Terrorizer Article 99
Just how did slipknot become this year's rnaway extreme Metal success story?
With over 22,000 copies of their debut album sold in the UK already and over
100,000 stateside, it's a question that many are asking. Was it the band's blend of
death metal and Nineties crossover, or was it the subtle marketing of the label
Roadrunner? The only way to answer this was to talk to both the band and the
label. We sent our very own Dobting Thomas, Ian Glasper, to peer behind the
masks.....
         OKAY, Okay I admit it - I was one fo the doubters, cynical of the whole Slipknot circus,
and I'd already convinced myself that no band could possibly live up to the expectations generated
by so much industry hype. I mean, how could they, right? Which was exactly why Mr. Terry
assigned me to investigate the whole phenomenon that surrounds the band; he needed someone
clear headed and quick-thinking...oh, who was a jadded old bastard and all. You see we don't just
stick any band on the cover of this esteemed rag; there are certain requirements that have to be
met (and we're not talking dress codes either) - like, are the band any fucking good? Are they
heavy and nasty enough? Well, even tho' I was skeptical at first, it has to be said that Slipknot
smashed all my pre(mis?)conceptions into a hunderad jagged pieces, being more than worthy of
gracing the pages of any magazines hopelessly devoted to violent excess such as ourselves....and
no one can deny the huge impact they are having on the metal scene we all know and love.
      So, without futher ado, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the deranged nightmare that is
Slipknot, and to help guide us through it's darkpassageways, I not only hooked up with quietly
spoken drummer Joey Jordison ( affectionatly known as '1' to his fans), but also with
producer-extraordinaire, Ross Robinson, who is widely credited with helping launch the band on
an unsuspecting world; Monte Conner, Roadrunners head of A&R; and Mark Palmer, the labels
manager here in the UK. With their help, I hope to shed some new light and perspective on what is
rapidly becoming a musical urban legend.
                          Humble Beginnings
Personally, one of the things I find most attractive about Slipknot is their humility before their fans.
After all, it's the fans that put any band where they are, and Slipknot comes from the kind of
musically sterile hellhole (Des Moines Iowa) that instills gratitude for any success, no matter how
small.... let alone the rollercoaster of notority the band is currently enjoying.
     "Oh, it was real hard back then," remembers Joey. "We were going out to shows with backpacks
full of tapes, and we only really built up a strong local following about a year before the label
interest began. We realised the ammount of work that needed to be done and we were prepared to
bleed ourselves to death to do it. You see, we come from a place where you don't take shit for
granted; there is no outlet for hard music.....it's sparse enough for entertainment full-stop, let alone
metal. It's basically a bible-bashing place known only for corn [please note that c - IG], so we all
ended up collaborating to create the kind of band we wanted to see and hear ourselves, and take
some risks to do what we wanted. That's why we'll stand out in the rain after shows, and talk to
kids, and sign their shit for them. This is our gift, and we do it well, but we respect our fans, and
we'll never forget the sacrifices they make for us".
      Such commitment to stay grounded in hardcore reality is obviously one of the reasons the band
appeals to their fans. Slipknot are an outrageous enough proposition to be able to escape your
mundane everyday life in the dark., twisted grooves, yet they dont place themselves beyind the
reach of their fans, who can all relate to the bands teenage purgatory in a town starved of
excitement.
      Was there ever a moment back then when you dremt you might actually achive such giddy
hights so quickly?
"Well, we all believed that if we could stay focused, we could get signed. We all had a little fire
inside us; maybe not to be a 'nig' band, but to at least satisfy our creative desires. We have to do
this, otherwise we would internally combust. You have to believe in yourselves, and none of us
ever dobted we could 'make it' in some way or other....and how will you ever know if you might
achive your dreams if you don't try?"
       It was this unwavering self-beliefe that also drew that attention of people who were to be very
instrumental in the success of the band later on. People like platinum-plated producer Ross
Robinson.
     "Absolute integrity," he quietly rants, from his Indigo Ranch studio in Malibu, trying to explain just
what it is that is so unique about Slipknot. "When I'm with a band that is all it's about, 100% full on
sincerity. I'm also very attracted to people who have to either do music, or they die; it really is a life
or death dicision for some artists, and Slipknot are just like that.
      " They're totally driven, it's geniuine calling from within for them. It's no secret - in fact i think it's
blatantly obvious -their success is because they stand for something they truley believe in, and
everyone is drawn to it. It's the same reason that people believed in christ; who can resist
someone who is prepared to stand up and suffer, or die, for what they believe in? I've worked with
a lot of intense bands over the years, but Slipknot are probably the most intense of all"
                                                     Enter the RoadRunner
                             (BEEP! BEEP!)
     "I got sent their debute record ['Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat', on the bands own label - G], and to be
honest, when I heard it, it didn't do much for me!" laughs Monte Connor, the label's A&R guy who
was responsible for signing the band up. " IT sounded very little like the Slipknot of today, alto'
there were three songs on there that ended up being redone for this album....'sic',I believe was
called 'Slipknot' back then. They had a different vocalist, too, who was't nearly as versatile as
Coprey is.
