Do Slayer really hate each other?
Tom-We've been getting along bet-
ter than ever before. Still, we have our own
lives and live in different places. Kerry lives
in Arizona, and I'm not going to travel all
that way to visit him unless he's having
some wild bash and I can go hang out,
there for the week. Besides, we have to
deal with each other for
24 hours a day on the
road. Dave, Kerry and
I have all almost gotten
Punk bands living off the success of we're not wanted. In L.A. they went over-
Slayer; crossing over
board and called a full riot squad. In that
case they treated the kids more like ani-
mals than human beings, clubbing them
and kicking them instead of simply ask-
ing them to move. You have to treat kids
with respect and hopefully prevent prob-
lems rather than starting them. We're plan-
Jeff They may think what they're
doing is right but if they're trying to come
across as metal, in most cases that won't
work. A lot of these so-called "crossover"
bands seem like they want to be playing
punk and that comes through with insin-
The whole idea of this country is to fight for what
you believe is right. If they want to stop us, they're
into fights, but that's going to have to kill us. Let's see them try.
what friends, real.
friends, do. Friends get mad at each other,
yell at each other and refuse to speak to
each other.
cerity. It's as ridiculous as us trying to play
punk. Look at Anthrax; they're great guys
but they come off like a confused band.
Why did Dave Lombardo leave the band The underground
for four months in 1987?
Tom There were a few misunder
standings. We talked about the problems
he was having with his priorities in both
his marriage and the band, and it seemed
like he never listened. We had a long talk
about it one night at the Ritz in New York.
Kerry The longest bullshit conversa-
tion I've ever sat through in my life.
Tom The next day we talked about
rehearsing for our tour with WASP and
everything we seemingly resolved the
night before meant nothing to Dave.
Kerry-And Jeff's comment was, "Can
we beat you up now or later?"
Tom-We did the tour with Tony Scag
lione. When we got back, we decided to
audition drummers since Tony was just a
replacement. Rubin told us that Dave was
interested in rejoining the band. A week
before we left for Europe, Rubin and Dave
came over. We played with Dave and it
sounded phenomenal, so he was back in
the band. It's been cool ever since. The
problems are still there, but then we're
friends and we just learn to understand
each other. Things never change.
Success
Tom-Be original and be willing to work
your ass off. We told ourselves that we
were going to go for it and we did. You've
got to be willing to freeze and starve in
vans, making virtually nothing. It's never
going to come to you. We've stuck to our
guns and I can honestly say we haven't
changed. People were forced to accept us.
We didn't change for them. Too many
bands get it easy today, but we'll see how
long they're in the spotlight.
Kerry Just because you signed to a
major doesn't mean you've succeeded.
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Tom It's not very underground
anymore. A lot of so-called "underground
metal" is totally above ground. It's about
time. Metallica opened the door and
turned on the light in the closet and now
everyone's coming out. Metallica's suc-
cess has proven the music and now record
companies are starting to understand that
bands like us are here to stay and aren't
some fad that's going to disappear. It's a
new style of music with basic roots in rock
and roll. We're the extreme. Sure, the
thrash tag limits you, but I'll agree that
Reign in Blood was a thrash album. I think
South of Heaven is more like Sabbath.
Do you see yourselves as successors
to metal's dinosaurs?
Tom Sure, same with Metallica.
and Iron Maiden and these bands will
You've got Judas Priest, the Scorpions
eventually have to step down. Sure, they're
all great bands and they'll probably be
around for awhile, but I think the future's
with bands like us. There's even a new
breed with bands like Vio-Lence and Testa-
ment taking up the rear, so it seems
encouraging..
Violence at shows: The L.A. riot
Tom-It's going to happen. When you
get a bunch of kids together in a building,
something is going to happen and you're
a fool to think you can control it. I'm not
responsible for their actions. I'm not tell-
ing them to rip out seat cushions like they
did at our Felt Forum show recently in New
York. They pay for their tickets and have
to take responsibility for their own actions.
If what they do results in us getting ban-
ned from a city, that's completely their
fault. We aren't going to take a lot of crap
just to come back to some town where
video and we're going
ning to release a live
to splice in footage of
the
riot to show people
what happened. Even
the president of Gef-
fen/WEA was attacked by police as he
simply was crossing the street to get to his
car. He's now suing the Los Angeles Police
for damages. Authority is always going to
be like that.
Do you think times are getting more
authoritarian?
Tom Yes, and we're in trouble. Now
we've got Bush in office. He used to be
head of the CIA, so think about what that
means. He's been involved in too much.
dirty, filthy shit for me to breathe easy.
The P.M.R.C.
Tom The kids know what's up with
us, and it's the ultra-conservative parent
who doesn't take the time to see what
don't really like what we do, so the only
we're all about, which is simply fun. They
thing they can do is sit back and speak
badly of us. I'm not going to let the PMRC
bother me because the First Amendment
guarantees the freedom of speech and ex-
away, I'm prepared to take them to court,
pression, and if they try to take that right
all the way up to the Supreme Court. The
whole idea of this country is to fight for
what you believe is right. Sure, they can
take my records away, but the kids will
always be there for us. If they want to stop
us, they're going to have to kill us. Let's
see them try.
What one thing would you want Slayer
to be remembered for?
Tom The extremes that we went to,
how intense we are live, how violent some
of our shows have gotten. It's quite a state-
ment when you remember that we've been
doing this stuff for the past seven years
and people have had no choice but to grow
to like it. When you really get down to it,
Slayer is the extreme.
Right: Karry King-porcupine wristband and a
basement full of snakes. Photo: Glen E. Friedman
Inset: Slayer on stage with their obligatory props.
"I still can't believe people took that whole
satanic thing seriously..."
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