| 1. How did the band get started? How did you meet
and how long have you been together? #5 (Craig): The band was started back in 1995 by #6 (Shawn) and #2(Paul). We've gone thru a lot of lineup changes over the last 4 years to end up as the nine piece that we are today. Everybody in the band has known each other for years, 'cuz Des Moines isn't that big of a town, and we had all been in various other bands together over the years. 2. How would you describe your music? #5 (Craig): Ross Robinson best described it as "molten metal". 3. What are your biggest influences? #5 (Craig): Basically everything is our influence. I mean, with 9 people in the band, we all listen to different styles of music. All of those different styles allow us to be very creative in our songwriting process. Obviously, our music is very heavy in nature, so bands like Black Sabbath, Slayer, old Metallica, Anthrax, and stuff like that are big influences to all of us. 4. What influence do you think your bands has in music and metal today? #5 (Craig): This band was started with the premise that we always wanted to do something different. Metal has gotten kind of stale and old over the past 4 or 5 years, and we wanted to revive it and give it a much needed kick in the ass. I think what we're doing is very original, and that it's going to be the "new wave" of metal for the next Millennium. 5. What made you want to be in the band? And if you weren't in the band what would you be doing now? #5 (Craig): I joined the band as a guitarist about 4 months after its conception. The guys were just finishing up recording our first CD (Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.), and their guitarist at the time decided he didn't want to do it anymore. When I first heard a few tracks of what they were doing, I was like "Holy Shit! That's awesome!". I knew right at that moment that this was the band that I had been waiting for. I later switched over to sampling and keyboards, 'cuz I was the only one who had any knowledge of how to do it. If I wasn't in the band, I'd probably be still working in a warehouse driving a forklift all day long. 6. Are any band members in side projects? If so what are they, and explain a little about them. #5 (Craig): #8(Corey) just got done recording a couple of vocal tracks with Sticky Fingers from Onyx. Sticky heard about Corey from Ross Robinson, who is producing his side project that he's doing. Sticky heard Corey on our album and wanted him to sing on a few tracks, so Corey went out to Indigo Ranch while we were in LA for Ozzfest and wrote lyrics and sang on a couple of tracks. 7. How would you feel if a band took their sound from yours and became very well known? #5 (Craig): I suppose that would be cool. I mean, it's going to happen. Every time something new comes up, it gets copied. That's just the way the music business is. But we are always striving to be new and original - we're constantly changing, and so I think we'll be able to survive all of the copycat bands that will spring up. 8. What current bands do you like or respect? #5 (Craig): System of a Down is really cool. The band that really surprised me on Ozzfest was Puya. Those guys totally kick ass. 9. How many demos/albums do you have? Tell me about them!! #5 (Craig): We just have our first CD, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., which is no longer available, and our self titled CD which just came out on June 29th. 10. What demo/album do you like the best? #5 (Craig): The self-titled that just came out totally kicks ass. I mean, I love the first album we did, but it just doesn't compare to the new one. We're a totally different band now, and the new one best conveys the band that we are today. 11. What is the meaning behind the songs? #5 (Craig): The songs have a lot of different meanings. Corey has a lot of "issues" in his head, and he works them out by writing the lyrics that he does. 12. What are the bands favorite songs? #5 (Craig): I personally love Prosthetics. That song almost didn't make it on the album, I was going to be very pissed if it didn't. 13. What does the future hold for the band? #5 (Craig): The future holds a lot of touring We love to play live, and all we want to do is play as many places as we can. 14. If you could play with any band who would it be and why? #5 (Craig): Probably Black Sabbath. That would be cool, 'cuz they are the Kings - They started it all. 15. Who writes the majority of the music? #5 (Craig): We all contribute to the songwriting process. Somebody will play a riff, and then somebody else will throw something in, and it just goes from there. Everybody puts their input in, and the songs just get's worked over until we're satisfied that it's the way we want it to be. 16. Who has been the favorite band you’ve played with and why? #5 (Craig): Puya and Hed(pe) have been really cool. We had a lot of fun with them on Ozzfest, and I hope we can tour with them again some day. 17. Where did you get the band name from? #5 (Craig): The name came from a song we had that was called Slipknot, which is now called (sic) on the new album. The name sounded cool, so we kept it. 18. Describe what the band is like live? #5 (Craig): Like two cars colliding head on. Anything goes when we're on stage. 19. If you are gonna do any kind of video what would be in it? #5 (Craig): Actually, we did a video of "Spit It Out" It was mainly made for promotional use overseas, but it might end up getting some air play here in the States. 20. Are there any touring plans made; if so tell me about them? #5 (Craig): We're going to be heading out with Coal Chamber and Machine Head starting on Aug. 19 in Texas. 21. Where do you think the band will be 20 years from now? #5 (Craig): Hopefully we'll still be touring and creating the music we love. We're all in this for the long haul, and as long as we're all happy, we will continue to do it as long as we can. |
