It isn’t every day you get to speak to a certified metal legend. Philip Hansen Anselmo’s pedigree and credentials have been well established via his work with Pantera, Down and Superjoint Ritual, yet what may not be common knowledge is how Anselmo’s own label, Housecore Records, is currently gearing up to hit the ground running in 2010, with a slew of albums set for release in the coming months. Phil took an afternoon to bring the Metal Army up to speed with exactly what the future holds.

MAA: When did you first realize that you first had ideas which wouldn’t fit within the scope of Pantera and the other bands you were doing—like Down and Superjoint Ritual—and push these other artists?

Phil Anselmo: Well, Housecore Records I think originally was going to be a lot of stuff I’d done in the past, and could not release because I was under contract with Pantera, but when you’re surrounded constantly by excellent musicians and great bands, it’s kind of hard not to want to help the ones who really stand out, you know? I guess we really started taking things totally seriously in 2008, and slowly built from there.

Are you the sort of person who absolutely NEEDS to be busy, and to get your energies out in as many avenues as possible?

Well, I don’t know about as many as possible, but yeah, man; there’s no sitting around being a dullard for me, man. I just can’t do it. But there’s plenty of others reasons for me to do Housecore, like I said: some bands just need that push. The fact that I have the good distribution that I have; a lot of these bands’ tangible CDs and material will now be available to a lot more people than if they were just playing regional shows, if you know what I mean?

I took a listen to some of the upcoming releases Housecore has down the pipeline, and I’d like to talk about that for bit. The Sursiks, for one, blew me away!

Ah, the I Didn’t Know I Was Singing record, man—that is genius; ab-so-LUTE genius, man. It’s David Minnick; he’s the force behind The Sursiks, and he’s just creative, man. His name’s gonna be pretty widely known when it’s all said and done. Amongst his fellow musicians, he’s known as the master of reverse engineering; he can take something and just twist it and make it whatever. He took so many different phone messages and took music to them. Each one is its own piece of work, and is either sad, happy, miserable or funny; he gets it across in such a way that’s just original, man. The musicianship is crazy top notch, and—knowing the guy for as long as I have—he’s just insane, man. Doing some of his own drum tracks, playing several different instruments; the musicians he has working with him are great, too. I can’t say enough about The Sursiks.

Yeah, they definitely stuck out to me, and I feel that haarp are going to stick out to a lot of people, as well. I hate pigeonholing something with a word like ‘sludge’, but I think it’s definitely going to appeal to a certain crowd who appreciates that kind of atmosphere.

Yeah, and I’m glad you said something like that, because to me, haarp do play slow, but to call them just a ‘slow band’ isn’t really fair. They’re what I like to call ‘resolute.’ They’re crushing at times, and are absolutely the epitome of what I guess ‘sludge’ would be, but they’re musicianship is fantastic. You have to understand that if you’re writing six-to-ten minute songs with all the variations they do on a riff—or a handful of riffs which become twenty different riffs—it’s just impressive, man. Another thing I love about haarp is that they’re great live, too. Sean Emmons is a star, man. He’s a great frontman. Their lyrical concept is great, and when you ask these guys what a song is about, you better pack a lunch! You better be ready to sit down and talk for about twenty-five minutes, if not an hour! Each song is insanely detailed in story, and the way that Sean expresses these stories is incredibly impressive. I also know that the drummer, Keith Sierra, helps with the lyrics, as well, so they’re a very conceptual band; it’s very much a team effort. They all have a hand in the music, I love haarp.

Donovan Punch I thought was awesome, too. It almost reminds me of the old 70s Italian horror soundtracks in parts.

In parts, but I wouldn’t’ say totally. He’s definitely not influenced by the 70s horror stuff, but I do adore that stuff, though! Jacula, baby: all the way! What a great band. To say the 70s, though, is deadpan on, man. It’s incredible when you listen to an instrumental, and it kind remind you of The Beatles, Jethro Tull, or Led Zeppelin, and have it turn into something a little more, all rolled into one. If anyone is familiar with pagan music or—in a simpler form—the original, 1972 Wicker Man soundtrack; some of his stuff is very reminiscent of that, as well.

On that, subject—given your established love of horror and soundtracks—what are some of your absolute favorites?

Oh Jesus, one of the first which leaps to mind is probably one of the most influential, but the original Halloween and Halloween 2. The synthesizer just sucks you in as a kid. I think The Changeling has an awesome soundtrack, and Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things has an even better one. I think the original Night of the Living Dead has a cool soundtrack; droning and miserable. Eraserhead has a great soundtrack, too. Let’s see here…’cause I’m always talking about how music makes a movie…House With the Laughing Windows has a great soundtrack Is that enough? (laughs)

(laughing) Yeah, man! I can talk horror all day, but I gotcha! Now, how much help do you have with Housecore?

