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SLIPKNOT
Return of the Masked Metal Gods
by Jonathan Williams
Photos by Tim Watson
From the May 2004 issue of Prick Magazine.
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For a band that wears masks, Slipknot doesn't seem to have a whole lot to hide. While some of the members have unmasked since the band's last release (2001's Iowa) via side projects such as Corey Taylor (#8) and James Root's (#4) Stonesour and Joey Jordison's (#1) Murderdolls, seeing their faces really only scratches the surface of who these guys are.
Guitarist Mick Thomson (#7), for instance, will talk to you about his first tattoo ("I found out later he had been using the same needles on everyone for six months"), his encounters with porn stars ("I'm well versed") and the smell of his bandmates' farts ("They peel paint"), among just about anything else. In fact, while other band members "got to go out and dress up like fucking women or whatever" over the past couple of years, Thomson chose to take some time off and get more in touch with himself, so to speak.
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"We didn't intend to take that much time off [but] we had lots of problems with management and lots of legal shit," says Thomson of the band's hiatus. "I've been asked to do a lot of different things, but I don't want to tour. What it comes down to is I'm lazy as a motherfucker and I really don't give a fuck. I basically shut my phone off for two years, didn't answer the door and wanted my fucking peace and quiet. I'm all about my peace and quiet and you don't really get it much when you're on the road. I sat at home fucking getting fat and fucking masterbating and sleeping."
Once Slipknot had gotten it's legal kinks worked out, all the side projects were put on hold and the band headed back to the studio to record a much anticipated new album with Rick Rubin, and Thomson was somehow able to pull himself out of his Al Bundy-like slumber to contribute. He says Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), due out May 25, is "not a departure," but definitely shows the band's "renewed drive" after pursuing other projects.
"It's very much us, but there's some growth," he says. "We're different people than when we started [in] '95, so we've grown and changed. There's more texture in there, a little more freedom. Jim's added a little more and you're hearing more of other people than before. It's my favorite thing that we've done, easily."
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Thomson also says the band is hungry to return to its rigorous touring schedule and put on the live spectacles that established the band as the metal mainstay it has become.
"When you do it day after day, it's fun, but it's like making porno," he says. "I'm sure after a while you're like, 'Do I have to fuck another fucking strumpet? God, I hate going to work.' We definitely needed some time off and it actually made me want to do it again.
"Once you strap the fucking mask on you change," he continues. "I still get jacked up when I put it on. I was amazingly fine after the first show. I feel just the fucking same as when we started. It was a pleasant surprise because I thought I'd be fucked. But we're just fucking playing and it's fun again. As soon as this is done, we're doing Jay Leno, then we fly to do Conan, then we fly to Europe for six weeks with Metallica."
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While the rampant rumors that Slipknot had disbanded have obviously been proven false, there are still rumors that this will be the band's last album and tour. Thomson, however, thinks otherwise.
"I've had to answer questions every single day about that shit and it's ridiculous," he says. "It's so bad, I've had kids argue with me and tell me, 'No, you guys broke up.' I [even] get it from people in the industry.
"Not one of us could ever do anything nearly as great as what we do together," Thomson says of Slipknot's future. "We're done when we're done and I don't know how soon that will be. Not until Clown has a heart attack onstage because he's fat and old."
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Slipknot will be headlining the second stage at this summer's Ozzfest.
For more information, go to www.slipknot1.com or www.roadrunnerecords.com.
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