GOT BASS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SID WILSON OF SLIPKNOT

sETH aBRUMZ | Aug 16, 2012 | 0 comments

The Mayhem Festival 2012 hit hard, loud and heavy with an AMAZING line-up. This was hands down one of the best metal shows I’ve seen in a while. After meeting some amazing people, I had the opportunity to sit down with Sid Wilson of Slipknot. I must admit I was a little struck when I first entered his tour bus. I sat down with him on behalf of Got Bass Music and to be honest, he has to be one of the most down to earth artists I’ve ever meet!

Ken: On behalf of myself, GBM and Colorado…I want to take this time to say thank you for the opportunity to sit down with you. I know this may be a little cliché, but tell me a little bit about how you got started?

Sid: I went to a party with a few friends and I was amazed at what the DJ’s were doing. At that point I told myself that’s what I wanted to do. My family is from Europe so I’ve always had a love for the music. Pretty much anything we put our minds to we are good at, so I told myself that’s what I wanted to do and I did it. I challenged a friend of mine that we were going to be better than the DJ’s we were listening to. We did show after show and kept pushing harder and harder.

Ken: That’s amazing man! How long have you been spinning for?

Sid: I started in 1991 in Iowa. Back then it was a bit different because of where we were. There are no record stores in the area, so when we needed music we had literally a 3-4 hour drive to get good records. We would make this drive once a week to get the newest music and even though there wasn’t a big scene there, our parties would take off. Most of the bars there are your typical frat boy, sorority girl mainstream bars so it was tough to get people into the underground shows. Even with that, before I knew it, the underground scene was taking off and our shows were filling up.

Ken: How did you get involved with Slipknot?

Sid: Paul (Paul Gray) came to the club I was spinning at one night and was asking about me. At one point, they were trying to convince him to become a DJ as well (laughing). After him repeatedly telling them no, he stuck around and listened to what we were doing. He returned the following week and talked to me about what Slipknot was doing. I met the rest of the guys and the rest is history (laughing).

Ken: Tell me a little bit about the struggles you had as an artist when you first started?

Sid: There’s not a real big scene where I come from so when I first started it was getting people to the shows. Before I knew it, we had five to seven thousand people at our shows and I was like wow, this is crazy how much this has grown. I would say the biggest struggle I dealt with was a constant following of what we were doing because the shows were so hit and miss. Once the band started, my biggest struggle was how I balance everything between the band and my solo projects. After a while, it became easy. Time management was a big part (laughing).

Ken: I know there was a bit of a struggle with the passing of Paul (Paul Gray) R.I.P. Tell me what you see with the future of Slipknot as a whole?

Sid: Losing Paul hit us all hard. He was one of the founding members of the band. To lose someone like Paul is like losing a family member. It took us a while to get ourselves back together. Once we did we were coming out even stronger for Paul. We have a new album that we are working on, I’ve got a hip hop side project that we’ve been working on and that seems to be taking off pretty well.. Between my side projects and the tours with Slipknot, it pretty much takes up all my time. As for the band, we are stronger than ever and we will continue to keep that going for our fans and for Paul.

Ken: I see the transformers tattoos on your hands (laughing). But I have to ask, how did you come up with the name DJ Starscream?

Sid: (laughing) the first scratch I learned was the transform. I practiced and practiced that scratch for a while until I got it down (laughing). That coupled with the fact that I loved the Transformers as a young kid, it just kind of stuck.

Ken: I have one more question for you brother. Being a jungle DJ, tell me a little bit about how you think the EDM scene has changed since you first started.

Sid: Well it’s definitely gone more mainstream. When I started it was underground parties and now it seems that most everyone is involved with the EDM scene in some way (laughing). I believe in music, whether it’s metal, country, jazz or whatever. I think the fact that the music taking off is a great move for those who never got to experience the EDM scene as a whole. I love music, and to be able to give that back to the crowds is what it’s about.

Ken: Man, that’s amazing! I want to thank you for your time and on behalf of myself, GMB and everyone here in Colorado, keep doing what you do brother! It’s been an honor to chat with you!

Sid: Thank you man, glad to be back in Denver and enjoy the show!

Without a doubt, Sid was one of the coolest and down to earth artists I’ve had the chance to meet!