"I'm gonna support my friends bands, I don't have to download anymore because I make a lot of money..."

This is what Phil Demmel of Machine Head said when I asked him about the downloading issue. I'm sure when people talk to Machine Head members they have conversations with lead singer Robert Flynn. However, I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Phil. Even though he replaced Ahrue (now in Ill Niņo) Phil has proven that he was worthy. He's one of the most underrated guitarist in metal today and the friendliest.

Sharita: Thanks so much for taking the time to interview with me.

Phil: Your welcome, my pleasure.

Sharita: The new album, Through The Ashes of Empires, what was the mindset going into making that album?

Phil: The mindset of the band was...pretty muck  we wanted to go back to the old Machine Head. A lot of people had written the band off before I even joined. We just wanted to prove them wrong and showed them what Machine Head could do.

Sharita: Machine Head is a band that has been around for ten years now and is a force that continues to soldier on in the metal world.

Phil: Besides wanting to prove people wrong, I believe just the love for playing music too.

Sharita: I've always been really impressed with the great guitar riffs and musicianship of the band. Has anyone in the band had any formal lessons or training?

Phil: Not that I know off. I know Robert is self-taught, me I just play but as far as I know no one has had any formal lessons or
anything.

Sharita: Colin Richardson produced your first two albums then others for the next couple. Robert produced Ashes,  was there a big difference with Robert producing as opposed to Colin or any of the others?

Phil: Well since I just recently joined I really don't know about the other guys but I know that Colin was considered a member of the family and he actually mixed this album. [As far as] Robert being the producer we all knew it would be a better because he was on the inside.

Sharita: Thrash Metal is how people usually describe MH, is that accurate or do you care what labels us journalists put on your band?

Phil: Thrash metal is cool but actually I hate labels. I play in a metal band that's all I say. (chuckles)

Sharita: A lot of Machine Head songs are anthem-like, for instance on my favorite album The More Things Change...,the song is Down to None because of the lyrics. What song on Ashes if the anthem in your mind?

Phil: Yeah, um, the song on this album would definitely be "Imperium", just because of the lyrics (Phil proceeds to sing the chorus).

Sharita: Machine Head always tours Europe pretty extensively, what are the difference in reactions between the crowds in Europe as opposed to the US?

Phil: Oh yeah, definitely. The people over there are serious about their music, they really know their stuff. You can't pull the wool over their eyes. They are also a lot more open minded over there. It's a big reason as to why Limp Bizkit isn't big over there.

Sharita: (Erika and I chuckle and sigh) Let's talk about the video for "Imperium", give me some background on it who shot the video, where was it shot...?

Phil: The video was shot in the Bay Area by Mark Sloat. It was done in the middle of a desert for this one scene. Robert also had some ideas for this video so it was pretty cool.

Sharita: How has the reaction been for Road Rage so far?

Phil: Oh, it's been awesome, the crowd has been real responsive, mosh pits, really good reactions to both opening bands. It's been great because Chimaira are such a great band live. We been switching headlining spots, Mark has come out to do a couple of tunes with us so, it's been really fun to tour with them because now we feel like we're touring with a band we consider family.

Sharita: The reviews for Ashes have been great, have any indication how it's done as far as sales are concerned.

Phil: Not really I mean as far as I know it sold really good the first week of release but, other that that I don't keep up with numbers I just play, do what I'm told and have fun!

Sharita: Oh I know, I didn't expect you to give me a number like oh yeah we sold about 1,000 in the second week and were up to a million now...

Phil: (laughs)

Sharita: What would be the ultimate metal tour for you like, it's your festival, who would be on it?

Phil: Oh wow, Metallica Maiden, Priest, Black Sabbath, Slayer...

Sharita: Oh great list all the metal masters...but the Metallica would have to be everything from the Black Album and before.

Phil: Yeah so true. The Black Album is definitely my favorite. Actually And Justice For All I wasn't that crazy about. They really did a great job on the Black Album but Justice I didn't too much care for.

Sharita: First time I saw MH was on the best Ozzfest which was in 1997, would you guys like to play Ozzfest again?

Phil: Oh yeah absolutely. But we're doing this tour, we toured Europe earlier and we're doing it again, so it would've in a sense broke us. We wouldn't have made any money from it so it wasn't really the right time for it, but maybe down the line I'd love to do it.

Sharita: We just covered Ozzfest this past weekend and we asked a couple of bands was it a good investment to pay...

Phil: $75,000.

Sharita: Actually we heard $100,000, but do you think it's good investment?

Phil: Yeah sure it gets you a lot of exposure but the bottom line is they are there to make money. I just went the other day because I was invited as a guest of God Forbid, I ended up spending $300 just between drinking and food. I mean it was a blast, but I ended up spending a lot of money.

Sharita: We're doing this campaign on our page for MTV-X do you remember the channel?

Phil: Oh yeah sure, I remember it before they took it away.

Sharita: So we have a link to sign the petition and we'd like to invite you to sign it.

Phil: Oh sure I'll sign it.  It will be great to have it back, but I enjoy Headbangers Ball and Uranium. (Phil points to his shirt with the Fuse metal show's logo)

Sharita: I also have a page called Soapbox rant and the latest one is about record labels. A lot of bands are getting dropped and labels seem to be getting the best of the industry. What are your thoughts?

Phil: Well, the labels are the ones with the money. When you get signed by a label you have to do what they say just because they are putting up the financial backing. It pays to sell a million records so then you can have some leverage.

Sharita: What are your thoughts on downloading?

Phil: Well I tell ya when I was young we used to trade tapes with our friends, so I really consider it the same thing. I mean I've done it but now I make a lot of money so I can go out and buy CD's by bands like Chimaira, Metallica...

Sharita: Ok last question, what is playing in your CD right now?

Phil: (reaches to the table and reaches for his CD case) You know actually a band who I love and really appreciate is Sevendust. I really love their latest album.

Sharita: Oh... wow cool. (Erika sighs loudly)

Phil: I have some Metallica, Black Sabbath, a lot of older music, so I listen to a wide variety.

Sharita: Thank you so much Phil for you time. I really enjoyed this interview.

Phil: Well thank you, I enjoyed it.

Click here for new interview with Robb Flynn