Roadrunnerrecords.co.uk: SLIPKNOT celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the release of their self titled debut album this week with the release of a special CD/DVD edition of the album.

By way of our own celebration, we have been chatting to the band and people involved with the guys during that album cycle. Today, we continue the series with an interview with Mark Blackstock- the manager of WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC HALL, location of the now infamous Sid balcony leap which rumour has it got the band barred from the venue for life...

Can you remember the first time you heard Slipknot? What were your initial thoughts about the band?

“I remember the first time I saw a photo of them and my initial reaction was – why on earth is that man wearing a hoover on his face? Then I listened to some of their music and thought what great tunes!”

Take us back to when you were approached by the bands agent about booking the venue for the band as part of their first UK tour? Did you have any reservations at that stage? Or did the opportunity excite you?

“Our local people involved in the music scene said they were really wild and bonkers so I thought this made it all the more fun and I didn’t have any reservations about booking them!”

Do you remember what the fans of the band were like on the night of the show? Any cool stories about the mania outside the venue that you would like to share?

“Everyone queuing up outside the venue was very excited. They’d been queuing virtually all day and lots of people were dressed up. We even had to confiscate some masks from people as they aren’t allowed in to the venue. “

How were the band when you met them? What were your first impressions of them?

“The first time I saw the band they still had their masks on but when they later took them off they were the opposite of what you’d expect and were in fact very charming people. They reminded me of the Beastie Boys as they had the same vibe”.

When the band first hit the stage, what went through your mind?

“Prior to the band going on stage we’d had a big lecture from the bands security man so we weren’t sure what to expect. The stage set was fantastic, like being at a circus. It was a great atmosphere and the crowd were going bonkers!”

And when Sid clambered up onto the balcony...?

“I noticed he’d left the stage and all of a sudden all the audience were looking up at the balcony. The security man had positioned himself directly below the balcony and all of a sudden Sid jumped and completely missed the waiting security man. All the kids surged forwards and the security went to rescue Sid while we went after the girl he’d landed on.”

Rumour has it that you banned the guys from the venue for life for that little stunt. Is this true and are they still banned?

“The band were never banned from the venue. A lot of music press were trying to contact Councillors and generate a big story and this led to a lot of rumours. Slipknot would be more than welcome to come back to the Civic Hall.”

When you look back at that night, and at what the band have achieved since, what are your overriding emotions?

“I think it’s fantastic that they came to Wolverhampton and bought pleasure to so many people. They pushed the boundaries of what entertainment is and I think they’re a jolly good act!”

MUSHROOMHEAD vocalist Waylon Reavis has told Noisecreep that his band's fierce rivalry with SLIPKNOT — which has consisted mostly of insult-trading and has unfolded, largely, through the media — is behind them. "It's been 10 years at this point, and we're still here and they're still there. And we still don't sound like each other," says Waylon. "They're not the first masked band, we're not ... no one was. I think there's a BEATLES video where they're wearing masks and costumes.

"With music, I've always been into theatrics," Waylon continues. "All of us are big into theatrics. I wish more bands dressed up and did the theatrical thing. People like seeing a show. They like visually being stimulated, and not just like a dude in a Hot Topic T-shirt and tight pants playing guitar that spent five hours on his hair. I'd rather see theatrics, I'd rather see a live action horror movie like right in front of me."

A new audio interview with SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray about the 10th anniversary of the release of the band's seminal self-titled debut album can be heard below.

SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor recently gave an intimate interview to Kerrang! Radio about his life.

Kerrang! Radio: Who are the people in your life who have made you who are today?

Corey Taylor: The personal people in my life who have made me who I am are a mix of family and friends really. I didn't know a lot of my family when I was growing up, I knew my mom's side but I didn't know my dad's side because I didn't grow up with my father.