         " Basically I kept in touch with the band via their manager, and they really wanted to sign with
Roadrunner - they were big, big fans of everything on the label - so every six to nine moths, they
would send to me another demo."
      When did you suddenbly realise the potential in the band?
"It was when I heard the demo of the song 'Spit it Out'. To me, it has every element of the Slipknot
sound in it.....it has Corey doing the really heavy aggressive vocals, and the singing style, it has all
the extras, crazy precussion and the DJ; it has that hyper-speed tempo that the band are already
famous for, the insane drumming...when I heard that song, the light bulb went off in my head.
      " I thought, these guys are great, they're now ready. At the same time Ross Robinson had
heard it as well, and had flown out to Des Moines to see the band even before me. He called me,
and I flew out a few weeks later, and it all came together."
        I know you must get a lot of tapes handed you, so what pricked up your ears about Slipknot?
" Yeah I do get a lot of new bands", sighs Monte. " I mean, the other day, I got a video off a band
from Bosto, and they come on stage wearing masks, with nine members, and, lo and behold,
they're playing the exact same instruments as Slipknot...it was so blatant, it was unbelievable!"
       Already the imitators are coming out of the woodwork!
" Well, in the wake of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, in the wake of that explosion in American
rock, there's now a trillion bands doing that rap rock metal thing, but to Slipknot's credit, they were
doing what they're doing three or four years back, long beofre all these other bands. They really
are unique! Musically they are totally different to any other bands out there, with the whole nine
member attack; the speeds they play at are incredible, Joey is such a crazy drummer... and I
haven't even mentioned their Image yet! They basically appealed to Roadrunner because they
looked and sounded completely different to everyone else."
                                              No Pain, No gain
And you wanna know the est thing about these guys? The image might appear all consuming at
first, but one listen to the album reveals a band strong enough musically to more than back it up.
This is some seriously twisted shit that successfully combines the quirkiness of new metal with the
detuned ferociousness of primal death. For every song like 'Wait and Bleed' that bounds along with
infectious, irrepressible energy, there is a brooding onslaught of downright brutal malevolence to
counterbalance it, so even the true thra
         " That is exactly what is so great about Slipknot," agress Monte Conner. " Any band who has
such a strong image leaves themselves wide open to a certain ammount of criticsim, but I'm
convinced that even if they went on stage in jeans and T-shirts, they'd still be amazing. The bottom
line is the music; the image is jaust a little bonus that helps the whole package along a bit. The
music on the cd is what the kids are really reacting to, and then when you go to a show, and see
their whole incredible live act, it just gets better!"
          "It's so cool to have some real characters back on the scene again," Mark Palmer reckons.
"They have such an OTT live show, you just don't know where to look incase you miss anything.
And they're such an impressive band when you see them, how can nyone ignor anything like that?"
       Of course, one of the dangers about such a powerful image is that it could possibly run away
from the band, and take on a life of it's own ( metaphorically speaking now...!).
" We are wary of getting too consumed by all the marketing shit" says Joey carefully. " We give
certain people a little leverage, but we wanna keep control of everything we possibly can. We don't
want stupid shit out there; we want affordable stuff that the fans will enjoy. You owe it to your fans
to maintain true integrity. We wear these masks as a reaction against all that
rockstar/fame/money/endorsements shit. That has nothing to do with music, and that has nothing
to do with Slipknot. We have to excel ourselves with every single record we do, rather than dilute
oyrselves. We're promising our fans that the next record will be even harder, even more
primal...how can it not be? This band is too over-compulsive for that not to happen. We're 100%
up to the challenge of the next album; we're already working ourselves into a feeding frenzy just
thinking about it!"
            " Their roots are in straight molten metal," exclaims Ross Robinson, in closing." "that's the
key: attitude; no one can fuck with that kind of intensity. It's very real, and anyone who hears this
record will recognise it instantly. They stand for totally ripping it up, and just destroying
everything!"sh heads out there won't feel short-changed by this
offering.
       BUt, of course, such insane levels of intensity are not achived by every new band coming
through, and it seems like much of the secret behind the Slipknot album lies in the intimate
interaction between the band and their producer, Ross Robinson.
" He really helped free the inner demon that we all had in us," reveals Joey, " He had me playing
so hard, I had seventeen blisters on one hand, and nineteen on the other; me hands were
wrapped up like the fuckin' mummy - and this was just in pre-production! So when we recorded, I
was so on fire, and so in shape, I was crazy...I busted out eight songs in one night!
       " Y'know? I think we might be the first band to have challenged him, instead of it being the
other way around. He didn't change any of the songs or anything, but he certainly helped get them
out of us in a more tangible form; he helped the songs flow. A lot of bands say shit like 'oh, our
producer is our extra member', but ROss Robinson really is the tenth member of Slipknot!"
