Interview: Interview with Shawn, Corey, Sid, James and Paul
Josh of 9 Fingers.com
9fingers: When you guys were in Odessa, Texas do you remember the guy wearing/holding the gas mask in the air?
Shawn: Yes absolutely and I want to tell fans, I know faces and I recognize faces but we're terrible at names,
but we remember everyone's face.
9fingers: What was it like to play Locobazooka, and will they return to Worcester anytime soon?
Shawn: It was pretty cool- we like the outdoor feel and the tents and the local people selling jewelry and stuff-
Les Claypool actually got to watch us- cos he never got to see us at Ozzfest because of slots -we liked it, we'll do it again
if they ask us.
9fingers: Who did you guys hang out with on the Ozzfest tour?
Shawn: (HED)pe and System of a Down
9fingers: How was it being on a major tour like that? Get sick of it fast? Miss it?
Shawn: It's kinda weird cos a lot of bands didn't like Ozzfest but we loved it we're looking forward to hopefully
being on it this year were gonna try, we might not be but we're gonna try
9fingers: Do you like seeing girls at your shows? Or do you think they should stay home and not get hurt?
Shawn: I love seeing girls at shows because girls are girls and they feel pain and love and all that stuff too
and they've got the magic so- girls
9fingers: Do you like Madonna?
Shawn: I love Madonna she's hot -she kicks ass for her age -one thing about Madonna is that she's constantly
changing it up and doing what she feels.
9fingers: Who do you think the sexiest woman alive is?
Shawn: my wife
9fingers: Dead?
Shawn & Sid & Paul: Marilyn Monroe
9fingers: Any of you guys vegetarian? Vegans? Virgins?
Shawn: No, no and no.
9fingers: In the song (SIC), what does it say at the beginning? Does it say Pick up the Pace or here comes the
pain?
Shawn: Here comes the pain
9fingers: What do you think about other bands using alternate percussion, do you think that the other bands would
be ripping you off?
Shawn: Well all that stuff isn't just brand new with Slipknot -so um it depends you know? its kinda like... "Do
you know who Slipknot is?", "Yeah" "Do you know they use two percussionists?", " Yeah" "Do you like Slipknot?", " Yeah" "Do
you guys wanna be like Slipknot?", " Yeah" Then I have a problem with it -especially like we'll know who's copying when the
percussion's getting a little wacked then ill have a problem with it
9fingers: What is the song "Prosthetics" about?
Corey: The song's based loosely on a 1960's movie called the collector- it is about a guy who kidnaps this girl
and basically adds her to his collection and keeps her there -it's a weird kind of psychological thing, and prosthetics takes
it a little bit further -where he is put into a deep sick psychosis and he goes through the whole collecting thing, at the
end of the song he ends up killing her and having sex with her
9fingers: Will you ever come to Jackson, MS in the near future?
Shawn: We hope to be coming everywhere- if we'll play Odessa, Texas- then we'll play everywhere- Odessa will
go down in remembrance of the tour.
9fingers: What are your favorite horror movies?
Shawn: all the Evil Deads, Army of Darkness, the Shining, the Exorcist.
9fingers: Have you heard of the band called REVOLT?
Shawn: no Paul: no Sid: no
9fingers: What are your future touring plans (ie.the rumors of the pantera tour)?
Shawn: We will be doing pantera- what I can tell you is that Pantera came to the first show on this tour- we
hung out with Vinny and Darrell, they loved us they loved the show, they loved the band, they invited us to their strip club-
we hung out with them -they are talking to our management personally- I mean Darrel and Vinny are personally talking to our
management -there are some dates in a lot of December- the band stays out of all that. You can tell us that were on Pantera
tour, but until I'm there ready to go on the show, I wont believe it but, that isn't something that's hype- that's probably
gonna happen.
9fingers: Whose musical career do you most admire, and why(apart from your own)?
Shawn: We like Mike Patton a lot because he is just a music genius- because he is able to reach out and do a
bunch of other things with out worrying about the industry he'll put out a Bungle album that will be crazy and then the next
Bungle album will be like a bunch of love songs - and he does it cos he needs to and he'll put out an album about pasta recipes
- we also like bands like Neurosis - their new album is just incredible -they stay true to what they are- they are not trying
to grab on to a trend or trying to change it up to get some money- they do whats in their hearts -slipknot likes people who
stay true to their hearts- Picasso and Vangogh and Cezanne never made any money when they were doing impressioning Cezanne
was selling still-lifes for food money- he painted because he had to paint and because he loved to paint
9fingers: England is getting siccer...can't wait for their tour.
