Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Slipknot are currently on a break from their last touring cycle, which included a headlining spot on the 2012 Mayhem Festival, the Heavy T.O. and Heavy MTL festivals, and the band’s very own live creation, Knotfest. In a recent interview Artisan News, Slipknot percussionist and creative pathfinder Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan spoke about late bassist Paul Gray ‘s contributions will be heard on the next Slipknot album. “There are songs that he’s written that will be a part of the next record,” says Crahan in the video interview posted below. “We’re all going to have to think like him, and he’ll be there. He’ll be there; there’s no way [that] Paul Gray [will not be] a part of anything that we do for the rest of our career.” Gray’s bass was placed onstage during Slipknot’s last touring cycle, with the band’s touring bassist, Donnie Steele, remaining offstage during shows. We had the opportunity to speak with Clown at the 2012 Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec, where the masked musician explained the difficulties that Slipknot continue to face without Gray. “As we all know, Paul was a major writing force in the band,” says Clown. “We’ve been sporadically touring for two years to share the grieving process with our fans instead of doing it by ourselves and having them do it by themselves — we’re doing it together … Even though it’s been over two years, you’ve got to be able to go into the studio calm, cool and collected, because I’m not ready to walk into a studio and not see him.” Artisan News Talks to Shawn Crahan [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slipknot-clown-talks-knotfest-antennas-to-hell-legacy-of-paul-gray-more/” title=”Check out Loudwire’s Video Interview with Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Nikki Sixx is a man who wears many hats. Not only is he the bassist and songwriter for Motley Crue and Sixx: A.M. , he’s also a radio host, author and master of social media. During some downtime from Motley Crue’s current tour with KISS, we caught up with Sixx on the phone for an interview that we’ve divided between Loudwire and our brother site Ultimate Classic Rock . See what he told us about the band’s new single ‘Sex,’ his Twitter rant against Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine and what lies ahead for his band Sixx: A.M. in the following Q&A. And for more on Motley Crue’s tour with KISS, as well as their plans for new music, click on the button at the bottom of this article to read Ultimate Classic Rock’s portion of the interview. Have you been happy with the reaction to the new song ‘Sex’? Yeah, you know what I’m really happy about? We wrote the song, we recorded it and we recorded it old school. We just got in a room, pounded it out, did a few of the dubs, had some fun with some synths, with some good sound to thicken it up. Vince did his vocals and we mixed it pretty quick and we had a choice, so [we decided] “Let’s not go pounding radio, the old-school way … let’s let people discover it the way that they discovered us when we were kids, the way they discover bands even now.” You hear about it, someone talks about it, someone plays it for you, e-mails it to you, so that was really exciting. Radio stations wanted to pick it up and play it, there was no agenda on our part and then the audience, a lot of the time, was hearing it for the first time the night of the show. People would say, “Dude when you were in Chicago, you know you sold 10,000 copies and when you’re in Detroit ,you sold 9,000 copies of the song,” because they’re hearing it live and they’re going, ‘Wow this is cool, new Crue, how come I never heard this?’ You and Tommy Lee in particular are very active on Twitter. Do you enjoy it as much as you seem to and is there anything you’ve tweeted that you regret? Of course. You know, I’ve done a few things. Because it’s an artist doing it, because it’s a human being doing it, it’s not an assistant or the management company, or the record company tweeting for you. You’re going to say s–t that’s going to ruffle feathers or you’re going to stay stuff that’s really personal and other people can really relate to it. That’s what I like about it, I’ve embraced it. In the beginning, when Twitter first came out, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to be that open,’ but as [my radio program] Sixx Sense became such a huge part of my life, I became willing to be more and more vulnerable and just laying my life