Phil Anselmo’s guitarist Mike DeLeon sat down with Talk Louder Podcast and talked about how Pantera bassist Rex Brown taught him Dimebag Darrell’s style.
During the chat, DeLeon shared a detail — that he played guitar at that first rehearsal before Wylde joined. When asked if this was true, he confirmed:
“Man. I got the jam at rehearsal number one. This is all.”
DeLeon also revealed what the most important thing was during their first rehearsal:
“The most important thing about this rehearsal that went down, the most important thing was that it was rehearsal number one. It was the first time that those three guys got in a room together, but most specifically, Rex Brown, and Philip Anselmo, who had not really been in a room together jamming Pantera songs since 2001.”
The Hardest Part Of Joining Pantera
It’s known that Dime and Wylde were very close, and fans always saw Wylde as the top choice if there was ever a Pantera reunion. So when it finally happened, everyone assumed the guitarist would know the band’s songs. But he revealed in an interview with Guitar World that it wasn’t the case.
Wylde admitted he didn’t know any of Dimebag Darrell’s parts before joining Pantera and reflected on the challenges of filling in for the late guitar legend. He said:
“The hardest thing wasn’t learning [the songs]; it was learning the proper way to play them so they sound like Dime – because everybody’s gonna play certain things their own way. I remember when I used to play [Rush’s] ‘The Spirit of Radio’, I learned it on the B string and the G string, and I had to do this big stretch. My guitar teacher was like, ‘No, no, Zakk. It’s all open strings. It’s on the second fret on the E and the B.’ That was way easier.”
You can see the recent interview below.