       " It was total chaos," recalls Robinson himself of the incendiary sessions that spawned
'Slipknot'." The band was slamming, just like at the show. They were all three feet in the air, with
shit getting slammed and hit, and drums getting thrown at the walls; it was very spontaneous and
very violent, a real vibe. Indigo Ranch is the perfect place to make a record like this. For a start, it's
too far away for people to keep calling by just to hang out, and it has a great atmosphere. The love
I have for the bands I work with is so great, they have no choice but to give everything they have
inside them."
       So, was it ever a concern that the end result might be just a tad to intense for your average
punter? Ross scoffs at such notions of compromise:
" we made a magic record for us, and no one else. We just cared about how good it felt, how much
it was satisfying the craving within ourselves. The label and management had no real say; no one
interfered with us outside of the band and myself. We did what our hearts told us to, and we
created something that is pure and undiluted."
      But is anything ever really pure, especially in the big sleazy business of music?
" If I'm told to do something, I always do the opposite," claims Ross, " And fortunatly I'm in a position
to be able to do what the hell I like, and that includes telling people to fuck right off if they try to
interfere with any of my bands. Believe me, none of my bands will ever get fucked eith, by anyone,
ever."
As if anyone is really going to fuck with nine masked madmen.....
                                                      A SNOWBALL CALLED HYPE
       Unless you've been living in a commune in Alaska, you ewill have been exposed to the
mighty publicity machine on behalf of this band. You've probably seen and heard their name so
many times by now that you already feel like an old school fan of the band - yet you probably
hadn't even heard of them before this last summer! Such is the power of shrewed marketing and it
sometimes seems hat no one does this better than Roadrunner.
     "Well, obviously that played a major role in the record selling so well and so quick." argues
Monte Conner, when I suggest that the band landing themselves the opening slot on the US
Ozzfest must surely have been a pivotal moment in their meteoric rise through the ranks (if you
blinked, you missed it!), " But even prior to that we had manufactured between 50,000 and 60,000
promo cassettes of the songs 'Spit it out' and 'Surfacing', and we had given them out at key shows
all across America for, like, six months beofre the album hit. Chances are, if you were at any of the
cool tours during the summer - like Sepultura, Soulfly or Machine Head - you walked away with a
Slipknot tape. Which is why so many kids ran out and bought the album as soon as it appeared.
We used a company called Streetwise Marketing, and thise street teams played a big part in
creating that whole buzz leading to the ozzfest shows."
         " We did the Ozzfest without a fucking record out " boasts Joey proudly, " And there were still
hundreds of Slipknot shirts there. They'd heard the free tapes, or seen us on the internet, and they
were really psyched to see us. We had a huge fanbase immediatly, and we just had to prove that
we could live up to the expectations. We went out and gave 150% of ourselves, and demolished
everything...including each other!"
      Of course, the UK is a tougher nut to crack, being inherently more cynical than the U.S., but
even here the band have notched up incredible sales and generated such a profile for
themeselves that their debuteEnglich gig is to be headlining the London Astoria! And one suspects
they could have sold out a far bigger venue had they been booked into one....
     "Yes, to be honest, they could have done the Brixton Academy," admitts Mark Palmer, calling me
from the Roadrunner London office. "The Astoria sold out within five days ot the tickets going on
sale, which is pretty astounding, so we could have done it somewhere far  bigger, but we wanted
their first show here to be an intimate, exciting experience.
     "Once in a while, a band comes along who captures everybody's imagination," he continues,
trying to explain away the phenomenon, as much for himself as for anyone else. " Machine Head
did it with 'Burn my Eyes', and Coal Chamber did it with their first album, and now Slipknot have
gone and done it, too. Months beofre Kerrang! really picked up on them, we were leaking testers
of their music on the web site, and on magazine cover mounts. There were Metal Hammer singles
club releasem and we gave away thousands of Stickers on the Internet. Kids actually discovered
this band themselves, gradually and organically. IT wasn't like we set out to ram Slipknot down
people's throats - people rammed it down themselves!"
       And when exactly was it you realised just how fucking big the band was destined to be?
" The tuesday after the LP was realsed," replies Mark without hesitation. "It had a mid-week chart
placing at number 20, which is the second highest ever for us. We were hoping for a top 75
maybe, or perhaps even top 40....so that made us sit up. And then when HMV called and told us
that the record did 600 for them on the first day, it made everyone sit up!"
                                        A History of Time to come.      
       So there you have it, a brief foray into the weird world of Iowa's most psychotic (not to mention
only)musical export. You can't help  but have seen them garishy plasted over every damn rock
magazine out there, and your'e probably thinkiong, if you're one of those skeptics I mentioned
earlier, 'oh sure, here today, gone tomorrow,' friends, I, too, was lost, but now I've seen the light...
and there's some guy in a fetish mask jerking off there in the doorway!
          I certainly don't think these guys are anotyher Mindfunk, destined to blow up briefly and then
go crawling back to their hick town with their gold record dragging in the dirt behind them.
Nosirree, there's so much intensity around this band, you hqave to shield your eyes when you look
upon them. Dare I say they are the real success? 'Cos when you stripnaway all the trimmings,
you're still left with a damn fine band.