Interview With Joey Jordison
During a discussion with Joey Jordison about the upcoming Murderdolls release, the subject got diverted to cars...and that is where we pick up with the conversation, for a bit of Joey's insight:
Joey - ...it's definitely the Phantasm car. You've seen that movie?
Roadrunner - The Phantasm what? (spoken with slight hesitation)
Joey - The Phantasm car. You've never seen Phantasm? (spoken with 70% strict authority and 30% disbelief)
Roadrunner - Noooo...(spoken with even more hesitation, and softer)
Joey - You're killing me! (spoken loud, very loud...with more authority
Roadrunner - ahhh, no.
Joey - Ahhh man, go rent it - that's one of the best horror movies of all time. That's what we're referring to in the song "Dead In Hollywood", 'HEY TALL MAN, JUST TAKE MY HAND, AND LEAD ME TO YOUR RED PLANET.'
Roadrunner - uh huh.
Joey - The tall man's the fuckin', basically one of the most classic horror film characters in all history. But that's the main car that's driven in there, a '72 Barracuda Hemi.
As far as the movie Phantasm goes, we leave you with its tagline, "If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!"
Roadrunner: Good Morning, Joey. And what time would it be where you are at right now?
Joey: Ah, let me check, something like 12:30 in the afternoon…I haven't seen 12:30...I know at least in the last three fuckin' weeks.
Roadrunner: And what has your day consisted of so far?
Joey: Well I took a piss and stumbled over, stubbed my toe on a fuckin' few cd's on the floor, and then I came back in and waited on your phone call.
Roadrunner: And by the time this day is all said and done, what will you have accomplished?
Joey: Well, I'm continuing on a song called "Slit My Wrist" right now, which could be the lead off track on our album, and that's the song I'm currently mixing right now.
Roadrunner: So, your basic schedule right now - mixing the album?
Joey: I'm mixing at SR Audio in Des Moines, Iowa. I go into the studio about 5:00 at night and I don't leave there until probably about 6 or 7 in the morning.
Roadrunner: Let's start, Murderdolls. You say this band was formed back in 1995. How active has the band been over the past seven years?
Joey: Yeah, actually it was…we were very active during '95 all the way through '98. I started playing with Slipknot in September of '95 - me, Paul, and Shawn initially got together with a couple other people and formed the band. So, I was playing live shows with them (Murderdolls) on my off time from Slipknot. We only really stopped when Slipknot went to make the first record and go on tour, so it was definitely put on hold to do Slipknot for quite a while.
Roadrunner: So, would you consider Murderdolls a side project or not?
Joey: A lot of people view it as a side band, it's really not a side band…it's just my other project that I've done. A lot of people around here in Iowa have known that for quite some time, but now I guess it's time for the world to see what else I've done.
Roadrunner: Now, in Murderdolls, have you always played guitar in this band? Actually, what was your first instrument?
Joey: Yeah, absolutely (always played guitar in Murderdolls). I started with guitar at age five. I only played drums because I was in a band playing the guitar and the drummer wasn't cutting it, so I just filled in and kind of stuck with it. Drums came really easy to me, whereas guitar I had to work just a little bit harder.
Roadrunner: So you're actually a guitarist first and a drummer second?
Joey: You could look at it that way, but I think a lot of people would look at it the other way (laughs).
Roadrunner: You can say that again…onward - you guys were always called the Rejects until recently (at this point Joey let's out a big yawn - hey, it's early yet) , where did this Murderdolls name come from?
Joey: It was a name that I came up with a long time ago. We had always toyed with changing the name, but I guess felt uncomfortable cause we thought we already had a certain type of name out there and didn't want to fuck with it.
Roadrunner: How was this band formed? Are you considered a founding member?
Joey: Yeah, me and my ex-singer (Dizzy Drastic) formed it, and we recently just parted ways. Actually, the band has just been completely renewed. It's really not the Rejects anymore, it was kinda just disbanded, the name was a little too punk rock, like the Ramones.
Roadrunner: You can say that again…
Joey: It kind of pigeonholed. Our new name has a little more controversy to it, it's a little more vivid, a little more colorful, you can kind of tell a bit more what the band is about. Once I found Wednesday, he and I started writing songs and it was so comfortable. It's like when you find that other guy in a band that you can write songs with…and we just started writing songs and bringing them into the Rejects, but they didn't really seem to fit. Wednesday's an amazing singer and we kind of renewed the band from there.
Roadrunner: Let's talk about Wednesday 13, how long ago did he become the singer of the band?
(at this point Joey goes off on a tangent, before zeroing back in by asking, "What was the question? I'm scatterbrain right now.)
