Joey Jordison

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Joey Jordison circa 2001 - 2002

Joey Jordison (born Nathan Jonas Jordison on April 26, 1976) is an American drummer and guitarist from Des Moines, Iowa. He is best known for his role as drummer for heavy metal group Slipknot during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also well known as the guitarist for Murderdolls, a glam metal/horror punk band which he founded in the 2000s, that is currently on indefinate hiatus due to the Murderdolls' members' side projects.

Biography

While in high school, Jordison attended a jazz school and hung out with cousin Steve Allan White. This helped profoundly to improve his drumming ability, which has since made him become one of the top rated drummers by music media across the world.{fact}

Jordison had worked at a gas station in Waukee, Iowa and played in various extreme metal bands from around the Des Moines area, including Modifidious and Anal Blast. Slipknot released an album in 1996 named Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. Only 1000 copys were sold worldwide. It wasn't until their second album that they began to garner significant attention, charting at a respectable #51 on the Billboard chart. Jordison, along with his band, played in several Ozzfest tours, headlining the tour in 2001.

Another Slipknot album "Iowa" was released in 2001 this saw Jordison's band reaching super-stardom, the album debuted in at #3 in the US Billboard charts and number #1 in both the United Kingdom and Canada's national charts. After touring relentlessly Slipknot went on hiatus.

During this time Jordison remixed "Fight Song" for Marilyn Manson and was also featured in Manson's "Tainted Love" video. In 2002, Jordison, with Wednesday 13 and Tripp Eisen, formed what would become his second most popular band, Murderdolls.

He played un-masked with the Murderdolls and they recorded the album "Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls". The glam metal/horror punk band became very popular (in the United Kingdom and China in particular) before the group went on hiatus in order for Jordison to return to Slipknot. Jordison still plays with Slipknot but Murderdolls has disbanded as Wednesday has started a solo career with 2 albums, the latest being Fang Bang. Wednesday and Joey have said they are busy with other bands at the moment though Murderdolls could reform in the future

Since returning to Slipknot, Jordison recorded a fourth album with the group, "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)", released in 2004. The album climbed to #2 on the Billboard chart, and also reached #2 status in the United Kingdom.

In the summer of 2004 at Download Festival, Lars Ulrich of headliners Metallica became ill, and was unable to perform with the band. Jordison and Dave Lombardo stepped up and filled in for Ulrich. Joey played most of the set with Metallica. In December of 2004 Joey filled in for drummer Frost of Norwegian black metal band Satyricon for the band's tour of the United States after Frost was unable to get into the country.

Joey has befriended and collaborated with various notable rock and metal musicians, including Marilyn Manson, Glen Benton of Deicide and Lord Ahriman of Dark Funeral.

Recent events

Joey will begin his first production effort with 3 Inches of Blood in the coming month.

Joey said in a recent interview that he would follow in Wednesday 13's footsteps and give his daughter a short name. He said; "For sure, ya know what? I really like Zoie as a name, but Wednesdays got that, if and when I have a kid and its a girl, I'll just call her Zoie."

Roadrunner United

Recently, Jordison played a big part in the 25-year anniversary of Roadrunner Records, the record label which both of his bands - Slipknot and Murderdolls - are signed onto. Jordison was one of the four "team captains" for the project. His role involved organizing a "core band" of other musicians past and present on the Roadrunner label, and choosing vocalists to sing on his songs. Jordison produced, wrote the music, and played drums on the songs Annihilation By The Hands Of God, Tired 'N Lonely (also played bass guitar), No Way Out (also played bass guitar), Constitution Down and Enemy Of The State.

It is said that in the first meeting about which musicians on the Roadrunner label to approach for this project, Jordison's was the first name to come up. On the DVD for The All-Star Sessions, Jordison can be seen working on the tracks at a studio in Des Moines, Iowa, and is not wearing his famed Slipknot kabuki mask.

History behind his mask

There is meaning behind each Slipknot members' mask. They are a reflection of their personalities or a past personal experience. Jordison's Japanese Kabuki mask reflects a personal experience; when he was younger his mother wore the mask when he came home from halloween drunk. He was terrified of the emotionless stare of the mask. In the early days of Mate Feed Kill Repeat (album) he wore one plain white. For the Self-Titled album Slipknot, he decorated it with a few stripes and dots of paint. In Iowa he painted it with fake blood all over his mask, and for Vol. 3 he did a variation of designs on it, more notable with claw slashes. He also quotes: "The design enables it to feel however you want it to feel; scary, evil or perverted. All those things held in one mask."

Joey's Drumming

Joey Jordison has a unique approach to tackling a drumset. Joey is renowned for his intricate use of the double bass (sometimes similar to death metal basswork) and this can be heard in all of his albums. His ability to play controlled 32nd notes with both his hands and feet in the context of a song has made him known throughout the drum scene. Joey steers clear of what would be called typical beats and creates drum patterns that best suit the song. The Slipknot songs People = Shit, The Heretic Anthem, and The Nameless are often said to exemplify his ability behind a drumkit.

Trivia

• Came up with the idea to call fans 'maggots'

• Got his first guitar when he was in fifth grade

• Designed the band logo for Slipknot

Gear

Joey uses Pearl MMX Masters drums with Pearl Hardware. He switched from TAMA hardware to Pearl following the release of the Slipknot's Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses album. Joey currently plays a Masters Series MMX Drum Set in Diamond Burst with black hardware, comprising:

• 22" x 18" Bass Drum x 2
• 8" x 7" Tom
• 10" x 8" Tom
• 12" x 9" Tom
• 13" x 10" Tom
• 14" x 12" Tom
• 16" x 16" Floor Tom
• 18" x 16" Floor Tom
• 13" x 6.5" Joey Jordison Signature Snare Drum

Joey also uses Paiste cymbals (White custom), comprising (from left to right):

• 16" RUDE Crash/Ride
• 18" RUDE China
• 14" RUDE Hi-Hats
• 17" RUDE Crash/Ride
• 8" Signature Splash
• 6" Signature Splash
• 8" 2002 Cup Chime
• 18" RUDE Crash/Ride
• 13" Signature Power Hi-Hat
• 20" Dimensions Powerbell Ride (Discontinued)
• 18" RUDE China
• 14" Signature Thin China
• 13" Signature Mega Cup Chime

External links

• Joey Jordison at IMDb
• Joey Jordison UK - the official site