SLIPKNOT Guitarist Talks Band's Future In New Video Interview

Full Metal Jackie of Revolver TV conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT guitarist Mick Thomson at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California during the 2011 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, a massive music-products convention that took place January 13-16. You can now watch the chat below.

On the possibility of U.S. shows later this year:

Mick: "Nothing for the States as of right now. We've got just a month in Europe we're gonna do — festivals, that kind of thing. A couple of our own headlining, some with METALLICA and some with IRON MAIDEN. And that's all our plans, currently."

On the progress of the songwriting sessions for SLIPKNOT's next studio album:

Mick: "We've got different people in different places. Joey's [Jordison, drums] out doing his thing. Corey's [Taylor, vocals] out doing his. But we all work all the time anyway. I know that Joey's got a bunch of parts. I mean, we always do — everybody always does. I've got different things. It's just a matter of coming together and assembling things and getting to work together. When you sit and play, sometimes I'll come up with something that is a SLIPKNOT fit, and sometimes it's just whatever. So, yeah, eventually we're gonna get together and start working on more stuff."

On when SLIPKNOT expects to return to the studio to begin work on its next album:

Mick: "We've got so much to figure out — what we're gonna do, how we're gonna do it. I mean, there are just so many things right now. We've had a couple of meetings and we've talked about things and everything's positive and we're working towards doing things again and doing them the right way."

SLIPKNOT recently announced that it will make a number festival appearances this summer, including the U.K.'s Sonisphere, Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting and Brazil's Rock In Rio. These will mark the band's first shows without late bassist Paul Gray, who was found dead in a hotel room in a Des Moines, Iowa suburb last May at the age of 38 from an overdose of morphine.

Speaking to the Artisan News Service, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor admitted that he is still unsure going back out and performing live without Gray is the right thing to do. "It was a big decision," he said. "There's still a part of me that's kind of on the fence about it. It all comes down to the band at the end of the day and how we handle it. And if we can come together as men and handle it the right way and do it for the right reasons — do it for the fans, do it for the family — it could be the first of baby steps to see what happens in the future." He added, "The wonderful thing and the worst thing about this band is that there's no other band like SLIPKNOT, so we handle things the way we handle it."

If the band sticks to the plan revealed to The Pulse Of Radio by drummer Joey Jordison, SLIPKNOT will use a touring bassist for live work but will remain an eight-piece onstage. "We're not gonna have anyone on stage right now," Jordison said. "The bass player, he'll be behind me, you know, when I'm playing to lock in with me, but there's no one right now to go onstage. There's no replacement for Paul right now."

Jordison said late last year that he and other members of the eight-piece band were already separately recording demos of new material, which he hoped to begin recording sometime in early 2011.

But Taylor disputed that, saying he has "no plans" to make a new album with the band anytime soon.

Following the announcement of the Sonisphere show, Taylor tweeted, "Honestly, I don't know how to feel about the tour. But it's for the fans, and for the family. We'll see. I don't know WHEN I'll be ready to make an album. Might not be for years. But we will definitely play shows. We'll see what happens."

Taylor and SLIPKNOT guitarist Jim Root have been on the road with their other band, STONE SOUR, since early summer.