SLIPKNOT co-founder/conceptualist/percussionist Shawn M. Crahan(a.k.a. Clown) recently spoke to Artisan News about the band's first-ever digital app, which was released last month across Mac iOS and Android platforms. You can watch the chat below.
Appropriately entitled "Slipknot: Wear The Mask", the app is as much about the fans as it is the band. The point is for fans to learn something about themselves through SLIPKNOT's unique perspective and lens."Wear The Mask" has social, gameplay, and photography aspects, but it is not any one of those things exclusively.
Clown notes: "Welcome to what we are. Welcome to what you are, and what we together have always been. SLIPKNOT is not a band. We are a culture and you are our blood. We play for blood. Enjoy your new face. It has always been there with you. Strap it on and let's infect the entire world together as one. It's time to Wear The Mask. Stay (sic) and enjoy it."
Typical band apps are often either an abbreviated web site with tour dates and ticket links or a simple game that fans play once before growing bored. With "Wear The Mask", SLIPKNOT and their partner agency,Saatchi & Saatchi – New York, they aimed to do more. Together they wanted to create an experience for fans that allowed them to completely immerse themselves in the culture of SLIPKNOT.
Saatchi & Saatchi New York's Chief Creative Officer Con Williamsonadds: "SLIPKNOT's Facebook presence alone is over 12 million fans, so we wanted to create a way to give each one of those people an individual experience with the band. 'Wear the Mask' is an engaging, layered and multi faceted way to do that. Fans will discover an app that's complicated, disturbing, challenging and fresh, and really true to their core. This will allow them to keep finding new ways to get even more lost in the awesome world of SLIPKNOT."
10 YEARS Members Talks About Making Of 'Minus The Machine'
10 YEARS has released its sixth studio album, "Minus The Machine", which arrived in stores Tuesday (August 7) on the band's own label,Palehorse Records. The disc follows up the band's last effort for a major label, 2010's "Feeding The Wolves", and bassist Lewis Cosby told The Pulse Of Radio that becoming independent again gave the band a new jolt of energy. "This time around, it felt like we were an unsigned artist again and we were able to do whatever the hell we wanted to do," he said. "Complete freedom, complete control — there's not a track on this record that we're not just super-proud of. It was such a pleasant experience this time, we really had fun."
A three-minute video report from Artisan News in which 10 YEARS vocalist Jesse Hasek and drummer/guitarist Brian Vodinh talk about the making of "Minus The Machine" can be seen below.
The first single and video from "Minus The Machine", called "Backlash", is currently No. 24 on the Active Rock radio chart.
"Feeding The Wolves" featured the hit singles "Shoot It Out" and "Fix Me". The band's previous hits include "Beautiful" and the chart-topping "Wasteland".
10 YEARS will next perform on September 16 at a radio festival in Dayton, Ohio.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Jack White Says He Took Two Bands on BlunderbussTour to Avoid "Nostalgia Trip"
On every stop of his current tour promoting his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, Jack White has been taking two bands on the road with him. Both bands are complete opposites, with one made up of all female players and the other made up of all male players. White says that he chose to take a diverse group of musicians on tour with him so that his concerts wouldn’t turn into “a nostalgia trip.”
“If it's a White Stripes song, for example, that people are hearing, I don't want to recreate something that a two-piece band did with six people in some really regular, perfunctory way, or a nostalgic way,” White tells former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan in an interview for his Seattle Weekly blog. “So it's a way for me to shake things up for myself so it stays really alive onstage, not just trying to recreate some moment from 10 years ago.”
White added that each musician he shares the stage with each night played an important part in creating Blunderbuss. “The new songs of mine were done with these new musicians, so that was the lucky part,” notes the singer. “I could take all of them with me on the road. It's very expensive, but I'm getting a lot out of it.”
Metallica to Headline 2013 Soundwave Festival in Australia
The producers of Australia’s Soundwave Festival have announced the lineup for next year’s installment, and Metallica has been confirmed to headline the event.
This year, the musical extravaganza -- which tours all over the country -- begins in Brisbane on February 23 and makes stops in Sydney on February 24, Melbourne on March 1, Adelaide on March 2 and Perth on March 4.
Other artists appearing at the festival include Linkin Park, Blink-182, A Perfect Circle, The Offspring, Paramore, Garbage and Stone Sour, plus more. To see the complete festival artist roster and to buy tickets for the event, head over to SoundwaveFestival.com.
Puddle of Mudd Frontman Issued Bench Warrant After Missing Court Date
Wes Scantlin is back in trouble again. A Los Angeles judge has issued a bench warrant for the Puddle of Mudd frontman after he failed to appear at a scheduled court date on Wednesday, E! News is reporting. Scantlin was scheduled to appear to show proof of his enrollment in a drug counseling program. The singer must now appear in court on August 17 in order to have the bench warrant lifted.
As previously reported, Scantlin was arrested on January 12 and charged with two misdemeanors, driving without a license and being under the influence of a controlled substance, as well as felony drug possession. In exchange for the singer pleading guilty to felony cocaine possession last month, the two misdemeanor charges were dropped and Scantlin was told that he could avoid jail time by enrolling in a drug counseling program.
Scantlin is under 18 months' deferred judgment and could get the charges dropped if he completes the drug counseling program.
