logo

Slipknot producer Ross Robinson admits he “didn’t really like” the band’s first demo

Watching them live, however, changed everything.

Slipknot

Image: The Photo Access / Alamy

When you purchase through affiliate links on Guitar.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn more.

Producer Ross Robinson has revealed that he was actually not a fan of Slipknot’s music the first time he heard their demo.

Speaking in an interview in the latest issue of Metal Hammer, Robinson shares his first impression of the metal band, saying: “The first demo I didn’t really like and it kind of sat there.”

“Then, their acting manager, at the time, worked at a radio station in Iowa. She was a programmer, and she only knew one person in LA to try to get it signed, and she goes, ‘Do you know how to get a hold of Ross Robinson?’ And he goes, ‘I do, because I manage him.’”

It was their live performance that changed everything, says Robinson, who at the time flew out to Iowa to check out the band’s rehearsals and live show.

“They didn’t have masks on. I remember Corey’s face, so fucking animated and awesome. They played the next night, and [at first] I was like, ‘Oh, man, the mask is not relating like it was in the rehearsal room. His eyes and his face were so cool, this isn’t as good.’

“But with the masks, the performance was fucking insane; people were just killin’ each other inside the club, and the smile on my face was indescribable. I think the masks allowed ’em to become something other than their egoic self; they were able to let all of their identity go and become something else that they couldn’t be otherwise.”

Impressed, Robinson went on to produce the band’s self-titled debut album, which helped put the Iowa icons on the map.

In other Slipknot-related news, the band recently announced their seventh studio album The End, So Far, which will be out on 30 September via Roadrunner records.

Listen to the album’s title track The Dying Song (Time To Sing) below.

Related Artists

Related Tags

logo

The world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar.

© 2024 Guitar.com is part of NME Networks.