What is tour preparation like for you guys, the physical aspect of it for you as to be more intense then for many other bands? What do you do as far as any mental or physical prep work?
We have an ongoing joke that we always say to each other, “You’re not going to get out of it.” With that said, you just have to jump in. For this upcoming tour that we are going to do, we just spent two weeks in Japan, one week in New Zealand and Australia, and seven weeks in Europe. If don’t know what we are doing by now, we might as well get out of the game. We had like almost fives weeks off, and we are going to get together on the 20th and rehearse for like three or fours hours, and take the 21st off, and then the 22nd we leave Dies Moines at noon for rehearsal in St Paul, MN, which is where the first show is, and we’ll rehearse from like 5 to 9. So two rehearsals, and they won’t be dress rehearsals, they won’t be us running around and doing whatever. Then the 23rd will be the first show, and whether you like it or not, get ready because you are not going to get out of it. We are magic, that’s really the insanity of what goes on and the pain involved. When you show up on the 23rd and you slap the masks on, a lot of pain is going to occur. But this pain that we require is the pain that we invented. It’s the pain that only we know. The whole world will never know what its like to be us, and that’s half of the excitement and half of the challenge is becoming us again. You can’t really prepare for it; you can’t really practice for that show, because there is too much adrenaline and too many other things that occur.
How did you view Slipknot fitting into the musical tapestry today?
I listen to everyone bitch and moan, the industry is this or how fans are stealing music off the internet and how this label let 250 people go. This music company isn’t working, and everyone is doing 360 deals, and labels have to get involved with merchandising now when they used to make fun of it. They have to have a part of the band’s merch, publishing and touring, labels are getting involved in management, because nobody can figure it the fuck out. What I am saying is that everything might be down and everything might be bad, but the love for rock n’ roll is bigger than ever. In today’s society, and what’s going on and how shitty the world is, and all the shit that we have to look at, the need for music is more than ever, and I believe Slipknot is in the top percent. There is not another band, there is not another art form…nothing in this entire world is anything close to us! We are our own thing, we are special. I will be here for many, many years to come hopefully, and I never know when it’s going end. I don’t know if things will change, because of the obstacles that I am confronted with. One day, I might want to quit just because it’s become too surreal and it’s hard, but I manage to get a hold of it. So I view us… we are A+, we are in the top one percent. I can say that, because our fans are real, nothing of what we do is a lie, we play extreme music, and we have an extreme show. I mean, I know bands that have three members, and they last two years, and then all of the sudden, they have musical differences. I spit on those bands. I spit on that crap! All these bands that are trying reflect off of the Beatles, trying to recreate some melody and trying to recreate the Beatles, I spit on that shit, too! We are a culture, Slipknot is a culture. We identify with living humans that have pain, and need to get it out, and look to us to get it out, to get out their passion. So I view us as it, and I don’t care who you are or what you have done, come watch a Slipknot show and see what you’re not doing. We are the real deal. I see us as something very well needed for this world. I could care less if the business of rock n’ roll is failing; it has nothing to do with us, because we are not failing. I go to a show and people are there, because it’s true and it’s needed. We are going to continue bringing it until we can’t do it anymore, we are going to hang it up and we are going to disappear, but I am not going to sit around bellyaching. I am not traditional music, I don’t have something out, because it’s big right now, and when it’s not, I am going to disappear. Like nine out of ten of all the bands that are out. They come out with their tricks and their bullshit, and they are out. Where are they now? Well, I will tell you where we are, we are still doing exactly what we have been doing for 10 years, but we are just getting better. I have no time to play games with anybody anymore about what Slipknot is, we are what we are and that’s the real deal.
Slipknot performs at Madison Square Garden in NYC on Feb. 5 and at Camden, NJ’s Susquehanna Bank Center on Feb. 7. slipknot1.com