Roadrunner: How long has Wednesday 13 been singing in the band?
Joey: Oh, he's actually only been singing with us for, probably since the beginning of this year.
Roadrunner: Didn't he play something else in the band previously?
Joey: He used to play bass in the band before, and that's how we pulled him in. He brought some songs in, and plain and simple, his voice just suited the songs better.
Roadrunner: So you and Wednesday are the 2 songwriters in the band. Tthe songs that you guys recorded, any the same from back in 1995?
Joey: It's all new stuff. Again, back to when Wednesday joined, it was just a rebirth of the band.
Roadrunner: Where did you guys record?
Joey: I've always done it at the same studio, SR Audio, here in Des Moines, Iowa. It's a great, phenomenal studio. The "Spit It Out" track from our first Slipknot record was done there, my Manson remix, the 'New Abuse Mix' of "My Plague" was tracked there…we do a lot of Slipknot work there. I know that studio inside and out, so we just did it there.
Roadrunner: When did you guys record?
Joey: Say again?
Roadrunner: When, when?
Joey: Ah, shit. There was a session in November and December of 2001, then there's the most recent session we did which was the end of March/early April.
Roadrunner: The Murderdolls album, how many songs will it be? How many did you record?
Joey: It will be 15 songs, and we actually recorded 21.
Roadrunner: Who actually plays what on the album?
Joey: I play all the drum tracks on the record. You can tell it's me.
Roadrunner: You can say that again…I've only heard "Dead In Hollywood" and it screams your drumming.
Joey: That's the thing, even though it's not 'metaled' out like Slipknot shit is - the super fast double bass and super fills. It's not like that at all. It's more of a hard hitting, trashy rock 'n' roll vibe. But you can tell it's me. It's fuckin' obvious.
Roadrunner: So you played all the drums in the studio. And as for guitar?
Joey: I played rhythm guitar. Tripp (Eisen, Static X) played leads on the record - he wasn't able to contribute rhythm and all that stuff because he was on tour so much. It wasn't planned that way, just the way it worked out - we've done everything so fuckin' backwards in this band. Wednesday played some rhythm guitar on the songs, played some bass on some tracks, I played some bass on some tracks. Actually, Wednesday contributed a couple leads too, did all the lead vocals. Tripp and I did back ups.
Roadrunner: Purely you, Wednesday, and Tripp on the recording. And Erik (Griffin, bass) and Ben (Graves, drums) will be with you on tour?
Joey: Yeah, they were people we talked to, auditioned, and they fuckin' fit, ya know? You find those people like when Kiss met Ace Frehley and you're like, that's the fuckin' sound.
Roadrunner: So, right now, why is this the time to release it?
Joey: I feel the songs are in order, it is what I think I need the world to hear now. It's something completely different. Also, Wednesday's voice & Tripp's leads, which he's not really known for - It's a side of us that no one else has heard. And this kid Wednesday, he's definitely a fuckin' star, for sure.
Roadrunner: I hate labeling music, or saying what kind it is…
Joey: Oh, we don't fuckin' care, we'll label it…
Roadrunner: How would you describe Murderdolls?
Joey: We're not trying to reinvent the wheel whatsoever, that's not what this band is about. Loud, aggressive, real blood & guts rock 'n' roll. That's what we do.
Roadrunner: And you guys plan on taking this out on the road soon, ya?
Joey: Yeah, we're gonna start touring the middle of July, US and Europe.
Roadrunner: And this will take you to the end of the year?
Joey: Yep, take us all through the end of the year…unless one of us dies on an overdose…
Roadrunner: Rock. And the future of Slipknot, then?
Joey: Still very much in Slipknot. Just had a meeting with those guys yesterday, and our plans are getting mapped out, ya know? Gonna start recording our next record at the beginning of next year. Everything is good in that camp, solid as hell.
Roadrunner: '69 GTO or '70 Charger?
Joey: Oh, that's hard. An '81 rusted Pinto with a donut tire filled with drugs.
Roadrunner: Any last thing you'd like to say about Murderdolls?
Joey: We're a very tongue & cheek band. A lot of our shit is very offensive and can be taken the wrong way, for sure. But I think that's a lot of what is fun about this band - we're serious about not being serious. We're like the musical equivalent of being kicked in the fuckin' teeth.
Roadrunner: Good closing line, my man.
Joey: Yeah, our merchandise will go great, too.
Roadrunner: Can't wait to see it. All the best and thank you for the time… go take a nap.
Joey: Yeah, I don't even know where the hell I'm at…(laughs)
Roadrunner: Rock.
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