open on the radio show. Twitter didn’t feel as so scary to me. I was like, “I don’t know if I want people to know what color socks I’m wearing today,” and in the end, if something happens to me, like what does that have to do with this life? And what I found out is that it has everything to do with everyone’s life because we’re kind of all doing this at the same time, in real time. One of the things that for me that was really interesting is when [Megadeth frontman] Dave [Mustaine] was saying maybe assinine statement about America turning into Nazi America. I mean, I reached for my phone and I said, ‘This guy’s a f—ing a–hole’ and he is, you don’t say that about your f—ing country. But I was able to say that and I had a lot of people go, ‘Hey man, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and Nikki you’re in the wrong,’ and ‘That guy should be thrown out of the country,’ and other people [wrote] ‘He shouldn’t be thrown out of the country, he’s entitled to his own rights’ and it just went on and on and on and I didn’t take any of it personally. What I did was I took it in and went, ‘This is great! This is like a world conversation,’ and I was able to have my opinion and that guy has a right to have his own opinion, whether he wants to think that about our country. I don’t think that about our country but I have strong opinions on other stuff and I’ve had people come after me. It is a cool, cool thing and you can be real on it and in there’s times when you can also say, ‘Guess what? We got tickets up for sale!’ What does the future hold for Sixx: A.M.? The biggest plan that we have is to make our third record. We have had the obstacle of touring because of Motley Crue and because DJ [Ashba] is playing guitar in Guns ‘N Roses and [singer] James [Michael] is producing. It’s like every time I’m available, DJ’s on the road, or every time DJ’s off the road, I’m touring or James is in the middle of a record. I don’t believe there will be any touring on this [past] record and we’ve already starting writing ideas, except we haven’t actually gotten together. We’re gonna do the record and that album has to without a doubt have a tour. [button href=”cool http://ultimateclassicrock.com/nikki-sixx-interview/” title=”Next: Nikki Sixx Talks KISS Tour + New Motley Crue Music” align=”center”]
Executive Music Group After five straight wins and fans voting relentlessly, 12 Stones have entered the Loudwire Cage Match Hall of Fame with their latest single ‘Psycho’ off of their fourth studio album ‘Beneath the Scars.’ 12 Stones took down their fifth and final opponent Shinedown after beating heavy hitters like the Smashing Pumpkins and Godsmack , as well as All That Remains and Taproot . Congrats to 12 Stones on this impressive achievement. They now join such bands as Down, Fozzy, Anthrax, Korn, Trivium and more in Loudwire’s Cage Match Hall of Fame. Fans who want to check out 12 Stones in concert can catch the band trekking all across the United States this fall. For a full list of tour dates, click here . Listen to 12 Stones, ‘Psycho’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com” title=”Next: 12 Stones Singer Discusses ‘Beneath the Scars’ + More” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images For Red Hot Chili Peppers fans who’ve ever wanted to get up close and personal with the band, here’s your chance, and it’s all for a good cause. RHCP bassist Flea, who founded the non-profit Silverlake Conservatory of Music 10 years ago, has announced an event to support the school that will be held at his own Los Angeles home on his birthday – making for quite a momentous day. His bandmate Anthony Kiedis will join Flea in serving as co-host of the very special event. Set for Tuesday, Oct. 16 the intimate evening will include performances by both Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rancid, in addition to a dinner and a silent auction with all funds benefiting the school. The auction features donations from President Bill Clinton and musicians like Tim Armstrong, Chad Smith, Maroon 5 and more. A tax-deductible donation of $1500 gets fans in the door; find out all the details here . According to its website, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music was created “to fill in the cultural landscape of our community” with a promise to “offer the people of our area the opportunity to study music with exceptional teachers at a reasonable price.” That sounds like something we can all rally behind! [button href=”http://loudwire.com/top-albums-of-2002/” title=”Where Did RHCP Land on Our Top Albums of 2002 List?” align=”center”]
