Jimmy Bower is a true heavyweight of the NOLA music scene. As a founding member of EYEHATEGOD, his name will forever be linked to pioneering the sludge metal genre, but his influence runs way deeper. His crushing riffs in EHG may seem hard to match, but not when you consider his role on early Crowbar records and the utterly devastating Superjoint. As if it wasn’t enough of a resume, he is also found laying down the beats for New Orleans’ powerhouse Down, since day 1. NOLA simply wouldn’t be the same without his influence.
EYEHATEGOD is currently on tour in the US with Gwar and Napalm Death, check out https://eyehategod.ee/ for the dates.
The band’s latest record, A History of Nomadic Behavior, released last March, is available via Century Media Records.
What have you been listening to the most lately?
I’ve been listening to a lot of SKYNYRD recently. I’m not one of those people that seeks out new bands. I just listen to a bunch of the same stuff that I’ve been listening to. Or there’s a really cool radio station in New Orleans called WWOZ, they play some good jazz and blues stuff.
What’s your favorite period or album from Skynyrd?
I like the album Nuthin’ Fancy because it’s the first time they left Florida to go record and they didn’t really have any songs written so it’s kind of them spontaneously writing songs, which I think is a real good. I just like everything about ’em.
How does your different moods will affect your listening habits?
I mean, I’ll listen to everything from country to metal to blues to hardcore, hip hop, you know, so I mean, whatever. Whatever I’m in the mood to listen to. As far as bands that have been an influence, there’s bands like CAPTAIN BEYOND, BLACK SABBATH. For playing guitar, definitely BLACK FLAG. In general, I like bluesier stuff.
Do you remember the first time music had an impact on you? When you discovered your love for music?
When I was a kid, I was a big KISS fan. I had a bunch of BEATLES records too and I used to sit in my room and listen to Beatles records and stuff like that. Then, I got started learning more about music, seeking stuff out and trying to listen to some cool shit.
What were some of your next milestones in terms of music discoveries? New artists or new genre that opened up a brand new world to you.
Then I got into heavy stuff. I got into Sabbath and I started listening to ST. VITUS and TROUBLE, WITCHFINDER GENERAL…bands that tried to sound like Sabbath, you know? For guitar playing, I’d listen to a bunch of black flag, RIGHTEOUS PIGS, just bands that would inspire me to write riffs and stuff.
What would you say is the album that you’ve listened to the most in your life?
Maybe Willie Nelson and Friends, I really like that record. A live record from the 70’s. It’s just all encompassing, it has all of his best material, stuffed in a live album.
What is it that strikes you most when you first listen to something new? What is it that most often will make or break it for you?
It would be the drums, just because I play drums. If I like the drummer, generally I will like the band.
Who are some of your favorite drummers?
John Bonham, Bill Ward, Zigaboo from the METERS, a local band from New Orleans. Stuff like that, anything with a good feel to it, you know?
When you mentioned these names is there specific songs that come to mind? Like, what would be your most iconic Bonham moment?
Moby Dick‘s pretty cool. Honestly, I just think everything he did was great.
Is it possible for you to enjoy bands where the drumming is not too good? Can you overcome that and enjoy the music just the same?
Yeah, of course. I mean, it’s not every record I listen to that it’s drums. If I don’t like the drummer, it doesn’t mean I don’t like them. There’s plenty of bands that I don’t necessarily like the drummer, but I still like the band. It’s just, that’s the first thing I listen to.
Can you name three songs that you would consider to be perfect and explain why and what they mean to you?
Planet Caravan by SABBATH because it’s real mellow and kind of out of their comfort zone. Shotgun Willie by WILLIE NELSON. It’s got a real good pocket, good bass and drummer. And the BEATLES…anything by the Beatles!
What are some of the most memorable shows that you’ve seen in your life?
I saw the ROLLING STONES on the Tattoo You tour, that was pretty cool. I saw METALLICA on the Master Of Puppets tour, it was pretty big deal for me. I saw HANK JR. live once, that was a big deal.
What is the band that you’ve toured with that impressed you the most? The one that you had to watch their set, night after night?
We toured with the CRO-MAGS about 5 years ago and that was kind of like that. Their drummer is really cool, and they’ve been around the block a million times. Just a fun band to tour with and a fun band to watch.
What are some of your favorites lyrics? Either a line, a song, or just the general body of work of a lyricist.
I like SON HOUSE, old blues. The simplicity of his lyrics and the depression of them, it’s pretty cool. Obviously Sabbath has some really good lyrics.
When it comes to blues and jazz, what era do you typically appreciate the most?
I like the really old blues, like Son House, JOHN LEE HOOKER. Then you got the Delta Blues, Mississippi, stuff like RL BURNSIDE. There’s not really era. I mean, blues, it was really only in the 50’s and 60’s that it gained popularity.
So you’re not much for more recent blues musicians then, are you?
I just like the old Delta Blues stuff, you know? To me, it’s real raw and punk rock. Stuff like 1-4-5 blues, John Mayer and shit, I’m not really into stuff like that.
Is there an artist or band from your lifetime, that you really wish you could have seen but you just never got a chance to see them?
I wish I could have seen SLAYER with Dave Lombardo but they never came to New Orleans. I didn’t see them until they had Paul Bostoph, in Germany, but I really would have liked to see Slayer with Dave Lombardo.
Is there any classic or universally acclaimed artists that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later to become one of your favorites? Or even something that you hated at first and then rediscovered, and it now just clicked?
Probably BLACK SABBATH, because when I was a kid in high school, I liked Ozzy better, the solo stuff. Then I got into Sabbath when I was 17-18 and it clicked.
What are your favorites Sabbath records? Do you have your go-to’s, or are you always moving between eras and albums?
I like all of Sabbath, pretty much, with different singers and everything but my favorites were with Ozzy though. The first six records, man. The first one, all the way to Technical Ecstasy.
Do you have any unpopular music opinion that you’d like to defend? Something that you truly love but can hardly find anyone to agree with you?
Yeah, a lot of the country stuff. I listen to a lot of old outlaw country stuff, and it’s kind of hard to get people to want to listen to it. HANK JR, DAVID ALLAN COE, GEORGE JONES. WILLIE NELSON. SKYNYRD is in there. CHARLIE DANIELS BAND.
In closing, is there any up and coming bands that you’d like to recommend? Maybe a band that you’ve toured with in recent years that really impressed you?
Shit man! We haven’t been on tour in the past two years. I don’t know…to me, music is something that’s really personal and it seems to me that people don’t like music shoved down their face. Whatever bands, you know…I’m 53 years old. There’s not many new bands that I’ve been listened to a lot lately.
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