Joey Jordison: Career In Covers

This month we welcome modern metal master Joey Jordison to the Rhythm cover.

It is, in fact, the fifth time that Joey has graced Rhythm’s cover. In honour of his latest outing we have dug through the archives and taken a look back at Joey’s career in Rhythm covers.

You can go way back to 2004 the Slipknot to find Joey’s first Rhythm cover. He talked to us about the upcoming release of the mask-wearing metallers' album The Subliminal Verses and his surprising drumming influences, including a love of jazz.

He also told us about his favourite drumming heroes; “Keith Moon was amazing as a drummer but he was also a nut and it reflected in his drumming. And the great thing about Who records is that you can almost get hold of the vinyl and feel his heart. It was that good.

“And Charlie Watts, man. Unbelievable –the way he doesn’t play the hi hat on his snare beats is just so stylish. Dave Lombardo was a huge influence on me as well, of course. I got Reign In Blood for Easter one year – how ironic is that?”

In 2007 we saw Joey’s face at the centre of our Metal Drum Demons issue. He told us about his inspirations and how he remains so iconic in the metal genre.

He also let slip some golden advice for young drummers reading the magazine; “Keep working as much as you can. Eventually it will happen as long as you have the will and strive to be a good drummer.” Sage words.

It was a quick return for Joey as the metal messiah was back on the Rhythm cover just over a year later. He spoke to us as Slipknot were completing their latest album All Hope Is Gone.

He shed some light on his impressive song writing credentials; “A lot of the time I will write a guitar riff first, I don’t write drum riffs first. I’ll already know how the drums are going to go. It just comes from the feel of the riff and the vocals. I accent a lot with the vocals.”

Joey also give us a glimpse into the challenges of powering the Knot live. On whether the mask restricts his breathing on stage, he said: “Of course it does. It sends you into an equilibrium with asphyxiation. You’ve got to be a little bit of a sadist to be in Slipknot, with the asphyxiation it’s pretty much bondage, and the headbanging and the energy and how hard our music is to play, not knowing if you’re going to have a baseball bat cracked over your head, or if Sid comes up and strangles me for 30 minutes, with the mask on trying to play – it’s unpredictable. We like it like that.”

Joey had a little longer to wait for his next Rhythm cover, but he was back in January 2011 where we got an insight into the intense world of Joey Jordison.

On how he stays in the right headspace for making new music, he told us: “Dude, I’m always in the right headspace! I live pretty much in isolation, so there are really no distractions. That’s not a manufactured thing, it’s just the way I live. I don’t use a computer for anything other than recording, so there’s no MySpace, email or surfing to take up my time. And I don’t use the phone a lot, other than to talk to my mother and really close friends and family. And I hate texting, so my head’s pretty free to be creative as and when.

“At my house I don’t have clocks and everything’s blacked out, so I never really know what time it is. Enough light comes in for me to have a clue as to whether it’s morning or evening by where the sun is, but I don’t live by a clock. I’m a night owl, so I tend to stay up all night when I’m at home and that’s when the good stuff happens. Just jamming around real freely and seeing what comes out. I’ll go to bed at around 5am, I guess – that’s a pretty typical routine for me when I’m not on tour or rehearsing.”

The feature came hot on the heels of Joey being named the Greatest Drummer of the Last 25 Years in a Rhythm poll. He was pretty pleased with the result.

“It’s amazing man, really. I’m still completely blown away with the whole thing. When I first got the news I honestly thought it was a joke, I couldn’t believe that I’d been honoured with the award.”

The brand new Rhythm issue also includes a huge feature with Joey - without the mask and introducing the world to new band Scar The Martyr.

He also explained the impressive development of his drumming; “Instead of concentrating on speed all the time I now concentrate on keeping the tempo from fluctuating. I like to make sure that it’s pretty linear. When we first came out, and you can even hear it on the first record and they sound good like that, sometimes certain parts will escalate in tempo. I still play those songs identically like that on stage because that’s the feel.”

For much more pick up the Summer issue of Rhythm.