Tim Whitby, Getty Images Here’s a look at the top stories of the day on Loudwire and around the Web: Slash defends Lindsay Lohan on her recent hit-and-run arrest. We’ve also got our review and exclusive pictures of Slash’s recent New York show with Foxy Shazam. [ Loudwire ] Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian claims, This will be the only version of Anthrax until there is no Anthrax.” Plus, Anthrax bassist Frank Bello discusses his role in the film ‘Greetings From Tim Buckley. [ Loudwire ] Randy Blythe goes one-on-one with Metal Hammer, reminiscing about his Czech arrest in great detail. Blythe says about the police, “They looked like they were there to apprehend a terrorist.” [ Loudwire ] Guitarist faces jail after convincing investors to fund bogus charity album featuring Jimi Hendrix, Beatles + More. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] Songstress Fiona Apple has been arrested in Texas for Possession of Hash. [ Diffuser.fm ] Green Day reveal that Best Coast will join the band as support for January + February dates. [ Rock Music Report ]
Sean Gardner / Jonathan Wood / Karl Walter, Getty Images As cliche as it may sound, it seems unbelievable that these 2002 landmark albums were released a decade ago. In a time when MTV was still playing music videos on heavy rotation, mainstream rock as well as underground metal had a very memorable year in 2002. Bands such as Queens of the Stone Age and Chevelle rocketed to worldwide notoriety, while various types of 'core' and progressive metal crowned some new heroes. Although 10 years have passed since the release of these albums, each one of them shares a timeless quality that to this day, allows these records to be constantly re-spun. Check out our list of the Top 10 Albums of 2002: ? 10 'Audioslave' Audioslave ? ? When it comes to rock 'supergroups,' few have been as successful as Audioslave were in the 2000s. Consisting of Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine along with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, Audioslave's self-titled album is home to rock anthems like 'Cochise,' 'Show Me How to Live' and 'Like a Stone.' The band would release two more albums before breaking up in 2007. ? 9 'Perseverance' Hatebreed ? ? As the New Wave of American Metal swept through the 2000s, different types of 'core' began to gain a tremendous amount of attention. With the release of Hatebreed 's 'Perseverance,' they became one of the first truly heavy bands of the era to succeed on a major label [Universal]. As an essential piece of the New England metal scene, bands such as Killswitch Engage constantly praise Hatebreed for paving the way for modern metal acts and allowing others to succeed on major labels. Tracks such as 'Proven,' 'Call for Blood' and 'I Will Be Heard' allow for a unique catharsis, letting the listener “get the red out.” ? 8 'The Art of Balance' Shadows Fall ? ? In a quest to find the perfect balance between melody and aggression, Shadows Fall created 'The Art of Balance.' With tracks about yoga and meditation mixed in with negative points in life and thrashing aggression, the experiment worked, and 'The Art of Balance' received gleaming praise from critics and fans. Vocalist Brian Fair explains, “It's the idea of oneness and unity between all people and all things. It's the idea that all systems begin from the same spark and it's something we get further away from. We're all in this together.” ? 7 'Wonder Whats Next' Chevelle ? ? Chevelle released their breakthrough album 'Wonder What's Next' in 2002, and the disc went on to achieve platinum certification. The success of the album is largely due to Chevelle's signature track, 'The Red.' 'Wonder Whats Next' had a long and impressive ride after the its release, as the singles 'Send the Pain Below' and 'Closure' kept Chevelle going through a monumental period in the band's history. ? 6 'Alive or Just Breathing' Killswitch Engage ? ? Widely considered as pioneers of the 2000s metalcore explosion, Killswitch Engage released 'Alive or Just Breathing' to mass acclaim. It was the last album featuring original vocalist Jesse Leach, who returned to Killswitch in 2012 after a decade-long tenure elsewhere. The highly addictive album consists of fan favorites 'My Last Serenade' and 'Fixation on the Darkness,' among others. ? 