It’s with a heavy heart we share the news that drummer, Vinnie Paul, co-founder of Pantera, has passed away at only 54. Vinnie was always very cool and accommodating to SDM, and for that, we are truly thankful and respectful. Every time we reached out to him for an interview, he responded promptly and always professionally. If we asked to meet at NAMM for a hang, he was there. Not only Vinnie, but every single person he chose to represent him treated us with the same respect. We thank you for all you created and will forever miss you…
Another great talent has gone too soon. Our love and well wishes go out to all who knew Vinnie or loved him like we did.
RIP and thank you for all you gave us.
Here’s an excerpt from the first interview we were fortunate enough to conduct with Vinnie nearly ten years ago. You can read or listen to the full interview here.
SDM: What do you think of the idea behind Sick Drummer Magazine versus the other drumming magazines who, until we came along, never really touched on the extreme metal talent?
VP: It’s beautiful, you know. It’s something that we need for our genre, and it’s a great thing to have. Sometimes the metal community gets overlooked by the larger media so to speak, so it’s great to have you guys there.
SDM: Nice. Okay, so going back now, you’ve probably been asked every fucking question that you could ever hope to be asked by a million people, so we’re going to try and come up with something a little different, anyway.
VP: Okay.
SDM: Can you tell me how much of a role music played in your household growing up, and maybe how your father or any other family members might have influenced you musically?
VP: It was a huge part of us growing up. My dad’s a musician, country and western musician, also a recording engineer. That’s where I picked up my recording skills. We were always exposed to music, always around it. We were always getting to see the hot local players. Me and my brother would just go sit in the studio and watch, you know, and learn from that. And it was always really inspiring, you know, it always made us want to play music. So even though my dad always listened to country, the minute my brother and I heard Kiss Alive, we knew that metal was what we wanted to do, and proceeded from there.
Full Interview: Vinnie Paul SDM Interview from August 2009.
The family has asked that you respect their privacy during this very difficult time, so please respect their wishes.
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