TOM ARAYA On MUSTAINE: 'He Comes Across As A Nice Guy, But I Keep My Guard Up Around Him'

Jon Wiederhorn of AOL's Noisecreep recently conducted an interview with SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Noisecreep: You've done a lot of touring with MEGADETH and probably will continue to do so. Are you friends with Dave Mustaine now. Have you put the bitterness of the past behind you?

Araya: He's another human being who lives on this planet, and that's about it. He comes across as a nice guy, but I keep my guard up around him. He's courteous to me and my wife and my kids. So I'm courteous in return.

Noisecreep: Was it more fun doing the U.S. dates with ANTHRAX or TESTAMENT?

Araya: Wow. I thought both were good. I think it would have been cool if we could have done it with all four bands. It would have been a Clash of the Titans reunion if TESTAMENT had done that.

Noisecreep: What's the plan for the new year?

Araya: We'll be busy from February through May. We'll be heading to Australia, there are some shows we're going to be doing in Europe and South America is in there also. As far as who the shows are with, I don't know. I think some of those shows might be with MEGADETH, but I'm not sure. We're booked up until May. After that, I don't know.

Noisecreep: Have you had to make any adjustments to your performance post surgery?

Araya: Yeah. I can't headbang anymore. The whole thing's a bum out. Headbanging is a big part of what I did. My singing has improved and my playing has improved. But it's just not the same for me.

Noisecreep: Have you ever caught yourself almost starting to headbang?

Araya: I did it once. The very first show after the surgery. We did the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show and we went into the three songs that we did off air. I started headbanging and then realized what I was doing and stopped. And I haven't headbanged since. It's just a bum out, and that's about the only way I can really describe it. To me, being onstage and performing is a big thing. And not headbanging has taken a lot of that away from me. When you've got the kind of relationship that we have as a band — when you put your heart into the performance because that's all you're allowed to do, it's a bum out.

Noisecreep: Are SLAYER working on any new material?

Araya: I don't know. No one has sent me anything in reference to anybody getting together to work on anything. Nobody has sent me that memo yet. So if they're getting together and working on material, I don't know. They're in L.A., I'm in Texas. So we really don't communicate.

Noisecreep: You don't talk when you're not on tour?

Araya: Not really. We've never really communicated, period. We talk and communicate out on the road, but as far as being home, no. It's been like that for a long time. I hate to say that, but it's kind of been like that since the band's inception.

Read the entire interview from Noisecreep.