Jeff Hannemann Interviewed

Think extreme metal and inevitably, you think Slayer. The Huntington Beach, CA-based quartet—originally comprised of bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hannemann and drummer Dave Lombardo—first caught thrash audiences’ attention in 1981 with their brutal drive and sonic power and their penchant for apocalyptic imagery. The band signed with Metal Blade in 1983, which yielded their debut album, Show No Mercy, as well as two EPs. But the textbook Slayer sound—jet-speed guitarwork and vocals from the Lower Circles—would be established three years later with producer Rick Rubin, who helped shepherd Reign in Blood for CBS Records. The album became an instant classic in extreme metal circles and soon became the template for all subsequent death metal discs and bands; the disc’s Satanic references (as well as lyrics that were incorrectly labeled pro-Nazi) also got them unceremoniously dropped from their label (Geffen eventually picked up the disc).

Photo Credit: © Amy Weiser

Since then, they’ve kept close to the Island/Def Jam stable (their most recent CD is 2001’s God Hates Us All) and have refused to back down from their confrontational, uncompromising approach to recording and performing, which has earned them die-hard respect from fans and critics. They continue to pack amphitheaters with bands like Arch Enemy and Otep (their tourmates on their 2003 run through the country), and in October, returned to the road to support their live DVD War at the Warfield (Universal) as part of the 2003 Jaegermeister Music Tour. In February 2004, they were announced as part of the summer Ozzfest juggernaut, joining such road-tested vets as Superjoint Ritual, Slipknot, Black Label Society, Hatebreed and the reunited Judas Priest. I had a chance in August 2003 to chat with rhythm guitarist Jeff Hannemann about the DVD, touring, and why Slayer is so pissed off.

Jeff Treppel: What’s going on with you?
Jeff Hannemann: Having a beer, laying in the sun, kicking back.
Jeff T: Tell us about War at the Warfield.
Jeff H: It’s just us playing live, sweating, lights, fans going crazy. We had a friend of ours from Chicago that put together this thing called “Fans Rule” and he interviewed a ton of fans. I think Kirk Hammett is on there, some other people. That part is actually crazy--it’s funny to watch.
Jeff T: You must have your share of crazy fan stories.
Jeff H: There’s like tons of just nuts, fucking behavior, but the one that sticks out for me is--I forget where we were playing, but it was someplace in the states--and it was an old theater, so the balcony ran right up to the edge of the stage, and this kid just jumped off the balcony and landed and went through the stage like right in front of me –
Jeff T: Damn.
Jeff H: --and he just went through the stage, and I was thinking, “Well, the dude’s dead,” and instead his fucking head popped up and he started banging.
Jeff T: Wow.
Jeff H: A bunch of security guys grabbed him and pulled him out. And he was fine, but he went right through the wood. .
Jeff T: You guys have some pretty hard-headed fans (laughter). Why did you decide to go with a live DVD at this point?
Jeff H: We didn’t put a lot of thought into it. I think the record company came up with the idea. We were on tour at the time, and we said, yeah, go ahead and record us, and if it comes out good, we’ll put it out.

Jeff T: What’s it like to be a band like Slayer on a major label? Does your label know what to expect by now, or do they try to experiment with your image or sound?
Jeff H: Not at all, especially nowadays. They know what they got into when they signed us. In the early days when we signed with--I think it was Sony--they dumped us because of “Angel of Death” (from Reign in Blood). So either labels don’t try to mess with us at all, or if they don’t like us, they’ll just dump us, ‘cause they know they’re not going to change our minds. It’s like, “Can you change that song a little bit?” “NO!”
Jeff T: I guess they must know what to expect with songs like “God Send Death.”
Jeff H: Yeah (laughs).
Jeff T: Which I notice that you wrote the lyrics for –
Jeff H: Yeah.
Jeff T: So how does the songwriting process work in Slayer? Do you go to Kerry with lyrics or a riff, or does he come to you with lyrics and needs a riff under it?
Jeff H: Basically, it’s always music first. Kerry and I usually come up with stuff at home and if I get stuck halfway through a song and don’t know where to go from there, I’ll show Kerry what I have, and see if he can come up with something, or vice versa. When we think a song is pretty much done, we’ll knew where the lyrics go, where the leads go, breaks, etc., and then we’ll start working on the lyrics.
Jeff T: So what sort of mood were you in when you wrote “God Send Death”?
Jeff H: (laughs) I don’t know. I just get in that flare mode when you just reach into this dark side that everyone has and pull out good scary stuff. There’s not really any kind of mood for lyrics, but for riffs, a lot of time I’ll get in a pissed off mood and pick up a guitar and come up with a cool riff.