We got staff here of me and three other people, and we have tentacles out there that help out, man. So all in all it’s about ten people, man. At the most. We’re a very do-it-yourself label, and cut out the middleman a whole lot.

I watched the video of your speaking at Loyola University, and I was really struck about how powerful it was. With regards to your feelings on the media—and let me preface that by saying that’s NOT why I’m here, I’m a fan who dislikes, I’m assuming as much as you do, the often-sycophantic nature of the media—I was wondering how you felt about the double edged sword of trying to promote Housecore, while also keeping guard against those who might want to misuse their place in the media to their own ends?

Look: I think that, when you’re fortunate enough to have had the success I’ve had in life, and the type of success which puts your actual face in people’s heads, as opposed to some businessman who lives behind closed doors, and moves to Australia, my face is in magazines, and people know who I am; they know Pantera’s history. People can form an opinion. That’s going to be the way it is until I hit the dirt. So honestly, it doesn’t rub me one way or the other, man. I realize that people have the power to type away whatever they want, man. Go for it. Fill your life up with it. That doesn’t deter me at all; it really doesn’t.

As far as the thing with the media: I never said I was the greatest guy in the world. I’ll let you know right now: I never said I had no faults, and that I was a perfect being. So, you heard it from me first! I’ll be the first to tell ya: I have MANY faults. I’ve messed up MANY a situation. Do I deserve to get bashed? Who can say who deserves what, man? That’s what you have no control over, and that’s one of the things, in order to grow in character, as a person, and as a man…that’s just the kind of stuff you have to let go, man.

On the other hand, being in the position you are—of respect and influence, being able to speak at a University such as Loyola—and having people live by your words and art you’ve created…is that a mindtrip to come from a heavy metal singer who idolized Rob Halford, to become this person who’s had an effect on people you will never even meet, people who live their lives to some of your lyrics, and the art you’ve put out in the world?

Oh man, how can I put this? Well, the fact that I’ve touched people’s lives—like you say, people I will never even meet—and will inspire them to do great things in their life, for whatever they can do in their life…that is good. God, this is tough to answer. It’s almost as if I wish I could do more. I feel humbled. I feel proud, but humbled at the same time. Honestly, the way I like to put it is: without the people like that who love my music and what I do; who love one band I’m in, but hate all the rest, but give me that bit of love for that one band…the accomplishment is bigger than me. These people? I’d be NOTHING without them. The people inspire me; I can’t help it.

Have you received a lot of positive feedback from them regarding Housecore?

Yeah, man. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback, but you’re only going to get what you give out. We haven’t put out that many things, but this year’s a new year, and we have a bunch of stuff coming out. The more stuff we put out, the more feedback we’ll get. So far it’s been good, and the fact that me and you and here talking about it? It’s all good, man.

So what’s the status of everything regarding the label and your own projects for the foreseeable future?

This year—we’re shooting for early April or early May at the least—we got Warbeast coming out with their initial record, Krush the Enemy. They’re a thrash band out of Fort Worth, and they kick ass. I grew up with the guys, so I know they’re top notch musicians, and do they ever bring it live! Bruce, the singer for Rigor Mortis, it’s his band, and they’re pure, real thrash. Alongside that, we do have The Sursiks—I Didn’t Know I Was Singing record, which is brilliant—we’re already talked about that. In June, we got the full length from Arson Anthem—which is me on guitar, Mike Williams from Eyehategod on vocals, Hank III on drums, and my brother Collin Yeo on bass—which is seventeen songs at about thirty minutes. It’s ripping, hardcore style music, and it’s awesome.

Also in June, we have Sky High, which is Donovan Punch on guitar and his daughter Azrael singing, which is great. In late August/early September, we have the haarp full length, and finally the soundtrack for Jim Van Bebber’s film The Manson Family, which came out in 2006. We’ve had a lot of start/stop action with that project, but it’s finally coming out. It has a lot of my noisier stuff that I did for the actual movie, The Disembodied, and Body & Blood as well on that record. This Saturday we start mixing a live Crowbar record, as well, so hopefully we can get that out later this year, as well!

As far as what’s going on with me, I’ve got several different little things going on. I’ve spoken with the guys from Down pretty recently, and we’re talking about getting together sometime after the fall of this year, and messing around with some new stuff. I’m writing a book, so I’ll be heads down in that project sometime this year, man. That’s going to be a big, big project. I’ll just put this out there: I’ll say I’ve been writing some different kind of music. Is it heavy? Yep…it’s heavy. When will people hear it? I’m not sure…when it’s done! (laughs)

Interviewed by MetalGeorge on March 23rd, 2010.

This entry was posted onFriday, April 2nd, 2010 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Interviews, Q&A.
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