we’re definitely starting in the states in probably, mid-march. And we’ve got some really, really fucking good stuff in the works...

S&T: ...but you can’t talk about it.

P: Literally, things change minute by minute and we just don’t wanna put the wrong information out there and then have something happen with the promoters or whatever. It’s not fair to jack people off and say we’re gonna do this and then we don’t do it. We just wanna make sure it’s happening. And something really fuckin’ cool is in the works so we can’t wait to talk about it... Damageplan.com and Damageplan.net will be posting the information as soon as we get it.

S&T: I saw that you had posted a journal entry [on Damageplan.com] back at the end of December.

P: Right.

S&T: Is that something you’re going to try to keep up on, get back to?

P: Yeh, actually. I have to change a few things with my internet access. I’m really interactive with fans and I love the web as a tool. Because there’s so much bullshit that goes on out there, talkin’ about this, that, rumors and lies and just... I’d just rather see someone get on there and lay the truth out there and give the people something better to read than how much they hate Nirvana or whatever.

S&T: You almost have to now... The internet has made the whole thing so small. You guys are required to be that accessible.

P: Yeh and unfortunately it’s kind of taken the weight out of it and I think a lot of people don’t appreciate there is no substitute for going to a show and having your ass kicked.

S&T: It kind of diminishes the value...

P: I don’t think it diminishes the value but I think people just don’t understand. The value is never gonna be diminished but the knowledge of it is what’s getting lost. We try to kick ass everywhere we go, we shake as many fucking hands, we sign as many autographs, we’ll stay all fuckin’ night until every person is fucking happy. The one-on-one experience is the most valuable. Not just seeing a show but getting to take a photo with your fucking hero, that’s what made me want to be in this business in the first place, some of the really cool people that I’ve met and later on got a chance to work with.

We did an instore last night for this radio station, there must’ve been 2-fucking-thousand people. We were there for six fucking hours signing autographs but we’ll just keep going until everybody’s happy, y’know?

S&T: Speaking of working with people you admire, Jerry Cantrell jumped on for a single.

P: Oh man, JC. Awesome. That’s one of those things... It’s gonna get a little surreal now. I’ve worked with Halford, I worked with Tommy Victor from Prong, working with Vinnie and Dime is just a dream come true on a daily basis and then, “oh shit, here comes Corey Taylor singin’ on the record, and here’s Zakk Wylde, one of the most ridiculous guitar players on the planet and oh, here comes Jerry Cantrell, he wants to sing on a song with me?” I mean, Jesus Christ! [laughs] It’s off the hook. But yeh, fucking Jerry is amazing. Great guitar player, great singer, amazing lyricist, fucking melodies and harmonies... I mean, that dude is personally responsible for creating a fucking style that everyone has ripped off. Him and Layne, just fucking groundbreaking. Shit, I’d never thought in a million years that I’d be working side by side with Jerry Cantrell.

Basically he had come down for Thanksgiving, he usually comes down has Thanksgiving at Vinnie’s house every year. I just turned around and there he was, no warning [laughs]. We had this song, and it was actually the first song that Vinnie and Dime did when they started writing this stuff, and it was kind of a departure from what you hear on the record and we sorta didn’t know what to do with it and it kinda got set on the backburner. And it wasn’t until JC came down and he heard it and he’s like, “man, I really like those chords,” and he just came up with this melody off the top of his head and Dime just grabbed him and pulled him in the other room, stuck a 4-track and a microphone in his face and said, “just fucking lay it down.” He came out an hour later with a fucking masterpiece.

S&T: Did it make it on the album?

P: God, I wish it did because it’s really one of my favorite tracks. It didn’t get finished in time to go on the record so it’s gonna be on the japanese import version and we’re hoping it’s gonna make it on soundtrack for The Punisher which comes out in April.

S&T: What about the Corey Taylor tune?

P: Well, that’s a little song called “Fuck You.” [laughs]

S&T: I’m sure that both shocks and amazes everybody [laughter].

P: I mean, if you’re gonna have Corey sing on something it might as well be hostile, right?

S&T: Slipknot Corey or Stone Sour Corey?

P: It’s definitely over-the-top-Slipknot Corey. Actually, I don’t know, it’s hard to say, it’s the same dude to me. That guy’s fucking amazing. I love Slipknot. From the first time I ever heard ‘em.

Corey is the most underrated vocalist, I think, that’s out there. I think he’s a great fucking singer, I love the melodic stuff he does... And as far as the ferociousness, I mean, that dude’s pretty much unmatched. My hat’s off to him. He’s a bad motherfucker.

S&T: Last question and I’ll let you go... What’s the expectation going in? Especially in today’s climate?

P: Y’know what? There is no expectation. The only thing we expect is that people are gonna wake up and get that this shit is great. The goal that we set out... Okay, what happened to the day when you could pop in Number of the Beast or Back In Black or British Steel and just fucking hit play and listen to it front to back? I mean, nowadays you get a radio single to suck you in, you blow your $17.99 and the rest of it’s shit. You get fucked over.

So I said, fuck this, we’re gonna make a record that’s gonna be kick-fuckin-ass, front-to-fucking-back, 14 fuckin songs... Every song we wrote [that made it in time].

The thing that I’m most proud of is the fact that front to back, it just fucking rocks. It’s gonna be a timeless album I think...

interview by scott sisti