Side Projects
A SIGN OF SLIPKNOT'S CONFIDENCE AND STABILITY IS IN THE EMERGENCE OF VARIOUS MEMBER'S SIDE PROJECTS.
Murderdolls
This CD is out. Get it NOW!
Wednesday 13 - Vocals
Joey Jordison - Guitars
Tripp Eisen - Guitars
Eric Griffin - Bass
Ben Graves - Drums
In a world where it's all too easy to point out everything that's wrong about music, Murderdolls represent everything that could be right. And with the release of their self-titled debut, everything that will be right...
That may sound like a bold mission statement from a band whose songs include such frightfully decadent ditties as "Love At First Fright," "Grave Robbing U.S.A." and "Kill Miss America," but don't lose their point in the same self-righteous haze that's clouding over too much of the modern music scene.
"I think a lot of kids will be medicated by this record, because it's not just another record with the depressing lyrics," says Murderdolls guitarist Joey Jordison, all too aware that he's treading in provocative water with the new outfit, a drastic change of pace from his other band, Slipknot. "To me, that's the point‹What would be the point of doing something remotely like Slipknot? I don't play drums in this band, I don't wear a mask in this band, and the music is a polar opposite. While still being heavy, it's a breath of fresh air compared to what I normally do, because it's fun - It's catchier, more easily digestible, and has that fun factor to it, and there's nothing wrong with that, because everything can't be so heavy and depressed all the time."
"It's not like we're writing Weird Al Yankovic comedy stuff," clarifies frontman Wednesday, "but how do you take these Friday The 13th movies seriously? They put funny things into them, and it's like that with our songs. There's not anything on this record that's been based on personal experiences - They're all like short stories..."
So when the frontman sings, "I'd rather cut you than the wedding cake, and your bloody guts on my rented tux, and 'I do,' 'I do,' 'I do wanna kill you,'" he's not exactly making his case for the sociopath of the month club. Instead, he's offering us a slice of Americana through the eyes of the slightly disenfranchised. "I live in North Carolina, my life is boring, so what am I supposed to write about? I'm a movie junkie, and horror movies are all I watch, so my lyrics are inspired by everything from Ed Wood, to Fantasm and Night Of The Living Dead..." Not to mention a musical cross-section that would shatter any semblance of sanity, ranging from the most obscure outfits on the outskirts of the '80s glam-metal scene, to the sexual ambiguity and punk rock piss and vinegar of Jane County. "What the fuck is going on with all these bands that look normal? Maybe that's why kids identify with them, because they can look like these guys, but I'm from a different school‹If it didn't look cool, I didn't fucking buy it. They had to be glam, and they had to look cool, and I'm still like that with bands. It's important for people to see that there is something like us today, because a lot of kids don't remember The Plasmatics - I want to do a show like that. I want to bring the danger element back, just the way it needs to be, something new for todayŠ Something as simple as singers who don't use mic stands anymore - I'm going to hold mine proud, like a battle axe!"
"But it really doesn't even matter what's going on in music today, because we'd be doing this regardless," says guitarist Tripp Eisen, also of the industrial-metal powerhouse Static-X. "Bands are out there trying to do something with an image, but we're going to go out there and annihilate all of that. We had all the elements in place, but Wednesday was the lynchpin that we needed to really make it happen..."
Murderdolls began as The Rejects more than seven years ago, the brainchild of Jordison long before Slipknot became this millennium's metal revolutionaries. His lineup experienced substantial growing pains before he met Eisen while touring together in '99, and the guitarist - then of Dope - recruited Wednesday as a bassist. Bringing new songs of his own into the fold, it wasn't long before the bassist made the shift to lead singer, and Eric Griffin and Ben Graves rounded out the band's current lineup. A garage band in every sense of the word, they'd played only four shows with the duo of Jordison and Eisen on guitars, and had yet to perform with their new frontman upon the completion of the album. In fact, Jordison didn't even meet Wednesday until the day they entered the studio to record.
"It takes a lot of balls for Tripp and I to do we're doing right now, because there are going to be people that don't understand it and don't get it, but we believe in it that much," says Jordison. "There are some songs on this album that were written in '95, and that's one of the things that I really like about this music - Twenty years from now, this music will still be good, and it won't sound dated at all. There are a lot of songs - like "Die My Bride," "Slit My Wrist" and "Dead In Hollywood" - that have a very metal-esque influence to them, as well as just being punk, glam-metal, blood and guts rock 'n' roll. It's all very trashy, too, just like the people that are in the band..."
"We're taking stuff from our favorite bands and doing it the way that we've always wanted it done, taking it to a place where we've never seen anybody try and take it," continues Wednesday, citing Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper as significant influences on his share of Murderdolls' "violent Sex Pistols" sound. "We're bringing the danger aspect back..."