Shawn: we will go to England and Australia- in November we are trying to go overseas-we are trying to get on
the Big Day Out (Australia), were trying to, but we'll see
9fingers: What is Slipknot all about as a group what do they represent or what is their main motivation?
Shawn: I specifically think Slipknot has always been and always will be about truth -we play for ourselves- we
listen to our hearts- we play the music we were born to play-we do what we want -we don't make concessions for anybody, we
come out and we do the best we can for the fans every night -we don't try to outdo ourselves -we don't try to be somebody
else- so I think the bare minimum would be that we're truth - that's all that you can be- if you don't lie to yourself and
stay true to yourself, then you'll succeed.
9fingers: How have things changed at home in Des Moines since your success?
Shawn: Des Moines hasn't changed, it will always be Des Moines, what I can tell you is that Slipknot is not there
to defend itself everyday - back when we were home when everyone was talking shit we were there to defend ourselves- now that
we're out living our dream, were still loved by the fans, the only difference is when we started Slipknot there weren't a
lot of metal bands there, and now we go home and everyone is playing metal music.
9fingers: Do you plan on working with Ross Robinson again?
Shawn: We will work with Ross Robinson again, we love him -he is like a 10th member.
9fingers: When is your video is coming out?
Shawn: Home video is not coming out we don't feel the fans are ready for our home video because it's not time-
we want everyone in the world to have at least to see us twice before we start expressing our serious views and our comedy
and our horror-we are definitely gonna release the song "Spit it Out" - there might be a few live songs on there because it
would be upsetting for the fans to only get the "Spit it Out" video and there will be a very few sit down answers in the video
but we haven't even agreed to that yet- no exploitation of our band- when we feel ready to do something we'll do it- we won't
be told when to make a home video.
9fingers: (For Paul) what do you think of Cliff Burton?
Paul: He was an amazing bass player, he was really good- it was a shame he died- I hope I don't die in a bus
accident- he slammed a lot.
9fingers: (For James) What do you think about Slayer and Metallica?
James: I think Slayer and Metallica are good.
9fingers: When will you release jumpsuits?
Shawn: They are in the making right now-nothing is gonna be released until all the members of the band have jumpsuits
that can't be duplicated- we are going to take our jumpsuits all the way so we're separated from the fans- we're expecting
in the years to come to have a little army- the jumpsuits will probably be by the company Dickies- we don't wear anything
under them when we play -we want everyone to be like us like that way.
9fingers: Are you gonna do your own headlining tour?
Shawn: Not anytime soon- it's been talked about but its not something that we're excited about, because we want
this band to in a very honest way get to where we want to be- I don't think the band is ready to headline- we are fine with
playing with great bands like Coal Chamber, Machine Head and Pantera.
9fingers: Will you do any more signings?
Shawn: Yes we want to hopefully soon I love that -I love being in that environment -I want to do as many as possible
-and I'm waiting for the kids to turn it up- I'm waiting for some crazy shit to go on.
9fingers: What is going on in the songs, "Scissors"/"Eeyore"?
Shawn: It's the hidden track- Slipknot was based on the theory that we would never give up any style of music
that we loved to play -for anyone- that we would gel things together under the name slipknot- it goes from all styles from
beginning to end Corey: "Eeyore" is just about this one fucking guy from Des Moines, Iowa - he has long blonde fucking hair
and he is a prick to people in the fucking pit he's a Thor looking jerkoff- he loves our band but he's a dick to everyone
in the pit -he likes to hit fucking chicks-the song is about me losing my mind and just tearing the shit out of him.
9fingers: What is up with Marlon Brando?
Shawn: Joey and I were walking in New York and we overheard this guy saying it-and it hit me really hard- I don't
want to explain it because I think people should work for content- no one should be given intelligence, you should search
your own brain-if you know who Marlon Brando is, and you know what he became, and you know where he came from- its just like
it's the best line of all time.
9fingers: What's up with "Purity"?
Shawn: It's like this- whether it's real or not, it affected Corey very much, the thought of it- so it was able
to influence him- the song is not directly one hundred percent about it Corey: I still think its real -see the thing whether
it's true or not, it's a real story- that we read about -that fucked our whole world up -can you imagine a girl being buried
in a box and having all this lecherous bullshit drip down on her from this guy? and thinking that there is hope, because this
kid is taking some bizarre note to this guy he doesn't even know- thinking that you are holding on to the shirt of hope -and
you wake up and you're dead you're buried in mud -they find the note about a week later shoved in a library book for gods
sakes -it just hurts your head- it's a case of what is good and bad in people- the box alone is reason enough to be like,
'I cant stand to be fucking human'- how can someone fucking do this to somebody? What is inside of us that is so fucking wrong?
he had written quotes from Edgar Allen Poe and lots of fucked up things on the box.
