Форум гитаристов

В России Catch 33 должен выйти на Айронде, в планах у них есть, но точные сроки неизвестны.

Кстати, в инфе по этому альбому на их сайте указан Drum programming вместо живого барабанщика, а Томас Хааке отвечает только за Spoken vocal... интересно, с чем связана такая перетурбация? Неужели новый альбом насколько сложен, что даже Хааке не справился и барабаны пришлось программировать?.. или из каких-то других соображений?

Martin
Томас сам сидел на компе программировал эти барабаны. Не только вокалом занимался По его словам, так сделано ради экономии время перед предстоящим новым полноценным альбомом. Иначе, барабаны записали бы только к рождеству. Ну.. на мой взгляд хуже не стало. В chaosphere они хоть и живые, но на компьютер больно смахивают

Автор оригинала duke
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Че-то загнул, да?

Не, в самый раз! Присоединясь!

Группа действительно уникальная, ее и перехвалить не стыдно

Извиняйте что отталкиваюсь от темы,но кто знает какие нибуть ссылки на интервю или статти про Джейма Рута и Мика томпсона из Слипкнота?Как они учились,первая гитара.......

Circus Magazine Article - Mick and Joey >>



Slipknot's latest offering 'Iowa' was surrounded in as much mystery as a covert military operation. Press first received a mini-cassette with the internet offering 'Heretic Song' which at the last minute was renamed 'The Heretic Anthem'. Matter of fact concert-goers who hit up [Ozzfest] and select one-off showings got the best initial idea of the new record's girth as they soaked in new tracks such as the much talked about 'People=Shit'.

Circus Magazine spoke with guitarist Mick Thompson ( #7) and drummer [Joey Jordison] ( #1) for this interview.

During Slipknot’s [Ozzfest] swing, words were exchanged and quite a few things came to light. The bottom line as Mick puts it is, "that Slipknot has a lot on the line and its up to (us) to present things in a manner that best suits fans. Right now there's only one copy of ('Iowa') , burned, and its locked away somewhere. We kept everything under wraps and super-tight. I don't even have a copy of my own album. These days its so easy for bullshit to get out there. We put out 'Heretic' and that's not even the real mix of that song. I can't stand how it sounds, it doesn't sound like that at all."
"It sucks that its got to be like this, but nobody respects bands anymore. When it came to my favourite bands, I would never have done some of the shit that you see people doing today. I was a huge [Metallica] fan until after 'And Justice For All' and you never would have caught me...with them on the internet or E-bay or any of that shit."
"Its not just that. You meet a lot of people and you sign things for them, or give things away to radio guys or whatever, and then the next thing you know you find that same shit on E-bay."
"Our last record man, there's some ... out there who have un-mixed board tapes of the last record just because they recorded at the same place that we did on the last record."

Thinking about it like that, it goes without saying that its just another volley of things for Slipknot to be angry about. As according to Mick: "the world just hates us because we don't [care] what anybody thinks. We do what we want, when we want." Joey's take on things is a little more brutal and to the point. "The worst thing is that everybody, even the fans [screw] up what we say and do all the time. Especially the media. Nobody has ever figured out the Knot yet, and I don't think anybody ever will."
"I get asked all the time what we're about and why we are so angry and that pisses me off even more. I live, eat and sleep this band. So don't ask me something like that. It is me and its just what happens when all of us get into the same room together. We become this incredible beast that cannot be controlled that will chew up everything that gets in our way. You think I'm kidding? There's only one way to find out."

As loyal fans already know, the band has switched gears from its original orange ensembles, into new pitch black gear that signal the beginning of this new more dangerous era.
Joey explains how the visual only serves to stimulate the aural. "We'll always keep changing. We're going to take it to the very cutting edge, then go even further. Our identity is based around that. It will always be a natural progression."
"These are bad things. These are dark places. Only this music could bring this out of us. Parent's feel like we're stealing there kids from them and we're not. After a kid gets to be a certain age, they figure out a lot of shit on there own."
"The music is so important because it gets them through that. Just like them it's gotten to the point where this cannot be controlled any longer."