"I'm a danger addict, I can't get enough of it..." laughs Jordison, "and believe it or not, I'll probably be in more danger with these guys than I was with Slipknot, because I won't be protected by the kit - If those guys ever tried to get me, I could just rise up or move backwards... Now I'll have Tripp's guitar head stuck up my ass, and there won't be anything I can do about it..."
The Murderdolls will be releasing a 3 song sampler entitled "You Have The Right To Remain Violent" through Roadrunner/Island/Def Jam in the coming weeks, it will feature the following track listing:
01 - "Dead In Hollywood"
02 - "Twist My Sister"
03 - "Lets Go To War"
In other news, the group will be playing on the Main Outdoor Stage at the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo, Japan on August 17th and in Osaka, Japan on August 18th. More dates are expected to be announced shortly. In the meantime the bands forthcoming full-length debut "Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls" is slated for an August 20th release.
To visit the Murderdolls official site, click here.
Stone Sour
This CD is out. Get it NOW!
Corey Taylor - Vocals
Jim Root - guitar
Josh Rand - guitar
Shawn Economaki - bass
Joel Ekman - drums
Sid Wilson - guest DJ appearances
I saw them live!!!!!!!!
Corey and James (Jim) were in this band prior to Slipknot and have decided to return to working on it. Stone Sour's self-titled debut album will be released on September 17th, 2002. Stone Sour offers a more introspective and melodic take on music. According to Taylor, the sound is "more like Metallica meets Alice in Chains." While Slipknot prides itself on anonymity, Stone Sour proposes intimacy. Stone Sour will begin filming a video for the song, "Get Inside," on June 26th at The Whiskey in Los Angeles, CA. A video shoot is also in the works for the song "Bother", which can be currently heard on the Spider-Man soundtrack. The release will consist so far of 14 songs with some changes possible in the following sequence:
1. Get Inside
2. Orchids*
3. Blotter
4. Choose
5. Monolith*
6. Inhale
7. Take A Number
8. Bother
9. Inside The Cynic
10. Cold Reader*
11. Blue Study
12. Idle Hands
13. Tumult
14. Omega
To visit the Official Webpage, click here.
Hell Pig
Apparently Joey will be part of another side project that will begin later this year. The name of the new band is said to be called "Hell Pig" and it will feature Joey on drums along with Killjoy from the band Necrophagia on vocals. The project is said to have more of a black metal vibe to it. Joey recently spoke to Britain's own Rock Sound Magazine on the subject stating, "I'm going to put out a record that has the most insane drumming I've ever fucking done, I'm just going to blast shit so fucking fast! We're going to do that later on this year." Hell Pig was actually supposed to begin not too long ago, but because Joey has prior commitments to Murderdolls, Hell Pig was put on hold.
Slitheryn
Slitheryn is a band that is being produced by Corey Taylor himself. They're made up of band members that range from as young as 12 years old all the way up to 17 years old. Corey is going to appear unmasked in the new Slitheryn video entitled "Lost".
Project X (Superego)
The most talked-about side project is Corey's solo album, Superego: Click here To Enter. Corey describes it as "more hard rock than metal." Guest vocals on one track are done by Anders Colsefni, the first singer of Slipknot. The drums are done by Painface (Anders' band) drummer, Danny Spain. Another track called, "Weight" is said to include 8 singers. They are Corey Taylor, Shawn Crahan, Shawn's son Gage, Aaron Peltz (Painface manager), Jim Corigliano (Heroic Dose [Des Moines band]), Sa-Tone (Shanw's drum technician), and Dizzy Draztik (the singer of Jordison's side project, the Rejects). A release is expected in spring or summer 2001.
DJ Starscream
Sid Wilson has a solo record deal with 1500 Records. His album was to be relaesed in the summer of 2001.
Mick Thomson and James Root are working on their own solo projects. No other word has been given with regards to the name of the band or what type of musical venture the band is into.
Closure
A mellow/hard rock solo project by Corey Taylor with appearances by Mick Thomson and Stone Sour band members. As of this time, 16 tracks have already been recorded with Tom Tatman of Living Sacrifice.
On A Pale Horse
Another band formed by Anders shortly after the folding of Painface. This band has yet to release an album but has been playing shows around Iowa for the past few months.
One Fat Cup
Shawn Crahan's sideproject along with his drum tech Sa-Tone and ex-Slipknot percussionist Brandon (aka. Grouch). The band plans on releasing an album but a release date has not been set as of this time.
To My Surprise
To My Surprise is Shawn Crahan's current side project. I don't know what is going on with One Fat Cup whether it is a thing of the past or they have just changed the name to TO MY SURPRISE. I have heard this music and it is NOTHING like Slipknot, although it is relaxing and somewhat mellow. I don't mind it. It's not too bad.
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