Ross Robinson says his motocross injury sharpened Slipknot during the Iowa sessions, which turn 25 this month.
Ross Robinson broke his back in a motocross accident partway through making Slipknot‘s Iowa. He rested for a day and went back to the studio.
Speaking to Metal Hammer ahead of the album’s 25th anniversary on August 28, the producer was asked why he did not hand the record to someone else. He said the injury changed how the band worked.
“No, that’d be impossible,” Robinson said. “It was actually really good for the record because the guys were being taken out in Hollywood, hanging out with all these big stars and s**t. When I broke my back and showed up anyway, it put a very next-level diligence into those guys.”
He continued: “Joey [Jordison] said to me later, ‘It was the greatest thing that ever happened to us.’ It was really tough – I’d get home and just lie there watching ‘The Big Lebowski‘ until I passed out. I was in so much pain, but I’d get to the studio and it’d be, ‘Let’s get it the f**k on!’”
Jordison was dismissed from the band in 2013 and died in 2021.
Asked what the hardest part of the sessions was, Robinson did not point to his back.
“Vocal overdubs could be tough,” he revealed. “The bar was set so high with the band slamming together – when you’re that extreme, it gets difficult, especially when you’re on your own and trying to get back into the zone. There was a lot going on with Corey [Taylor] at the time too – he’d be going out pretty much every night and had this little fanbase of people he hung out with.”
“Weirdly, the easiest one to get in the zone was when Sid’s [Wilson] grandfather passed away, and I’d asked him to do some overdubs for the background of ‘People = S**t‘. He was so distraught, sad, hurt and was just crying. I was like, ‘You’re doing backgrounds today’ and he nailed it.”
In the same interview Robinson said the band had discussed breaking up before recording began.
“I did get a complaint from Paul [Gray] or maybe Joey [Jordison] at one point before we recorded, where they were like, ‘We’re just not getting along. We’re gonna break up,’” Robinson recalled. “So I flew out to them. Corey [Taylor] took me out and was showing me Stone Sour stuff. It was like, ‘Erm, this is cool… but it’s not Slipknot.’”
Gray died in 2010.
Robinson had already produced and mixed the 1999 debut, financing those sessions himself and releasing the record through Roadrunner via his own I Am Recordings imprint. His work before and around that period included Korn, Limp Bizkit, Sepultura, At The Drive-In and Glassjaw. On Iowa the band share the production credit with him.
Released on August 28, 2001, Iowa went to number one in the United Kingdom and number three in the United States, and is certified platinum in both countries and in Canada.
Slipknot went on hiatus in 2002 and returned in 2004 with Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, which reached number two in the United States and also went platinum.
The band are currently recording an unannounced eighth album with Matt Wallace, the producer known for his work with Faith No More.
Sid Wilson‘s position has since been settled publicly. On Friday the band posted and then deleted a statement reading:
“Effective immediately, Slipknot will no longer be associated with Sid Wilson.”
“We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
“Slipknot“
No reason was given, and the band have not reposted it or commented since removing it.
Friday’s post follows two weeks of unconfirmed reporting. TMZ first reported on July 31 that Wilson had been told that afternoon he was permanently out of the band, citing a source described as close to the group with direct knowledge. A follow-up story put the decision down to the way he had treated his bandmates and said it had been a long time coming.
Wilson did not address it either. His first post after the report was a promotional video for a new independent merchandise store. Days later he declined to answer questions outside a Los Angeles recording studio. This week, co-hosting The World Scratch Invitational, he introduced himself to the crowd as “Sid, DJ Starscream/#0, from the world famous Slipknot.”
His ex-fiancée Kelly Osbourne posted a series of messages in early August that were widely read as referring to him, several of which she subsequently deleted. The pair became engaged in July last year, when Wilson proposed backstage at Ozzy Osbourne‘s final concert in Birmingham, and their engagement was reported to have ended in March.
