SLAYER Frontman Says There Are No Plans For Retirement

Christine Carney of MP3.com recently conducted an interview with SLAYER frontman Tom Araya. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

MP3.com: You guys have reissued "Christ Illusion" with some extra stuff on it recently. What was the motivation behind that?

Araya: That was basically a record company thing. And [producer Rick] Rubin made the transfer to go to Sony/Columbia and we're part of Rubin's record company, American Recordings, so we kind of went with him. So Sony wanted to re-release the album, reissue the album actually. They took the initiative and we had a song that we hadn't really finished because of my surgery. So we took the opportunity to go back a year later and finish that song vocally and then put it on the album because they wanted to reissue it and they wanted to know if we had anything extra that we could put on it. And so we had that song that hadn't been finished, which to me came out as just really a strong song. It was actually a very energetic, a very lively song. So the song came together really quick and easy and it felt awesome. I mean, when I was singing it I was like, "Fuck, this is turning out a lot better than I expected it would be." It was just a really exciting song. So they put in a DVD, two cuts I think. They have the "Eyes of the Insane" video that they included with it, and "South of Heaven" is a live clip from one of the tours that we did after the release of the album.

MP3.com: Do you find that fans put expectations on you to carry a certain "torch", like you have an obligation to a certain fan base based on your history?

Araya: No, we feel that. Believe me, it's not our fan base. That's us. We're fans of the band first. And if we sit back and look at what we're doing as a fan and think "Ooh," we'll go back and rethink what we're doing. So we're fans of the band first and we're the first ones that will decide what's SLAYER and what's not. We know. So we're not going to sit there and fool ourselves.

MP3.com: So then how would you respond to people who were maybe disappointed in the way that you're "carrying the torch," if you encounter that? Do you have to divide between what you are personally expressing and feel that you want to uphold versus people's perception or expectation?

Araya: No. The band came together and had a set of values and we've just sort of stuck with those values and that's about it. One is integrity. I'm a fan of music, and when I'm into a band or a group and then all of a sudden they just do something completely, "Like, what the fuck is this," I am completely turned off. So, Rule Number 1, don't do that. I don't want to turn anybody off. I want to make sure that they grow with you or that they like what you're doing and that you have every intention of making sure that they enjoy each record they get, you know what I mean? And with us it's never gone beyond, "This is awesome. This is a great song." And that's about it, no more, no less. It's, "What do you think of this title?" "Oh, cool title." "What are you going to write about?" "This." "Oh, I've got something for that." And then you put together great songs and things that you like because you don't want to disappoint yourself or your fan base, because we know how disappointing it is when bands just all of a sudden just do something just completely just like not anywhere near the vein of what you initially started. And you were thinking, "What the fuck happened? Did I miss something?" And then you're disappointed and then you don't buy the next record for fear that it's going to suck.

MP3.com: Do you feel anything about that in regards to SLAYER? Do you feel like there's extra pressure on you to sort of be the "torch carriers"?

Araya: No, there's no pressure on us. I mean, we do what we do and it comes natural to us. So, why do stuff that's unnatural because it's going to sound unnatural? So what we do — we've been doing it, nothing is contrived. We just sort of come up with it and we think things are great ideas and that's about it. If it's a great idea, we stick with it. If we feel it's something that's like, "Uh," we don't. And we have to like the music before we can even start to think about lyric ideas. And you know, I'm sure Kerry and Jeff have ideas as they're working on music. But a lot of the songs, if we don't like them musically or if they don't gel musically, or feel or groove musically, then we pretty much get rid of them. Then as far as doing something different to change — you know, I guess with METALLICA it's like most people, you have to take a chance. METALLICA took a chance, okay. They took a big chance and succeeded with flying colors. Okay. And now there's other bands out there that have taken those same chances and have not fared very well. Everybody comes to a crossroads and everybody has to sit there and think, "Okay, do we take this chance, or do we just do what we do and just do it because we enjoy what we're doing?" METALLICA took a chance and they succeeded, and there are other bands out there that have done the same thing. They have started a certain way and then just took a chance and just really didn't succeed, didn't fare very well. There's no pressure because we don't have to prove ourselves to anybody. Our track record is proof enough of that. It's kind of like AC/DC. You know, they're not out to prove anything. Now they're just making records, which is what they've always done, which is what we've always done. We just make records.

MP3.com: Is it getting harder as time passes maybe to get your energy up for live shows or touring?

Araya: No. No, you know, it doesn't because the music just kicks you in gear, just the vibe and the excitement and I'm a performer so then the nerves — it's just like, "I hope I don't forget anything. I don't want to forget words," and just jitters, show jitters, I still get them. Some days are stronger than others. But I mean, it's like a nervous energy that you just kind of channel it. And that's what I do, I channel that nervous energy and it just it makes the set go by real quick. [Laughs.]

MP3.com: So there are no plans for retirement or anything like that?

Araya: No, not at the moment. I mean, at the moment we all still feel strong and capable. [Laughs.] It's the music that kind of carries you and the energy and then the crowd too, and then sometimes you have your off days, some days you have your great days, you have your bad days and we all have days like that. And we're no different. There are some times that that comes across onstage when you've just had a bad day and it's even coming across on stage that, man, you've just had a shitty day today. I, myself, feel really young at heart so I don't have any worries about anything. I'm serious, for the music that we do and the intensity that we play, we're all pretty much still young at heart.

Check out the entire interview in text and audio format at MP3.com.