I think the strongest influence I had was my grandmother actually, my grandmother Thelma, she instilled in me my work ethic, my attention to loved ones. She was really my proper mum, I love my mother but it was such an insane way to grow up, just brutally all over the place. My grandmother was my rock, she was my foundation, she was my stability, she was my safe home. That really had a lot of impact on me, especially growing up, and even today. My grandmother is so nuts, she retires from one place after working there for 25 years, takes a year off, gets bored, goes back to work at a completely different place and has now worked there almost 20 years! I'm like, "What are you doing? You can barely walk now but you're still working, are you out of your mind?" That to me, that's big.

I think a lot of the friends that I had when I hit 20, those are my core friends. My best friend Danny, a really good friend of mine, Jeff, those are the people, when I was really trying to find myself I found them and they pretty much opened my mind to everything. I was like a tiny, little nuclear bomb just waiting to go off and when I found them, I found my tribe basically. We were all into the same crazy music, we were all into the same fascination with music and culture and really just ready to be legends before we had done anything to properly be legends. It was a fantastic time in my life; it was probably the happiest moments in my life. So I think between those two... and just over the years trying to figure out myself, that's really why I am the way I am.

Kerrang! Radio: Your mother raised you and your little sister on her own, and had to move around a lot when you were young. How did this constant moving from place to place (25 states by the time he was 15) affect your childhood? Did the moving allow you to make many friends as a child?

Corey Taylor: I had an absolutely terrible time trying to make friends as I was growing up, because we did move around a lot. But because of my personality, it's the class clown syndrome, the extrovert, the, "Hey, I'll take my pants off for a quarter!" I was that guy and it worked in some places and it didn't work so much in others. I can remember a one-year period that we moved four times, I went to three different junior high schools; I was in three different schools for seventh grade. I was a dork at one, I was a legend at the middle, and then I was just invisible at the last one, it was a strange year.

I was really heavily into drugs and that was the only thing that was even there, it was the only thing that was constant. So here I was, about 14 years old, and I'd gone from low to high to nothing. I can remember going, "Is this what life is? Is this really, this is what I've got to look forward to?" Luckily I figured out no, it's not, but it's just strange like that when you're moved, almost like a chess piece, that you don't really have any time to find those roots or find that stability that I used to envy in a lot of people.

But the positive spin on that is that I would not be who I am today if it weren't for all those roads and all those crazy moments in my life where I was literally hanging on for dear life, I wouldn't be me. Growing up like that it was hard at the time but I wouldn't change it.

Kerrang! Radio: Your father left your mother before you were born. You were reunited with him after your ex-wife tracked him down using a private investigator. What was it like meeting him for the first time?

Corey Taylor: Meeting my dad for the first time was heavy duty. I damn near crumpled, let's put it that way, I almost collapsed. First of all, I was nervous. It was one of those moments that I had with my ex-wife where I was glad she was there, it was one of the few moments where she understood. We flew to San Diego and I can remember driving there and being like, "What am I going to say? What am I going to do?" Because before that we'd only talked twice on the phone and the first time I talked to my father was in Brazil and I literally started balling. We talked for 45 minutes and we were both so emotional about it. In that 45 minutes, a lot of my misconceptions or notions burned, right there. I was like, oh my god, all of these things that I thought I knew were assumptions, these weren't facts, these were assumptions. So meeting him was even better. My father has probably the biggest heart I've ever met, and his wife Anna, they're two of the most wonderful people on the planet and it's just a shame that I don't get to see them more than I do.

But it opened the door for me mentally to rethink a lot of things and it made me ready to explore what it's like to be a different person. So many people limit themselves by holding on to that baggage, they cut themselves off at the knees and for me, meeting my father and seeing how he was, and seeing that other side of where I came from, allowed me to ascend spiritually. Not to get all hippy or anything but you can't realize your potential unless you let yourself realize your own potential, and that's what I really took out of discovering my father.

Kerrang! Radio: Can you tell us about when you first performed at the party at your cousin's house, age 9?


