“You would see them lift their masks, puke in a bucket and keep going!” Slipknot’s first manager remembers wild 90s Iowa shows

21 Sep 2024, 14:04 · louder

By Matt Mills
( Metal Hammer )
Contributions from
Joe Daly
published 21 September 2024

Sophia John reflects on the rabid gigs Slipknot played as they made themselves known in the mid-to-late 90s

(Image credit: Mick Hutson/Redferns)

Slipknot’s original manager has reflected on the gigs the nu metal wildmen played as they rose to prominence.

Talking exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, Sophia John remembers an early concert from the masked nine-piece, where they played in the sweltering heat of a Des Moines summer. It got so hot, she claims, that the band threw up in buckets onstage as they were performing.

“In the summertime, the heat was so bad, they’d have buckets on the side of the stage,” John tells journalist Joe Daly. “You would see them lift their masks and puke in the bucket and keep going!”

She continues: “A lot of people don’t have the luxury of loving what they do for a living. You have those that may actually love what they do for a living, but you have the average person that’s in the grind of things on a daily basis. Once a month, Slipknot would play and everybody would show up. You would go into the pit and you’d just get it all out of your system.”

In the same interview, John also looks back on the showcase Slipknot played for various record executives in Las Vegas, which was arranged by nu metal producer extraordinaire Ross Robinson.

“We played in the basement of [entertainment venue] Gameworks, on a stage where half of the band was off of the stage because there wasn’t enough room,” she explains. “Paul [Gray, late bassist] was on the floor and poor Craig [Jones, former guitarist-turned-keyboardist/sampler], he was in a booth with all of his stuff, because there wasn’t enough room on the stage.”

However, the gig did little to drum up interest, with Slipknot not getting signed until then-Roadrunner Records A&R Monte Conner heard their 1998 demo. “There were tons of A&R people; we didn’t understand who any of the people were or why they were there,” says John. “They were there because Ross asked them to be there.”

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Read more from John, as well as friend of the band David ‘Davo’ Wilkins and Des Moines former music journalist Kyle Munson, in the new Hammer, which celebrates 25 years since Slipknot’s debut album. The issue also includes interviews with Robinson, Slipknot co-founder/percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan and guitarist Jim Root, as well as modern-day musicians the band inspired. Order your copy now and get it delivered directly to your door.

(Image credit: Future)

Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

With contributions from