Hellyeah Frontman Speaks of Bassist Jerry Montano's Sacking

Australia's X-Press Online recently conducted an interview with Hellyeah frontman Chad Gray. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

"We wanted to bring the personality of the members out in the music. There are so many bands out there right now where everything's serious and completely political and anti-human. And we didn't want to be that band. We grew up with bands like AC/DC — it's about having a good time and letting your hair down and not listening to the preacher tonight."

On former bassist Jerry Montano's recent sacking, which is rumored to have been a result of letting his hair down a bit too far recently (read: being thrown out of a club after punching guitarist Tom Maxwell then threatening to return with a gun):

"I'm not going to get into it but it was definitely bizarre how it went down. But we just kind of moved past it, we had to do the right thing and Jerry understood that — and that was where it was amicable. You've always got to keep moving forward (Damageplan's Bob Zilla now plays bass) and I mean we're very passionate about this. We don't look at it as a side band, we look at this as another band that we all play."

On how Hellyeah's music has given him a sense of freedom:

"I'm an artist in many areas and I can exercise the demons from my past and I can speak out on things that bother me. It's a very freeing experience to go and put down songs and to be able to re-live it every day. Sometimes that can be painful though if you write about the wrong thing. . . Sometimes you’re like, 'Oh, I'm glad I got that off my chest,' but the next thing you know you're singing it and re-living that experience every single day. It kind of freaks you out.

"In the beginning of Mudvayne I really wore my life on my sleeve to the point where you could go through there and see some of the stuff I've been through. I still do that to a certain point."

Hellyah are among the artists featured on the "Madden NFL 08" 29-song soundtrack, according to MTV.com, and are featured with the likes of Shadows Fall, Ozzy, and Atreyu. The game is expected to ship on Aug. 14.