You would think that with a band that’s sold nearly two million records in the U.S alone, would feel as if they are on easy street, but Slipknot has been in many ways backed into a corner by all of those that surround them. Whether they be peers to the business. Mick laid out his take on the salvos fired by another mid-western act, Mushroomhead who have suddenly adopted a masked persona.
"First of all they weren’t the first band to wear masks and neither were we and neither of us will be the last. Second of all, [Roadrunner] asked us if we could do without the masks and we told them ...[off] and they pretty much left us alone after that. Third of all, I’m real easy to find ... all I have to say is if you have a problem, say it to my face."

During our separate conversations, Mick and Joey both mused on the word karma that has enveloped them and how they have drawn the conclusions that they have. Joey in particular got down on the cold reality that often is this business.
"You know, now that we have accomplished a lot, we’ve grown more bitter then we were before. Besides our manager, everybody in this business sucks. We caught people stealing from us and everything."
"Then you got people twisting your words for their own gain, and it eats at you and eats at you. Its a war, its one I really take seriously."
"I have no other anything besides Slipknot. I’m either working on the music or if were touring I’m making sure everything is going well. If we don’t keep everything in check, things will just be ...[screwed]."
Mick on the other hand got way more specific and personal as to why he feels what goes around, comes around. "We do all these tours and everybody’s kissing our ass now. Like now we see tour managers that used to treat us like shit when we were opening for their band." "They’re all friendly and shit now that their band is opening for us. I remember everything. So I’m being as cool as I can but I’m thinking I remember when you were a dick to me and wouldn’t let me get catering because I couldn’t be in the same room as your band when they got there."
"Of course then they end up saying ‘You know dude, the band made me do that, I love you guys.'"
The guitarist who "doesn’t grant to many interviews unless they're guitar magazines" feels that in many ways Slipknot is under appreciated musically.
"Yeah we never get our due as musicians. I understand why. All these years any sort of rock that has presented theatrically has never really been serious...I mean look at [KISS]. Still, I didn’t spend 17 years of my life getting my skills together to suck. I’m a killer guitarist and I’m putting out a solo record soon on Slash Records that hopefully will get some people to pay attention to that."
"You know what? The same people that talk shit wouldn’t be the same people that would check that sort of record out anyway. You’re going to see a lot of different types of things come out of this band like that. We’ve only begun... so we’ll prove them all wrong, very, very wrong."

Looking at the bile, you may think that these guys are hard to get along with. Personally I’ve never had a problem with any of them as they shoot straight. They believe what they believe and if you have a problem with that...too bad.
Even if you like or dislike what they do, you gotta admit that’s the basic principal that keeps rock, metal, whatever you want to call it, alive. More times than not an interview is the farthest thing from what its title suggests, as it’s more of an exchange of agendas then real truth.
So for all you that wonder why Slipknot has connected with so many, there’s one word that comes to mind...honesty. So it’s fitting that Mick ended our end of this feature by breaking down some of the various ways his life has come full circle. "There’s so many things that have changed over the past 5 and a half years. I went from being a fan of bands like [Metallica], Testament, Exodus and Slayer to seeing all these people I went through high school with get into some of that music to be the guy that those people are now paying to see."
"In high school none of those people were into [Metallica]. They just were ready for the machine. Go to college, get married, get a bullshit job, have some kids and die. You know what pisses me off is when I went to a [Metallica] show after they got all big, and saw that these people had better seats then me. That pissed me off so bad, So Slipknot is for those kids now."
"The new record is so brutal that if you’re a fly-by-night fan, you’ll hate it. There’s no way you’ll like it if your just into us for whatever reason. You’re going to have to be a real fan. It will definitely get rid of some posers. What’s going to be cool is going to my high school reunion soon. My girlfriend was seriously telling me that I should show up with two hookers on my arm. Like look here I am, What are you?"

