I recently had the chance to speak with Corey Taylor & Shawn “The Clown” Crahan of Slipknot backstage at a recent show in Calgary. In fact, I flew out West in order to specifically interview the band about 10 years of Slipknot. They had launched a West coast Canadian tour with Deftones (you can hear that interview here) in celebration of their 1999 face ripping self titled record which by some weird twist of fate, ended up selling bazillions of copies, despite being heavy as hell…creating a diehard legion of maggots as a result. They were also supporting their most recent record, All Hope Is Gone.
Anyways, I, being one said maggot, remember getting a free Slipknot sampler tape outside some metal show as a kid…it contained the tracks Wait And Bleed and Spit It Out… and a picture of 9 scary-ass serial killer looking dudes on the cover. I still have the that tape… so it was extremely interesting to get to speak with both Corey and Shawn about that time of their career, especially considering how much Slipknot has evolved over the early years. That said, to this day, the first 6 tracks on that first record still spark something inside me. Anyways, check out what #6 and #8 had to say about it….especially towards the end of the interview…some of the stories involved in the making of that very first record are hilarious…and kinda creepy.
Also, if you are fan of this band, I highly recommend picking up the celebratory reissue of the 1999 self titled album…if not just for the DVD alone, it’s totally worth it. Dang. If you’re not a fan of this band, go see them live. Nuff said.
Thanks to both Corey and Shawn for sharing that 10 years with me, check it…
Sully