Corey Taylor: The first song that I ever performed, and it was honestly by accident, I was at my cousin's, I think it was a birthday, and all the family were all hanging around the kitchen table. We were in her room just listening to music. She was a couple of years older than me, so she had turned me on to a lot of music. We were listening to "Separate Ways" by JOURNEY on a vinyl album. I was singing along and she was slowly but surely turning the music down and listening to me sing, and she stopped it and she goes, "You come with me right now." And I was like, "What?" She puts me in the corner in the living room, gathers the whole family and says, "You've got to hear this, this is fantastic!" She made me sing it â capella. I was like, "No. What? No. What? No!" If that doesn't break your fear, I don't know what does! You can thank Steve Perry for all the SLIPKNOT music and STONE SOUR music!

Kerrang! Radio: You moved in with your grandmother, who sparked your interest in singing through her love of Elvis Presley. How did she help you?

Corey Taylor: My grandmother in a lot of ways really helped shape my musical tastes. She had literally hundreds of Elvis 8-tracks — which people have probably never heard of — but she had boxes of these things and I can remember my first stereo was actually the only stereo that she ever had and it had a record player and an 8-track player, so I really started listening to a lot of Elvis when I was younger. When I moved in with her I inherited those so I was stoked, I was like, "Look at all these Elvis 8-tracks! Woohoo!" But she had a lot of vinyl too; I can remember listening to the STATLER BROTHERS when I was a kid. My grandmother was a big country fan, so I grew up on a lot of country, it was Iowa. I can remember listening to STATLER BROTHERS, the OAKRIDGE BOYS, I was the biggest fan of Elvira, are you kidding me? That song was fantastic!

But then my mum was a huge disco fan, and this is mid '80s, late '80s, so I had all this disco vinyl. My friends would come over and they'd be like, "Why do you have the VILLAGE PEOPLE?" and I'm like, "I don't know, it's just in with my records!"

It wasn't until I started searching music out on my own that I started realizing what my tastes were. My mom listened to a lot of Motown so I would buy compilation tapes and stuff like that, but the first albums that I ever received as a present that were new, my grandmother bought me "Somewhere in Time" by IRON MAIDEN, and "Girls, Girls, Girls" by MÖTLEY CRÜE, so those were my first two tapes and I memorized not only the liner notes and the music, but everything because you grew up with MTV, at that time you could see those bands, those were my bands. That led me to the trinity, SLAYER, METALLICA, ANTHRAX and then that leads you to MEGADETH, TESTAMENT. So I was getting out of people referring me to music and I was finding my own music, with a lot of punk thrown in from various babysitters, who were probably not the best people to leave me with!

Kerrang! Radio: STONE SOUR was the band where you made your first initial success, what are you favorite memories of that time?

Corey Taylor: My favorite memories of STONE SOUR were the first couple of years. It was all exploration, everything was new. The was the first band that I really cut my teeth writing songs with, it was the first band that I played live shows with, it was the first band that we went out and toured different cities with, I was young and out of my mind! I had long blonde hair, I probably weighed 140 pounds soaking wet and I just thought I was the hottest thing ever! It was so much fun though! But it taught me so much, it wasn't even like it was work, I lived to play music. I can remember one year just quitting and saying I'm going to live off the money we're making off STONE SOUR, which wasn't a lot — I was able to buy cigarettes and booze! That's about it! Thank god for grandmothers, because she kept me fed.

But my favorite memories were of just, everything was new, there was nothing that we couldn't do, there was nothing that I wouldn't try on stage. I can remember that it taught me that I loved it; it taught me that I loved the work. I can remember we would go out and we would play for weeks at a time doing three one-hour sets of covers, because that's just what you had to do, and we discovered that we were really good. That's another thing, it taught me that I was really good at what I do and people, they got into it, we brought something out in people. It was fantastic. I have no regrets about those first couple of years, I listen to some of that stuff back and I'm like, good lord, it's so dated! But at the time it was just such a treat to be able to write a song and then play it for people.