So did he do the whole 'Steve Vai ten-hour practise routine' when he was younger? "You know, I never really practised - I noodled. I taught myself how to play, and, when I was about 20, I learned a whole bunch of music theory and it just made sense. I took some lessons when I was 13 but didn't really learn anything. You know: 'Here's a minor scale, Aeolian mode.' I mean, what the hell does that mean? It wasn't really explained to me. It took me ten years of playing before I finally figured it out on my own."

"I never really spent that much time trying to learn music theory. I could figure scales out by ear, I played in key, I wrote chord progressions and I could improvise solos because I could hear what I wanted. And you can't really teach how to have an ear. I would try to. I'd say, 'You like [Blink 182]? Cool, throw on a fucking CD, sit down and figure those songs out.' I mean really try and train your ear. I know how to play every song I've ever really liked. I mean, I probably know 2,000 songs. I can't necessarily remember them all the way through, but if I can hum it, I can figure it out. That's the great thing about music: once you have it, you have it. It's a powerful thing."

So we might see some solos on future Slipknot material? Mick laughs. "Yeah, well, I used to have 'em, but they got stripped out on the first record. Ironically enough, [Ross Robinson] [producer] was like, 'Somebody's gotta bring that type of playing back'. I'm like, [waving arms in the air] 'Hello! Hi!' I spent my whole life playing guitar and then he took my solos away from me. But you know, it's about what fits the song, and our stuff had to evolved to where the solos didn't really fit. It was more like just wanking off really fast. That's another thing: I don't like to improvise. I like to construct solos, like a composition within a composition. You have chord progressions, you have vocal melodies. Those things should tie in with a guitar solo, not just be like 'Whatever!'. That's what I learned from [Randy Rhoads]: his leads are so lyrical."

Does not playing solos when he obviously can make him a sellout? He thinks about it: "Well, how fashionable are blast beats? How fashionable are vocals that are like [does long growl]? That stuff's in there too and it's fashionable. But it's also part of us. Like I said, I had two leads cut in pre-production, but the songs were changed a little bit too. While I would have loved to have had my 22 seconds of jacking off - it was in '(Sic)', it used to be called 'Slipknot' - we changed a couple of riffs and whatever. We could have kept my lead in there, but did it need to be in there? No. Did it advance the song? No. All I can say is selling out?"

"Then again, a lot of our rhythms are almost like solos on the new record. There's a lot of lead guitar in the grinding parts. You need a healthy right hand. Somebody was giving us shit for being in the ['Rollerball'] movie – that's like [Cannibal Corpse] selling out because they're in 'Ace Ventura'! I was so delighted when I saw that: to see a band I'd been into since high school. Holy shit! How's that selling out? I can still sleep at night."

Mick has bruises all over his tattooed forearms and says he has more on his legs: the result of a grinding playing style that involves throwing himself and his BC Rich Warlock around the stage. He obviously takes his stage presence as seriously as his playing. How does he feel when people say that Slipknot are just a bunch of detuned riffers who can't play their instruments?

"I read all that shit", he says, shaking his head, "and I see all that shit on the Internet. In fact, I've had little kids talk to me personally - they've had no idea they're talking to me - and they've talked shit. We get lumped into those categories: 'They're just like [Disturbed], which is just like [Linkin Park]'. 'Scuse me? Listen to the fucking album - that's not us. I read a review of our show last night where it said our 'wall of thick distorted guitars and distorted vocals was unintelligible'. We have Mick Hughes, [Metallica]'s soundman running the board! You tell Mick it was unintelligible and you couldn't hear shit out front!"

One of the biggest accusations levelled at Slipknot is that they're just a gimmick: all image, no talent. The band refute this. In fact, they see the masks as totally the opposite: a way of deflecting attention away from themselves and onto the music. Clown hit on the costume idea when he wore a mask to sing 'Tattered and Torn' and he told 'The Guardian''s Ian Gittins: "I always wanted Slipknot to be totally extreme and just about the music. Why should anyone see our faces? What have our clothes got to do with anything?"

