Interview with Kerry King of Slayer at the beginning of their North American tour for "Seasons in the Abyss"
 

What kind of music training have you had?

KK  I took about a year of guitar lessons you know, like reading normal music like normal music people do and then after that my first guitar teacher kind of left. He was the only one who pushed me to do that. The new guy was just into teaching songs, like radio songs so I got away from it and to make a long story short I got reintroduced to my first guitar teacher a couple years ago and I took lessons again for about two two-week sessions. Crash courses.
 

What other bands have you been in?

KK  I played Megadeth's first five shows but I wasn't in the band. I don't know why I did it. I used to like Dave Mustaine. Maybe that's why. (laughs)
 

What happened?

KK  What happened why I don't? He's a dickhead. Everybody knows that. But I say that in the most respect. He has a way of getting on people's bad side. I get along with him for five minutes but he's the kind of guy that you can get really pissed off at. He'll snap out of it one of these days. He's not a bad guy. But anyway I did the first five shows. He had no guitar player, asked me to play. I said okay.
 

How hard was it to get signed?

KK  Not very for us. I mean we played for awhile. We were playing like every other weekend in the same place and had a Metal Blade guy come down and check us out. We got on the Metal Massacre album, the third one, and before we were done recording that song he offered us an album so we did it and from then on we just kept going.
 

Where have you toured so far/who with?

KK  For this album we did eight shows on the east coast of America to warm up for the Clash of the Titans tour in Europe. They were the first shows we've done for the album and they were pretty raw. Little clubs, like 1500 seaters and they put 2500 people in them. Hot sweaty gigs but we did Clash of the Titans with Megadeth, Testament and Suicidal Tendencies. We did Japan by ourselves and we just did the Seasons in the Abyss video in Egypt and now we're here. This is the first show of the U.S. tour, or North American we're in Canada. I usually start a U.S. tour in the U.S., that's why I always say that but North American tour.
 

Who are your influences?

KK  My favourite band in the world is Judas Priest. Guitar wise I like what everybody likes: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani. I mean if a guitar player said they didn't like them they had to be on another planet you know, because they're the best at what they do.
 

Where do you get ideas for songs?

KK  In my twisted little head. I've said it a zillion times, I like horror movies but you rarely find me writing a song you could trace back to a horror movie. It's just, I don't know, I get the ideas for the chilling goose bump effect from horror movies you know, if you sit back and read lyrics without music and think about what it means in a fictious way. I get goose bumps reading lyrics like that from someone else. My own when I first make them up, they'll do that occasionally and that's what I'm shooting for in that type of song.
 

What is Skeletons of Society about?

KK  That's about post Third World War society. It's fictious but maybe not. Right now it's fictious but nothing says it won't happen and that's what I think it would be, if there's a world war that's what society would be like. That song's very visual.
 

What was it like when you were recording Seasons in the Abyss?

KK  Well, it was shorter than when we did South of Heaven. We went in very prepared. Recorded everything, completely mixed and mastered in five weeks. It's easier that way, to be prepared because there's no point in going into the studio to record, not be ready and get frustrated and spend lots of money. That gets pretty useless.
 

How was it working with Rick Rubin and Andy Wallace?

KK  Andy Wallace, I love Andy Wallace to death. He was involved with Reign in Blood, the first Def Jam release and since then I've wanted Rick Rubin and Andy Wallace. Together (they) make a killer producing combination.
 

Have you heard anything recently that you really like?

KK  Well, it's not very recent and they're good friends of mine, that's probably the reason I like them, is Pantera. I'm very good friends with them and I've played onstage with them before you know, I'd pop up onstage and we'd do Slayer songs, Pantera songs, Priest songs. It was really cool. I think Phil's probably the best singer to come out in that style of music, thrashy but has the ability to sing which most thrash bands don't. I think he's got the ability to be the Rob Halford of the '90s if he applies himself correctly.
 

How do you feel about doing videos?

KK  Don't bother me. I enjoy it, I mean I like to see myself on T.V. you know. It was a pain in the ass going to Egypt 'cause it's so far out of the way but I'm glad I went because that's the only place in the world you can see that stuff, I mean and be there to see it so that was cool but it was a pain in the ass getting there, a pain in the ass coming back. If we waited we wouldn't be going because it's so close to the conflict area.
 

How about interesting or embarrassing road stories?

KK  You know, I thought about that 'cause a lot of magazines ask me that and I never have anything to say. I thought of a couple and forgot them. I had a couple of them. I know one was when I went sliding across the stage during Angel of Death once. That was in Poughkeepsie I think. Back then, when Dave does his double kick drum thing at the end, the lights go off and a strobe light goes on and I run from Jeff's side to my side. The strobe light didn't go on so I actually ran into some light cans and went sliding on my back; held my guitar up. It was slick, like a basketball floor kinda so I just slid and the manager picked me up and I was still playing you know, smiling, laughing at myself but that's not the kind of good stories. I don't have any for you. I blew it.
 

What's a typical day on the road like?

KK  Well we like to tour North America the best 'cause it's easiest for us; everybody speaks English, we know the laws, we know what we can do and what we can't do, we know when the bars close you know, all the important stuff. So we get here, say we'll play a show, we're playing Vancouver tonight. We play the show, get offstage, hang out two-three hours, drive to the next city which tonight's very short, Seattle, but usually they're like 300 miles maybe. Me and Jeff stay up all night watching movies on the bus so we can sleep all the next day so we don't get up, spend all our money and become bored. Wake up at three, go to soundcheck. Do our soundcheck and hangout and do interviews between soundcheck and the gig, three-four hours, the most boring time of the day on tour. Now we get interviews because there's nothing to do, and play a gig and do it again. That's mine and Jeff's formula. Tom and Dave go to sleep on the bus.
 

What do you do to prepare for a show?

KK  Stretch my neck, warm up my fingers. That's all. I don't get nervous or anything. Tom does and it's just how he is, he can't avoid it but I'm ready to go. It's like I'm waiting to play a football game or something. I'm ready.
 

How concerned are you about your health?

KK  I've gotten more recently. Not because of my lifestyle, I just eat lousy and I always have, but as far as the band goes and me being too much into alcohol or eating the wrong food, I've always eaten the wrong food and I'm not an alcoholic so it doesn't relate to the band at all.
 

Do you care whether or not your albums get played on commercial radio?

KK  It'd be nice but it doesn't bother me.
 

What advice would you give to bands starting out?

KK  If you're going to try to make anything either be unique or don't try at all.
 

Check out the Slayer website