Kerrang! Radio: After STONE SOUR, you joined SLIPKNOT, and had the most incredible success with them. Were there any friends that guided you through that, from one band to the other?

Corey Taylor: Well I can remember when I got asked. When I left STONE SOUR to join SLIPKNOT, I was asked at four in the morning at the porn shop, they walked in and they didn't even come right up to me, they walked around the shop. I know there's this whole legend about how they threatened to kill me if I didn't join, which is such rubbish, let me tell you! They were so scared to talk to me, and that's from the heart, that's so real. They walked around the shop looking at every box that they could, and I'm sitting at the counter just watching them going, what is going on here? First of all, why are they here? I never see these guys out together, and they come up and Clown, god bless him, says, "You know, man, I'm just going to put it out there." It was adorable, I was nervous initially, my brain was screaming yes! But my mouth was like, "You know what, I'll try, I'll try out." Because you've got to realize it was such a jump, STONE SOUR at the time was very hard rock but I didn't scream at all, it was all melodic, it was all about proper hard rock. This was entering a metal band where there were no limits and obviously I wanted to do it but there was still that thing in my head that was like, let's try it out and let's see what happens.

The next night I can remember grabbing my best friend Danny — we were really keeping it on the DL, even on a local level — I grabbed him and I was like, "Dude, I just got asked to join SLIPKNOT." And he started freaking out, he was like, "You've got to do this! You've got to do this!" And the rest is history, really.

Kerrang! Radio: You were drinking a lot during this period, from noon till night, eventually leading to your suicide attempt at the Hyatt Hotel in 2003. Can you tell us what happened?

Corey Taylor: If I had a bottom, that was the bottom. After the initial success of SLIPKNOT, there were very high points, but in 2003 there was a definite low point going on. I've gotten to the point where I'm not blaming anybody, because I let myself get there as well, but I definitely had a drinking problem at the time. But alcohol wasn't the issue, it was the issues going on in my life. Obviously there was the incident at the Hyatt on Sunset, which I can remember vividly. It was right before I passed out, I can remember standing on that balcony, ready, and god bless my friend Thom Hazaert — if he hadn't been there, we would not be having this conversation today.

You let yourself go, you let yourself get to a point, like I said before, where you feel like nothing's going to change. But you get past those problems and you realize, you know what, I can change these things, I can change everything that's going on with me. And that was when I started taking those first few tentative steps away from that. I had to let the booze go for a while and really focus on myself, re-focus myself on myself and a few years later and several changes and here I am, hopefully for the better. It's a great feeling to know that you're in control of your own destiny.

Kerrang! Radio: You had your first child in 1992 and your second in 2002 — how is life away from the band?

Corey Taylor: I'm probably the biggest push over on the planet. When it comes to my kids, I love them and I try to be firm, but I just have such a great time with them, my kids are magic to me. It's such a great thing to be able to be a dad and the great thing is that I had no template, I had nothing to refer to, I couldn't be like, "Well, my dad was this way." For me it's all new and I'm not afraid to take advice from other people when it comes to my kids. I think that gives me an open mind when it comes to that, it doesn't mean that I don't get stressed out about the stuff that they do, but from a parents stand-point, I would kill for my kids. We just took them to Disneyland about a week ago and they had the best time, and it was the first time that I'd had both of my kids with me going on a vacation like that. They had such a blast that we got home and they were just exhausted, they went right to bed. I feel very lucky that I'm where I am.

SLIPKNOT'S Corey Taylor was in the UK recently to present the Kerrang Awards and do the interview rounds about the upcoming 10th Anniversary release of the bands debut self titled album. We sat down with him as well and asked him about the past 10 years, playing Download, presenting the awards and what we can expect from the Special Edition of the album...

Does it feel like 10 years?

