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.
Joey Jordison
I'm constantly writing music and keeping myself busy somehow.
I don't pay attention to critics.
'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.
I got 'Reign In Blood' for Easter one year - how ironic is that?
I've been into 3IOB since 'Battle Cry Under a Winter's Sun.' I've wanted to work with them since.
I'm writing music that people can grasp and hold on to... something that resonates. If you don't have that, then you have nothing.
Modifidious was my first real band.
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.
I wasn't worried about flash or persona... It's all about writing a good, solid song.
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.
I want to get out as much art as I can while I'm here, and I seem to get better the more that I do it.
I was in band all the way through high school, and I played in jazz competitions all across Iowa.
Always try and play with as many people as possible, even if it's not your style of music, because you will learn a lot.
Any kind of idea of fame - that has been shelved.
Slipknot is my baby. It is my life. It means everything. Everything I do means the world to me, but when it comes down to it, Slipknot... that's my blood.
Without blood and pain, there is no Slipknot.
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.
The heart bleeds music no matter what, and it bleeds different types of music.
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.
With me, I would never lose my sight of music.
Metal music is a very fan-oriented, fan-protected music - very sacred.
You meet people, and you realize that you can never judge a book by its cover.
You can't give up in life. You just can't do it, no matter what it is that is going on.
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've got so much material; like, it feels as if every day I'm coming up with so many riffs.
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.
'My Swan Song' - that song is so depressing but uplifting at the same time, you know what I mean?
Slipknot's not about who's in the band. It's a lifeblood. It's a force. It's about a connection between a bunch of people.
The riffs, lyrics, and drums of 'Open Your Omen' will tell you a lot.
Playing drums, for me, is like breathing. It's like thinking. It's like eating. It's like walking.
There was a time when I was beat down, and I lost my way.
The drum records that I like are ones on which the drumming didn't repeat itself. The players didn't stick to a format or formula.
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'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.
Playing drums is how I communicate. It's how I speak to people. That's my God-given gift.
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.
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.
The mask is a pain thing. It's clammy, and your body is moving all over, and you're locked into this thing, and you can't get out.
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.
I pretty much use the same stuff live that I use in the studio. I don't like the feel to change too much.
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.
I think that no matter how old you get, you are always learning about yourself.
I suffered from asthma when I was a kid.
You can't think about what other people think. You just can't. It's stupid. You've got to look inside yourself.
No matter what comes your way, being a musician, you will never, ever learn to play it all.
Without Metallica, I wouldn't play the way that I do.
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.
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.
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.
