Joey Jordison

Drummer for Slipknot

Long before he laid down complex rhythms and fills for Slipknot, Joey Jordison earned a reputation as one of Iowa's budding jazz drummers.
"I would get a lot of criticism for playing too hard and out of the context of the song," says Jordison, who developed his chops through middle and high school jazz bands. "But I won a lot of awards."
Today the 5ft 4" Jordison wears white face paint on stage and backs a nine-piece band draped in masks and matching boiler suits. A pair of percussionists with beer kegs as the centerpieces of their setups bookend him. No band tore up more stages in 1999, and Slipknot's self-titled debut (Roadrunner Records) was an underground
and retail surprise. Still, Jordison is as comfortable playing Dixie standards such as "Fidgety Feet," "Lazy River," and "South Rampart Street Parade" as he is kicking out Slipknot favorites "Tattered & Torn" and "Wait And Bleed."
"I try to keep my horizons expanding, and I want to learn about all kinds of music," he says. "If it wasn't for the '60s and '70s music my parents were into, I don't know that I'd even have gotten into music as deeply as I have. When I was young, I wasn't watching Sesame Street or children's movies. My parents occupied my time by sitting me in front of the stereo and playing music."
Jordison wrote many of the guitar riffs for the record, and later helped mix it. But it was his drumming that pushed Slipknot beyond the realms of typical hardcore.