Phil Demmel Talks New Gig With Slayer

Former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel made his debut live performance with Slayer earlier this week after being called on to fill-in for Gary Holt, who was forced to leave the tour to help care for his dying father.

Demmel spoke with Metal Casinoon Tuesday about how he landed the gig. He told them, "I wrapped up the Machine Head tour, I quit Machine Head, did our last show, and the next day I got a text from Kerry King saying, 'Do you think you can learn 19 Slayer songs and be out here in two days?'

"So, my wife had been at home with our son and running our business, and I had been gone for two months. And I showed her the text. She was so happy to have me home.

"So I showed her the text, and she had said, 'You've gotta go. You have to go do it.' So I started studying [the songs] on the plane. And I came out and played my first show last night."

He also had this to say about his first performance with the legendary thrash band, "Scott Ian was just saying that some of the guys were running back: 'It's his first night, and he's yelling at the audience.' So, yeah, I was feeling it. Sometimes I tend to smile onstage, and there's no smiling in Slayer. You can't smile onstage. So, yeah, I felt very welcomed by everybody."

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