Jeff T: Would you say that you guys are still as angry as you were back in the Reign in Blood days, or would you say that you’ve mellowed a bit?
Jeff H: No, we’re still pissed off. We always have some kind of gripe going on in the band, which seems to keep us thriving; one person becomes a bad guy for fucking six months or something. It just keeps us--I don’t know, I’ve come to accept it and think of it as a good thing for Slayer. As long as something’s pissing us off, it’s a good thing.
Jeff T: Slayer’s been playing together for twenty-one years, and most of the other thrash bands that came up with you have basically vanished, except for Metallica and Anthrax. You’ve also kept the same essential line-up with the exception of the drummer, which seems to be a revolving seat-
Jeff H: Yes. Hopefully that’s not [the case] anymore, but we’ll see.
Jeff T: Is Dave Lombardo in the band on a permanent basis now (Lombardo left the band in the early ‘90s and was replaced by Paul Bostoph)?
Jeff H: It seems that way. I mean, he’s happy with it, we’re happy with it, we’re playing great with him, so hopefully we can keep this working. And as far as the reason he left in the first place, we weren’t getting along. And we’re getting along as good as we were in the beginning; there was just a part where there were personal problems between us and Dave, and now it’s back to the way it was when we started and we were just having fun, and we were about the music and partying and just having a good time.
Jeff T: Is there anything to which you attribute the band’s longevity?
Jeff H: I think probably it’s because we stuck to our guns and stuck by our roots, whatever you want to call it. I think fans probably respect that, because I know I grew up with several metal bands that put out like three great albums and then just totally changed. I used to hate that, and I think Kerry thought the same way, and probably Tom as well. That’s one thing we just kept in our minds--if what we’re doing is good, and if we’re still kicking ass, fucking why change?

Jeff T: Good point. Speaking of change, Divine Intervention and Diabolus in Musica were a little bit of a departure for you guys, and I noticed on the press release that it says you only have one song from each of those albums on the DVD. Is there any reason for that, or is that just how the playlist worked out?
Jeff H: It’s just how it worked out. We’ve got so many songs to choose from, and when we set up a song list, it’s usually “what did we play last time we were here?” So, we’ve got to switch it around, because sometimes we’ll hit the same city, especially like Chicago, New York and LA, we’ll hit them twice in one tour, so you can’t play the same set, or we’re playing two cities that are close together, you gotta mix up the set. So except for that, we don’t put a lot of thought in what we’re playing, except that we’ve gotta mix it up, so we’re not playing the same songs all the time.
Jeff T: Right. But you’ve also got the hits you need to play –
Jeff H: Yeah. There was nothing intentional about the way the DVD set list came out. I just did an interview, and they asked about a certain song and “How come that wasn’t on the DVD?” I said, “It didn’t make it in the setlist that night!” There was no reason, really (laughs).
Jeff T: Fair enough. What would you say is the one Slayer album that everyone should own?
Jeff H: Well, the obvious one is probably Reign of Blood, I mean, everybody talks about Reign of Blood, but I like them all. There’s not one that really sucked. Some people have different opinions on what the best album is. I’m a fan of Seasons in the Abyss, personally, but Reign of Blood’s awesome too.
Jeff T: So what sort of music do you listen to?
Jeff H: I usually listen to Type O (Negative), Deftones. I do listen to Slipknot, stuff like that. I listen to Pantera once in awhile.
Jeff T: I think you’ve probably toured with all of those bands.
Jeff H: Oh yeah (laughs).

Jeff T: Since you’ve toured with so many new bands, is there any band you think is a major up-and-comer who might one day take Slayer’s mantle as THE extreme rock band?
Jeff H: No.
Jeff T: No? (laughs) Are there any that might take second place?
Jeff H: I don’t know about them taking our throne or whatever, because they have a different approach, but System of a Down, when their first album came out, I loved it, because I thought it was heavy and Serj’s voice [singer Serj Tankian] was so weird and different. I thought it was incredible. The second album I didn’t like as much because it went a little more commercial, but that first album was awesome. I thought they were just gonna go get…well, they did get huge, but I mean, get huge and still stay really crazy-heavy.
Jeff T: What are your plans for the future? Do you have any big tours coming up?
Jeff H: We just played a couple of nights in London, France, England, Spain, and now we’re going back to Germany. After that, our US tour starts on October 11. That’s gonna be our next big tour in the States. I think Hatebreed’s opening.
Jeff T: Yeah, I saw you guys with Hatebreed at the Anaheim Grove. That was an awesome show. I got hit a lot. That’s my memory.
Jeff H: (laughs) That’s what it’s about!
Jeff T: Yeah, it’s not a good concert unless you’re getting pounded by some big sweaty guy in a wifebeater.
Jeff H: (laughs)

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Jeff T: Do you have any plans to go back into the recording studio, or are you just having a good time touring right now?
Jeff H: We have September off, so we’re gonna try to lay down some basics then. Musically, we’ve probably got at least seven good songs that are probably going to stay, but no lyrics or anything like that. So we’re gonna try to record and maybe work on lyrics, and after we get on tour, we’ll work on it some more, and hopefully get it out by the beginning of next year. But like I said, we’re kind of busy right now, so we’re trying to work in between doing stuff.
Jeff T: Anything new that we can expect with this album?
Jeff H: Actually, the way this album is turning out right now, it’s a little heavier than the last one, a little faster. Could change, but the way it’s going right now.
Jeff T: Has the fan reaction to God Hates Us All been pretty good? Because you guys have been leaning pretty heavily on the material from it, and it fits in pretty well with the old stuff.
Jeff H: Oh yeah, definitely.
Jeff T: So do you have any final words of wisdom or parting advice for our readers?
Jeff H: Yeah…fuck off! (laughs)
Jeff T: That works. Thank you very much for talking with us.
Jeff H: Alright, man.