I was in a band with a boy who was quite androgynous and a bit bisexual, and we used to play up to that a little bit to be provocative in a theatrical way, but I guess you either are or aren't.
But when I started playing in bands, everyone would just have a couple beers at rehearsal, at the shows, or whatever, and alcohol is a great equalizer. It's a great way to make friends and interact with people.
I'm at a point now where I crave healthy musical environments, where there is a genuine exchange of ideas without repressed envy or resentment, and where people in the band want to be there regardless of what public accolades may come their way. Unfortunately, Mr. Bungle was not one of those places.
We were expected to smile and be flirty to everyone. But we acted more like a male rock band. We never mastered the niceties. We were more interested in having a good time.
Maybe it's the way that I do music, but I was never in a cool indie band or hung out with all the cool arty kids when I came to London.
Skynyrd's not just a band; I think it's a lifestyle. It's iconic.
After bands become successful, they always make that choice to do the record about how cool or how hard it is to be in a successful band.
They gave it to us for about five bucks a week, and we just went there to live. Probably the first band that ever did that back then and it became the famous cottage.
When I joined Small Faces, we occasionally would bump into The Who. And Keith Moon and I became firm pals.
We always operated within a sense of community not just about the band. It's important to the way we define ourselves. It's the entire world in which we operate.
Every band always tells you to raise your middle finger.
What irritates me are bands that pretend they've never heard of the Misfits or Danzig, but they've got the skeleton shirt.
We're a band's band. We have real songs, real players, real problems. Real ups, real downs.
I'm not into bands for the sake of being into bands. I've grown past that. There was a time in my life when I was that guy.
I was 15 years old when I was in this band; we were called Stag. We used to wear spandex pants and no underwear - we looked like marbles smugglers.
I've always been a fan of the band setting. I've always been a believer in bands, and I've always been in bands. That's where my comfort zone is. So to stand outside of that, that was never my intention or goal. I never had the dream of, 'I'm gonna go into all these bands as a spring board for my solo work.' But life takes you on different journeys sometimes. I ended up playing a bunch of songs and some of them I really liked.
Music's been with me from the get-go. It was always around me as a kid. Dad got me my first guitar when I was 11 and, at school, if you wanted to be cool you had to be in a band.
I really believe Slipknot's rich with history and rich with things.
I've never been in a band where someone goes, 'Ah, I've got the perfect name! And it's because I climbed Mount Fuji, and at the top a golden dove came down...' It's always a bunch of guys sitting around going, 'How about Rotten Chipmunks?'
Most of the people I know in bands, all they are concerned about is getting to do the next record.
I think my ultimate fashion icon would have to be Gwen Stefani. I love her persona; I love what she embodies and represents. I love the fact that she was a girl fronting a band of boys in No Doubt.
I couldn't imagine being in Slipknot and not going to Peru or Argentina or Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Hardcore bands were coming out with names like Urban Waste and The Mob, you know, a lot of kind of tough names. So Beastie Boys was the stupidest name we could come up with. And unfortunately, it stuck.
The movie Spinal Tap rocked my world. It's for rock what The Sound of Music was for hills. They really nailed how dumb rock can be.
Before every show, we get into a circle, hold hands, and someone makes a speech. Most bands are too cool for that.
