Former White Zombie Bassist Sean Yseult Pays Tribute to Dimebag Darrell | Revolver

Former White Zombie Bassist Sean Yseult Pays Tribute to Dimebag Darrell

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Today marks seven years since Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell was killed onstage. This week, we are posting remembrances of him by his friends. Today, former White Zombie bassist Sean Yseult (pictured left) recalls some of Dimebag's greatest pranks. Having toured extensively with Pantera, she became close friends with the guys and chronicled that friendship in photos last year with her book I'm in the Band. The new, 100th issue of Revolver, which is available here and on newsstands on December 13, features a free pullout poster of Dimebag.

You played some pretty big gigs with Pantera, including some in Japan. What do you remember about those?
It was really funny 'cause we flew with them to Japan, and we're all the way in the back in economy with all the roadies and crew. And Pantera were up in front in the second level of the airplane in these big swivel chairs, dining like kings. Luckily, I was kind of like their mascot, so I was just hanging out with Pantera the whole time in the upper deck. It was just so funny.

Dimebag had a reputation for being a prankster. Did he ever get you good with a prank?
He did this one he loved so much that he did it twice. I used to wear these engineer boots all the time. And he got like a hundred dollars worth of pennies, and he sent a roadie to run out in the middle of our show and fill pour the pennies into my engineer boots so that they wedged all around my feet and ankles, and they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. It was just so heavy I could hardly move. And I'd come off stage, and he'd say, "Junior," he called me Junior, "did you feel weighed down?" He was just fucking with me.

He did so many things. He used to do this horrible character where he put on this old man mask and a cape. He had this huge plastic dildo thing. And he would whip open the cape, and somehow he filled it with dish liquid or something. And somehow that large projecting thing would just start squirting all over everywhere. [Laughs] And he would do that right in the middle of our show.

He did so many pranks constantly. He did the one million and one Super Balls, I think it was St. Louis. Another time, at the end of the tour, they got a snow machine. And they made it snow on us for like an entire song. And all this fake snow was in our gear and fucking up everything. It would just never stop. It was onstage, offstage. He put a big inflatable shark on top of our bus. Everything had some significance and meaning to him, but I don't remember what that could've meant.

Did you ever get him back?
Oh yeah, there's a photo in my book. He was always talking about his stomach being "clubbed up "when he felt fat. So I had this back brace, because I'd broken a rib on tour, and I made it Darrell's "club holder," and I labeled it and slapped it on him. Another time, I think this was actually in a Pantera video, on our first tour with them, Dimebag always used to wear this Nine Inch Nails shirt. So I got this roadie to go on his bus and get his clothes out for me, and then a hat, and then his guitar. I had a little troll doll that had hot pink hair, it looked just like Darrell's beard, and I taped it on my chin and kind of just mimicked him for a song or two. That was pretty funny, But yeah, whatever we could do, we were just trying to entertain each other all the time. The other thing was he always said "three" when somebody stuck a finger in their ear. Me and my friend in Tokyo made these huge fingers with the number three on them and we were jabbing him in the ears onstage.

It sounds like you were very close. Did you keep in touch after the tours?
Yeah, he was really like a brother to me. We were so close. I hadn't talked to him in a little while when I moved to New Orleans. We lost a little touch. He was still out there touring. I was unfortunately at the funeral, and it was just very surreal. It's still impossible to believe that he's not with us.

Sean Yseult photo by Marina Chavez // Dimebag Photo by Lorinda Sullivan

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