Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Basically, death metal, as a musician on my part, it just changed everything as far as the technicality and where you could take music.
That's the way a musician is. You're isolated, in a weird way, because music is haunting you as much as it's loving you. It's non-stop.
When someone's in the hospital - be it a family member or anyone that has something wrong with them - if you love 'em, then you visit them.
I wake up: I am mental, I got to bed and I am mental, I am mental within my dreams, I am mental within my normal state, I'm out of my mind.
What better to get all the anger and stuff out for what I do in Slipknot than to play the drums? You're punching everything, really fast, concentrated.
I got over the transverse myelitis stuff; I'm walking great, and I'm playing faster; I mean, I'm just playing all the time. I have to, just as exercise.
'Master of Reality' rules; it's one of my favorite records of all time. It has some of the most evil riffs on it - and some of the sexiest riffs as well.
'Vol. 3' has broken down more barriers for us. We worked with different styles on this album. It's more musically mature in arrangement and is conceptual.
I'm not more into one scene than any other, and that's why I feel very lucky to be able to go into two different styles of music and be successful at both.
I've been using Pearl for so long, ever since I was a kid. Same thing with Paiste. They have both taken such great care of me, and I can't thank them enough.
First and foremost, I make music to satisfy my creative urges, but at the same time, I know my fans are waiting, so they're the ones that push me to keep going.
There is nothing whatsoever friendly about Slipknot. Corey may have a singing voice, but it's always been done with so much passion that it's always been brutal.
I actually played guitar before I played drums. And I always play guitar on the Slipknot albums as well, as well as being responsible for a lot of the songwriting.
I'm always in the right headspace! I live pretty much in isolation, so there are really no distractions. That's not a manufactured thing; it's just the way I live.
The power of music, and the power of your determination in life, especially when you're playing extreme metal like this... it just conquers. It conquers everything.
What made me want to play drums in the first place was Led Zeppelin and The Who. My parents had their records, and I grew up listening to them with the stereo cranked.
On the records that I grew up with and loved, every song was unique - it's almost as if you had a different journey every time - and the drums were big part of that story.
I'd been working on new Slipknot material since the end of the 'All Hope Is Gone' tour cycle, but I ended up with so much stuff, I had to take a step back and stop working on it.
A great drum record has to sound good; in fact, it should sound special. It should capture the richness and the actual tones of the drums themselves, regardless of who is playing.
I got really, really sick with a horrible disease called transverse myelitis; I lost my legs. I couldn't play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis, which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Keith Moon was amazing as a drummer, but he was also a nut, and it reflected in his drumming. And the great thing about Who records is that you can almost get hold of the vinyl and feel his heart.
'Vol. 3' is the most pleasing of our albums to me. And I want to keep making albums that are different from each other. And you can bet all our albums will have that twist that only Slipknot can do.
The communication within Sinsaenum is really, really cool. As extreme as the music is, you might not realize how much we respect each other and how much we coach each other and how well we communicate.
People lump us into the nu-metal category, and there might be a hint of that stuff, but if you really listen to a nu-metal band and then listen to Slipknot, it's so apples and oranges that it's retarded.
Every day is a good day above ground, and especially being able to play metal and being able to your craft and everything. You've gotta respect that, because it's something that can be taken away from you really quick.
I love listening to old records. Stuff from the '70s, even disco and funk records and a lot of early rock albums - what's great about those recordings is that you can actually hear the true tones of the drums themselves.
The simplest beats, on what rock music or any music has been formed on, can be the toughest beats to execute and perform, because it's really easy to not respect a simple 4/4 beat, because people always want to play fast.
Without Metallica, I wouldn't be doing what I am doing. I have every Metallica record, of course, and I would spend hours on drums in my parents' basement with the stereo behind me, cranking those records and learning Lars' drum beats, beat by beat.
The doctors said I might not be able to walk again. Today, I can almost run, but back then, I couldn't even stand up. I was bed-ridden. If I wanted to turn over in bed, I had to move my legs with my hands. I was in and out of the hospital for months.
'Blood Host' is super heavy. Especially on the verses, it has an industrial stomp. It's one of my favourite tracks just because the plot of it is so heavy. It's a total crushing tune; it doesn't get any heavier than that main riff, just a straight quarter-note powerhouse.
How I found out is, I landed in Des Moines from a plane ride back from the Rob Zombie tour. I was, like, 'Okay, cool, I'm home. I can finally get some rest.' Once I landed, I turned my phone on, and my manager rang, and I'm, like, 'Oh, what?' He said, 'Paul Gray just died.'
I have a ton of Slipknot demos that I have at home. Maybe some day they'll surface; maybe they'll never be heard, but I don't translate them to any other band: they still stay in the Slipknot safe. I won't use them for anyone else besides Slipknot, if that ever happens again.
My advice always is to start very simple and master your timing and master the most simple beats that you can, and you just keep elevating from that. Trying to go right into playing fast is not necessarily the best way to go about it, because if you don't have your foundation locked in, it's hard to progress.
I play guitar all the time, and I'm constantly thinking of songs... Every time I pick up a guitar, I come up with different riffs, all different bands I've been in. Sometimes there is a song or riff that could only belong with Slipknot, and I just can't use it for anything else, regardless of whatever happened.
Slipknot's music is very technical and intense, and it's not easy to play, but that's what makes it special. What's so gratifying about playing a show that is that intense is when you get off the stage, and you know you really delivered at the top of your ability and performance; that is what makes it all worthwhile.
I don't use a Beatmap; I don't use any click track. Any time I count off, it's just in my heart. Sometimes I'll go off the feel of a crowd, like if they way they're bouncing is a little quicker than the song, I might kick up the tempo a little bit. I see where the crowd is at. It's nothing drastic, but all the tempos are from my internal clock.