Well it certainly feels like ten years in my knees, let’s put it that way! And the fatty tissue in my back. [laughs] Honestly it doesn’t. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for ten years, it feels like its been ten minutes. But you know, it’s all good!

What has been the main motivation/inspiration driving the band for so long?

I think the main inspiration that drives this band is just more, more, more, you know?! Whether its…. more doesn’t have to be a bad thing! We just keep pushing the boundaries of everything; musically, visually, artistically, emotionally. It’s, always been our goal to over do it, ‘cause not enough other bands do it to begin with, you know! So the main inspiration for this band is just to do it all.

Some of the 9 have been involved in side projects over the years – how important has this been to the longevity and creativity of the band, if at all?

I believe that the other projects are actually very important to the creativity of the band. I believe that, you know, the other bands allow us to bring things in, and they give us the courage to try different things, which is what this bands all about. And plus, just from you know a long longevity stand point, it gives our careers a chance to breathe, and it makes people excited for us to come back. So to me I think that the other projects really enhance what we do because it just shows you the potential that can be had when we all come back together as Slipknot.

Some critics (particularly back in the early years of the band) accused Slipknot of using the masks, costumes, and numbers as nothing more than a marketing ploy. Do you have anything to say to those people now?

Well, to all the critics who have kind of complained or been a little too harsh with their judgment of the band in their early years- Yeh, yeh, sure, the masks get attention but you know what? The music keeps them here, you know! If the music sucked we wouldn’t have as many fans as we do so in your face critics! And those pants look like crap on you! [laughs]

At Download 2009 you told the crowd that headlining at Donington Park was a dream come true and a career pinnacle for the band. Can Slipknot top that?

As far as toping, you know, headlining Download, oh man, that was, that was such a dream come true, that we’d have to play on Mars man! Honestly, I mean we’d have to headline Mars, with Devo or something, that would be the only thing that would make sense. [laughs] Or, just start over completely- with the next album all we do is play clubs, you know 200 seater clubs, and work our way back up. Headline some tent, at Download- like the disco tent, the silent disco tent by the way! Which is very weird to me, I will never understand that, it’s like watching zombies dance around in headphones, its creepy! {laughs] But that’s the only thing that would make sense to me, is to start over. Were do you go though? I mean, besides Hyde Park, or, you know, um, Glastonbury, I mean, its really kind of.. Download is, is, it’s the top of the mountain.

You recently hosted the Kerrang Awards. How was that?

Hosting the Kerrang Awards was such a blast! First of all, my suit was amazing! I don’t know if you’ve seen, but my suit was really stunning, and I mean that in the literal sense! Um, just getting to work with Scott [Anthrax] was just an absolute pleasure, you know! Me and Scott have know each other a long time, and we’ve gotten to be really close friends, and when we had the opportunity to do this together, we both jumped at it! We just loved watching the audience get more and more bombed and it was almost like we were the little ring leaders man! Plus, we had a lot of fun with filming the acceptance films when Slipknot won, and ahhh it was just such a great time man! I will remember that night for a very long time, or at least until the hangover wears off! [laughs]

The 10th anniversary special edition release will be available this month – what can fans expect from that, and what specifically are you most excited about sharing in that release?

Fans can expect several different little goodies from the 10th anniversary edition of the first album. It’s packed with a bunch of stuff man, its, uh, two discs full of music; a handful of tracks that have not been available before, a little DVD that Clown put together, that is all footage of ’99 and 2000! I’m really excited for people to see it you know. It’s a collectors piece, but it’s really for the fans you know, it was our way of saying thank you; we couldn’t have been here for ten years without them. And, you know, it’s not very often we get to show our appreciation like this, you know, so hopefully they really dig it because we loved putting it together.

