SLAYER's KERRY KING On Early Musical Inspirations: 'To Me, It Was All About VENOM'

Aaron Beck of The Columbus Dispatch recently conducted an interview with SLAYER guitarist Kerry King. The question-and-answer session follows:

The Columbus Dispatch: How went the recording of the first album, "Christ Illusion", in five years?

Kerry King: We'd played together for a few years before we had to record — which made a lot of difference because, if anything was going to be weird, it would have come out. Having Dave [Lombardo] back does make a difference. In sports you'd call it an "intangible."

The Columbus Dispatch: Rick Rubin, who introduced SLAYER to the mainstream in the '80s, is credited as the executive producer of "Christ Illusion". What exactly did he do?

Kerry King: He does work on our mixes. I don't know if he does it because he thinks it'll make it sound better or because it makes him feel he's a part of it all. But he has, like, little things he adds here and there, from as minute as "I hate this snare hit right here; change it" to "I want the guitars up on this whole song." I don't have the patience for that (expletive). I'm like "Get it in the ballpark."

The Columbus Dispatch: Do you write out the guitar parts?

Kerry King: I write it down so, if we ever play it live, I don't have to relearn it. I don't want to hear a guitar player changing the (expletive) when I see him live. I want him to reproduce it.

The Columbus Dispatch: What are the main misconceptions about SLAYER?

Kerry King: Just the old-school stuff —that we're Nazi fascists. I don't have time for politics. These new songs aren't political at all: "Jihad", "Eyes of the Insane" — it's what's spewing out at us from the TV.

The Columbus Dispatch: Is it true you borrowed money from your dad to record the first album?

Kerry King: Yes. My dad would come and see me because he was proud. I don't think he could hear what was actually being said, and, as the years went on, I don't know if he paid attention. He was the kind of guy who didn't curse in front of my mom. You can imagine, with all the songs that came later, I was like "Um, no, you can't hear that one and that one and that one."

The Columbus Dispatch: How did heavy metal inspire you as a teenager?

Kerry King: Well, it took me awhile to get to the good stuff. Heavy music to me early would have been VAN HALEN, DEEP PURPLE. The thing that transformed me was hearing (JUDAS) PRIEST on the radio. But, to me, it was all about VENOM. I still listen to "Welcome to Hell" and "Black Metal" all the time.

The Columbus Dispatch: Which guitarist first inspired you?

Kerry King: Eddie Van Halen. You can't even talk about guitar and not mention him.

The Columbus Dispatch: What has been the biggest SLAYER audience, and what size of audience would you prefer to have?

Kerry King: Biggest audience? Probably some European festival — 60,000 or something. Clubs are fun, but, on (the) "Unholy Alliance" (tour),I think we maxed out at 9,000. Nine thousand's a good "big" show; 1,500 is an intense show. I like them both, but I'd hate to be doing one the rest of my life. If I had to choose, I'd choose arenas for the cash and 1,500 for the vibe.

The Columbus Dispatch: Who is the most enthusiastic SLAYER fan you've met?

Kerry King: Some dude had "SLAYER" carved into his back with a beer bottle. We had that on one of our EP covers awhile back. It looked really cool. Some dude asked me to do that in Spain. He had a scalpel; he wanted me to put "SLAYER" in his shoulder. I said, "I'll sign anything you want, but I ain't cutting you."