"People wanna throw shit at us," says Mick. “They see pictures, they see like a little tiny quote that's taken out of context. It's not my fault we're in magazines all the time. Do I fucking want to? No. Do I do interviews? Hardly ever. I wanna talk about the guitar. I wanna talk about music. Who cares what my fucking favourite pizza is, you know what I mean? I don't give a shit about that - I'm 28 years old! I mean, come on. I'm a real person. Frankly, most of the people that talk shit have had no experience with us. Listen to the album and come to a show, then if you still think it sucks? Hey, everybody has an opinion."

"We're a very popular band to hate, but I think most of that hatred is very misdirected and uneducated. I've read the readers poll where I was like the 'biggest dickhead' or something," he laughs. "Why's that, 'cos I call it like I see it? I say what I feel, but it's honest and I have reason for saying it. That's one thing that's lacking in this world and would make it a much better place: fucking honesty! I don't like something, I don't like something. Sorry."

What would he say to accusations of homophobia? He looks surprised. "Well, that's the first time I've heard that one. My general attitude for life is leave me alone, don't fuck with me and everything's cool. That's my attitude: don't piss me off, and I'll never bother you."

Mick's attitude is the same as The Clown's: it's all about the music. And the music he likes might surprise you. Just as metal shredders from the 80s ([Zakk Wylde], for instance) found inspiration in fusion/jazz-rock players like Alan Holdsworth, [Al Di Meola] and John McLaughlin, so Mick looks outside the metal genre and far beyond his contemporaries. "That's what's cool about talking to Zakk," he says, "because we have a lot in common. He turned me on to [Frank Marino]. We were sitting up in his bus watching old [Frank Marino]. videotapes and that dude was just ripping! And we'd watch [Al Di Meola], John McLaughlin...Actually, Larry Coryell was sitting in with him at that time. The first concert my dad took me to was Return to Forever with [Al Di Meola], Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. So it was like, 'Jesus!'"

"You've got to spice your playing up, don't keep yourself in one little area at all times. Sometimes I even get a guitar with a wang bar, and I have fun slurring notes and warbling, I almost bought one of those Phil Collen [Def Leppard] Jacksons because it's got the sustainer on it. It gets that really nice singing scream coming out of the guitar. It's a lot of fun. I have a five-string fretless bass at home, so obviously I'm not sitting down writing brutal death metal riffs. Things inspire you to do different things. Don't be narrow-minded with music . Some kids are like that and say 'I only like these three bands'. I'm like, 'Man, you're cutting your own throat saying that shit'. Expand your horizons!"

"I guess I'm not cool. When I'm laying in my bunk with my headphones on it's [Rolling Stones], [Stevie Wonder], [Beatles], John Lennon, Hendrix - lots of mellow shit usually. I'm being brutal all day for my job, you know!" he laughs. "But the stuff when I like to write is classically influenced death metal. The first [Brutality] album 'Screams of Anguish' had really good use of that, and the new [Monstrosity] CD 'Dark Purity' has some of that on there."

With two guitarists, how do they balance the unison guitar parts vs. complimentary guitar parts approaches? "Well, in the band me and Paul [bassist] had before Slipknot, we'd have three-part harmonies with guitars and bass. One guitar would be doing harmony and the bass weaving in and out. Musically very intense. That's where I love come from, that's what we love to do."

"I think that shows a lot more on the new record with some of the faster parts. There will be some harmonies. Harmonies have been outlawed for years. It's not supposed to be cool, but we've brought a bunch of that back. A lot of people say they don't like our new record, but if you like us you're gonna like it. If you like harder, heavier, more musical stuff, you're gonna like it. But if you want radio songs, you'll hate it. You'll have to look harder than on our first record, which was more friendly. We just do what we do, and how we feel at the time, that's just how it sounds. We didn't plot a course and say 'We wanna sound like this.' With unison parts there's not much texture there. That's why I love [support band] [In Flames] so much. I worked my ass off to get them on this tour. They have something that's been desperately missing in harder bands for a long time."

Is there anything in the Slipknot repertoire that he finds challenging to play? "No. Especially when you write it, it's like you're on autopilot. My favourite thing to play off the new album is 'Metabolic'. That song is the best, plus I have all that grinding shit towards the end...but we've never performed it live!"