Despite being one of the biggest names in contemporary metal, Slipknot has never made money from record sales. At least that's what guitarist, Jim Root, is saying. The band's new album, .5: The Gray Chapter, sold 132,000 copies its first week and went straight to the top of the charts, Blabbermouth notes. In a new interview, Root said the band has to hit the road in order to earn money.
"You don't even know are we going to have a career," Root told The Morning Call. "Are we going to be able to sell records? Are we going to have a label? I mean, labels are [shutting down] all the time. It takes like pop and rap to keep these labels going because those are the only people that are buying records anymore."
He continued, "To have a No. 1 with 130,000 copies sold is, you know, I remember when we first started selling records, in order to have a No. 1, you'd have to sell at least a half a million if not more, for the rock side of things," he said. "And now it's a fraction of that. So it kind of really shows you the state of where everything's at. I don't put too much into that anyway because we don't see a penny off of record sales and we never have. For us it's all about touring."
Root was asked about the identities of the group's new bassist and drummer, but he still would not confirm if they are Jay Weinberg and Alessandro Venturella. Frontman Corey Taylor wouldn't give any names either.
"It's a little bit of a confusing part of our lives," Root said of the rhythm section situation. "I'm just going to say we have drummer X and bass player Y helping us out for the time being, and who knows what the future will hold?"
