In a recent interview conducted by Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic, DOWN drummer, Jimmy Bower, confirmed that he and his fellow band members have begun the process of composing new music for an upcoming release.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “We got together about a month or two ago, and we were practicing with just me, Pat [Bruders, bass], Kirk [Windstein, guitar] and Pepper [Keenan, guitar]. Phil [Anselmo, vocals] lives on the other side of the lake [in Louisiana]. We got together over at his house for a weekend, and we have seven songs, man. We’re supposed to get together again in April, and then talk about recording, trying to get this thing out.”
Asked about whether Anselmo, who has been extensively touring with the reformed PANTERA over the past year and a half, arrives with a collection of lyrical concepts when they collaborate on music, Bower remarked: “He’s got notebooks and stuff that he definitely writes and keeps stuff for, but he’s generally a writes-for-the-song kind of thing.
“Phil‘s amazing to write with because he’s really good with arranging, and he’s just really witty with his arrangements and bridges and stuff like that, that, I’d be, like, ‘Damn, I would have never thought of that.’ And that’s the beautiful thing about DOWN — it’s a room filled with dudes that are witty with their songwriting and stuff like that. We can write all day without Phil, but when he’s there, it’s that much better. It really is. ‘Cause he’d be, like, ‘Do this four times. Go into the bridge, then go back to the verse, and then we’ll do a pre-chorus, and next thing you know, you’ve got a killer song.”
“He’s such a songwriter, it’s ridiculous,” Jimmy continued. “And he’s super, super f**king talented. Sometimes I read comments about people’s misconceptions, and I just hold my tongue. ‘Cause I know the truth. The dude can jam his a*s off. It’s just really fun to write with Phil. He’s always in a killer mood, especially when we’re being creative. We’ve been in so many bands together.”
In a recent interview with Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio this past October, Windstein discussed the potential of himself and his fellow DOWN band members embarking on the journey of writing and recording new music in the near future.
He said at the time: “I talked to Phil a pretty good bit… Phil‘s attitude is kind of just like, ‘Look, fellas, I’m doing what I’m doing [with PANTERA]. I love it. We’re killing it.’ And boy, are they. We [CROWBAR] had the pleasure of playing with PANTERA in Poland in early June. It was unbelievable. I mean, I laughed, I cried. My emotion was something else, because I was very tight with [late PANTERA guitarist] Dimebag. It’s real — what they’re doing is real. But what Phil said, ‘Hey, man, in the big picture of things, dude, I really don’t have a band. I’m doing a PANTERA reunion thing.’ And of course they’re gonna do it as long as they can. I mean, I don’t blame them. Who would? You do what you’ve gotta do. And they’re killing it and doing it heartfelt for the right reasons, and I love it.
“But like he said, ‘Look, you are the guys.’ And I talked to Pepper about two or three days ago. I think he’s got a few shows in early November with C.O.C. and he’s off for a while. CROWBAR‘s next gig is in Ireland in late February, so we’re off for a good bit. And when you have five guys — well, Phil, of course, will be kind of out of the picture for now but me, Pepper, Jimmy and Pat — in a room together, when you’ve got all these guys writing riffs off of each other… And that’s the way I like to write — I like to write spontaneously off the cuff. I don’t like to [go], ‘Okay, this is my new song. Boom. Here y’all go,’ or whatever. I like to write off the cuff, on the spot. I feel what the other guys are giving me vibe-wise and whatnot. And that, to me, is a winning formula. It really is.”
It has been a while since the band released any new material, with their last EP, Down IV – Part Two, released in May 2014.