5 'Oceanic' Isis ? ? Crushing, gorgeous, stunning, sludgy, mesmerizing … 'Oceanic.' New England post-metal band Isis delivered a true gem with the release of 'Oceanic.' Their sophomore effort is a conceptual masterpiece, which revolves around the themes of water, romance, incest and suicide. 'Oceanic' feels like it hasn't aged a bit in it's 10-year existence, with old and new fans continuing to immerse themselves in Isis' isolating depths, even if there is no land in sight. ? 4 'By the Way' Red Hot Chili Peppers ? ? With 'Californication' achieving phenomenal success, Red Hot Chili Peppers needed another incredible album to keep the momentum going. With the song 'Can't Stop' being a perfect manifesto to define RHCP, their 'By the Way' album carried the band into another monumentally high point in their existence. With the album's release, songs like 'By the Way' and 'The Zephyr Song' flooded the airwaves into the ears of joyful listeners. ? 3 'Deliverance' Opeth ? ? Opeth truly boast one of the most incredible discographies in metal music. With ironclad critical praise following their entire career, 'Deliverance' is one of 10 full-length milestones in the lifespan of Opeth. Although 'Deliverance' only consists of six tracks, the album clocks in at over an hour, with mastermind and frontman Mikael Akerfeldt brewing one of his best progressive death metal concoctions to date. ? 2 'Remission' Mastodon ? ? Mastodon 's debut album, 'Remission' proved to be the launching pad for an incredibly important and critically acclaimed band. Loosely based on the theme of fire, 'Remission' is an album with the power of an atomic bomb. The disc is home to a myriad of modern classics such as 'Crusher Destroyer,' 'Mother Puncher,' 'Where Strides the Behemoth' and 'March of the Fire Ants.' Simply put, 'Remission' is an album that redefines your perception of what humans can create. ? 1 'Songs for the Deaf' Queens of the Stone Age ? ? Queens of the Stone Age are a difficult band to nail down. Despite not fitting into any particular musical genre, 'Songs for the Deaf' exploded into the mainstream with an unexpected burst of originality and balls-out rock. The disc is thickly layered with addictive singles like 'No One Knows' and 'Go With the Flow,' combined with challenging and unrelenting barrages of guitar-driven tracks such as 'A Song for the Deaf.' For its overall originality, 'Songs for the Deaf' tops our list of the best 2002 albums. ? What's Your Favorite Album of 2002? Which of these 2002 albums is your favorite? Did we get the order right? Did we miss an album? If we didn't include your personal favorite, post it in the comments section below: ?
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe has been selective in the amount of interviews he’s done since being released from Czech jail earlier this summer. Blythe was incarcerated for five weeks after being arrested on alleged manslaughter charges stemming from a 2010 concert incident. Now, in a new Q&A, Blythe reveals some incredible details about the incident. Focusing heavily on the initial arrest of Blythe, along with details on being transported to lockdown, Metal Hammer is set to release an in-depth interview within their latest issue. Blythe described the scene of the airport only a few seconds before he was arrested, “It still didn’t sink in that something weird was happening with my band,” describes Blythe, “but as soon as I got to the top of the ramp, the first thing I noticed was four or five really large men with guns and great pig pointy knives, pistols and facemasks. All you could see was their eyes and their mouths and they looked like they were there to apprehend a terrorist.” Blythe continues, “I was in the car with three plain-clothes homicide detectives, and one of them sort of spoke English, but not very well, and he started asking me, ‘So, what do you remember of this incident?’ Very conversationally, I was like, ‘You know, I really don’t know what’s happening right now so I want a lawyer’. When they hand you a piece of paper that says you’re being charged with manslaughter you know you aren’t just going to answer a few questions then walk out the door.” Blythe even shares about being driven to the jail by a metal fan who knew who Blythe was. “One of the guards who drove me was a metalhead. He knew who I was. He was like, ‘I’m sorry you have to be here. I like Finntroll and Rammstein.’” Pick up the latest issue of Metal Hammer to read about Blythe’s incident in immense detail. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-chris-adler-mix-of-emotions-randy-blythe-arrest/” title=”Lamb of God’s Chris Adler Recalls Randy Blythe Arrest” align=”center”]