ITpov.com has posted quality video footage (see below) of the all-star jam that took place on August 16, 2009 at the fifth annual Ride For Dime, an annual charity remembrance ride and concert event held in memory of the victims of the December 2004 Alrosa Villa shooting ("Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Jeff Thompson, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk). Musicians that participated in the event included Ace Frehley (KISS), Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT), Aaron Lewis (STAIND), Mike Mushok (STAIND), Vinnie Paul Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN, HELLYEAH), Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD) and Nick Bowcott (GRIM REAPER).

Ride For Dime was first organized in 2005 by local Dallas members/moderators of DAMAGEPLAN's official forum as an event which would not only honor Dimebag Darrell, but also raise money to help with the massive expenses incurred by all of the victims that tragic night. The organizers have since shifted their donations to benefit a charity organization of the Abbott family's choice.

Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love:

Pantera - This Love:


Pantera - Cowboys From Hell:


KISS - Deuce:


KISS - Rock And Roll All Nite:

SLIPKNOT has announced a string of fall tour dates, including some special appearances. The band will embark on a three-week run in October, hitting mostly West Coast markets, before ending the tour at the first annual Trinity of Terrors at The Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Halloween. This run of dates will also include two previously postponed shows from last month. Sacramento's DEFTONES will provide support beginning in Portland, Oregon through San Bernardino, California.

The dates are as follows:

Oct. 10 - White River Amphitheater - Auburn, WA
Oct. 11 - Toyota Center - Kennewick, WA
Oct. 13 - Memorial Coliseum - Portland *
Oct. 15 - Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC *
Oct. 16 - Save On Foods Center - Victoria, BC *
Oct. 18 - Shaw Conference Centre - Edmonton, AB *
Oct. 20 - Calgary Corral - Calgary, AB *
Oct. 21 - Star Theater - Spokane, WA *
Oct. 23 - Event Center at San Jose - San Jose, CA *
Oct. 24 - San Manuel Amphitheater - San Bernardino, CA *
Oct. 29 - The Palladium - Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 31 - Pearl Concert Theater - Las Vegas, NV

* With DEFTONES

Slipknot have been confirmed as the headline act at the return of the Cypress Hill Smokeout! The Smokeout takes place Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24 at the San Manuel Amphitheatre and festival grounds in San Bernardino, CA. The event returns for the first time as an epic two-day mind opening experience encompassing a music festival and cannabis expo featuring Cypress Hill, headlined by Slipknot and hosted by Cheech and Chong.

The full line-up for the Smokeout to date includes: Slipknot (appearing 10/24), Deftones, Cypress Hill, Sublime (Bud Gaugh, Eric Wilson and Rome), Pennywise, Redman & Method Man, Goodie Mob (featuring all original members Cee-Lo, Khujo, T-Mo, Big Gipp), Bad Brains, Geto Boys (Scarface, Willie D, Bushwick Bill), Immortal Technique, Kottonmouth Kings, Heiroglyphics (Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love, Domino, Souls of Mischief; Opio, A-Plus, Phesto, Tajai), K’Naan, Living Legends (Aesop, Bicasso, Eligh, The Grouch, Luckyiam, Murs, Scarub, Sunspot Jonz), B Real, Mix Master Mike, Devin The Dude, DJ Muggs, Dirty Heads, Swollen Members w/Moka Only, Big B, Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Reza, Lenny V, Barry Weaver and Shortdawg Tha Native and more to be announced.

In addition to the music portion, fans can experience the Smokeout Cannabis Cup and Medical Marijuana Expo which includes an infamous V.I.P. (Very Important Pot smoker) private party, a 420 Movie Night highlighting classic cannabis themed films and a glass art showcase. There will also be a wide range of guest speakers and celebrity appearances focused on cannabis education, legal workshops and grow tips, in addition to massive munchie gardens, vendor village and surprise performances. A full schedule of activities will be unveiled at a later date.

Ticket pre-sale begins Friday, September 4 at 10:00am. On-sale to the general public is slated for Saturday, September 12 at 10:00am. Visit www.smokeoutfestival.com for more info.