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MP3.com: Hi, Tom, thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to us today. I know that you've started your tour, how are things going? Tom Araya: Yeah. Things are going really good. Actually, it's good for us. I'm having fun, so I know the band's having fun with it. In some of your recent interviews people were asking about the bill on this particular lineup with Marilyn Manson, and you seem to not really have an opinion either way about that. So maybe now you do, since you've done a few dates? No, I still don't. No, because when it was first brought up, I was more like, "Wow, that's an interesting bill," and I still think it's an interesting bill, enough to make people come see the show. I'm not talking about necessarily Slayer fans or Marilyn Manson fans. I'm just talking about Looky Lous, people that normally probably wouldn't see both bands, you know that I mean? That, to me, would make for an interesting show because that's just what I got out of it and I was like, "Wow. Us and Manson, wow, that's pretty crazy. That would be interesting." Then so far they've been going well, you just mentioned... Yeah, the shows have been doing good, some a little better than others. But it's only been five shows now, six shows, so we're just now getting started. But it's just turned out to be really good. Slayer is not without their theatrics, and of course with Marilyn Manson a big part of his gig is the theatrical angle. So have you guys changed things up a little bit to try to be a little competitive with that? No. No blood rain this time? No, and the only competitive nature that we have is, "Sure, we'll open up for you." That's our competitive nature. "Really, you want us? So sure, no problem, we'll open." I mean, we're out there to perform our music, and our music is what we sell. I don't say it in an economic sense. I say it in that we're there to play our music and that's about it. We have lights because it makes for a good effect to have lights to help you create the mood and the atmosphere for the music you play. So, we have lights, and then our biggest thing is video because it helps sell the songs, but that's as far as we get to the whole theater shtick. It's us and a video screen and our music and that's it. And that's about what we intend to do, is just beat everybody up with our music. Of course you guys have a totally different kind of approach going on, and what he does creates the atmosphere for his style, and what you guys do is appropriate for the atmosphere of your stuff too. Yeah, you know, he's got a lot of stuff, it's like a magician that has to come out with his best tricks and that's kind of what he's doing and he seems to be doing a good job. You guys have reissued Christ Illusion with some extra stuff on it recently. What was the motivation behind that? That was basically a record company thing. And [producer Rick] Rubin made the transfer to go to Sony/Columbia and we're part of Ruben's record company, American Recordings, so we kind of went with him. So Sony wanted to rerelease the album, reissue the album actually. They took the initiative and we had a song that we hadn't really finished because of my surgery. So we took the opportunity to go back a year later and finish that song vocally and then put it on the album because they wanted to reissue it and they wanted to know if we had anything extra that we could put on it. And so we had that song that hadn't been finished, which to me came out as just really a strong song. It was actually a very energetic, a very lively song. So the song came together really quick and easy and it felt awesome. I mean, when I was singing it I was like, "Fuck, this is turning out a lot better than I expected it would be." It was just a really exciting song. So they put in a DVD, two cuts I think. They have the "Eyes of the Insane" video that they included with it, and "South of Heaven" is a live clip from one of the tours that we did after the release of the album. That's from a forthcoming live DVD? A sort of trailer for an actual DVD release? Yeah, exactly, a trailer for the "Unholy Alliance" DVD. That's right. When is that scheduled? I have no idea. I'm assuming that they'll be clever enough to do it somewhere around the holidays. So have you noticed anything in the transition over to the new label or is that kind of seamless for you? In all honesty, it has really nothing to do with us because we're part of Rick Rubin's label, American Recordings. They're our record company, and it would be great if we had such power and say, "No, we don't want to do that," but it's them and they're doing it and we're very thankful that they're doing it because most people wouldn't. So when they said they wanted to reissue the album, we were like, "Really?", like if it was their album for the first time. So when they took the initiative to do that I was like, "Wow, that's awesome that they're willing to back the band up and the record itself, that they feel strongly enough that they can move more product." That just blows me away. So I'm very thankful that they're doing what they're doing. Well, that's good. Well, they say, "Hey, we want to do this." And we're like, "Sure." Yeah, are you going to say no? Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what I was getting at. It's like, "We're going to say no? Come on, dude, thanks." You know, "And you want to do what? You want to do more? Sure." Well that's nice to hear because the usual story is quite the opposite. Yeah, I'd like to think it's the track record the band has. We've been with a lot of these labels, a lot of these major labels, so they know that we move product, I guess, and that we're not really a liability. So, I guess we've very fortunate that way. Do you find that fans put expectations on you to carry a certain "torch", like you have an obligation to a certain fan base based on your history? No, we feel that. Believe me, it's not our fan base. That's us. We're fans of the band first. And if we sit back and look at what we're doing as a fan and think "Ooh," we'll go back and rethink what we're doing. So we're fans of the band first and we're the first ones that will decide what's Slayer and what's not. We know. So we're not going to sit there and fool ourselves. So then how would you respond to people who were maybe disappointed in the way that you're "carrying the torch," if you encounter that? Do you have to divide between what you are personally expressing and feel that you want to uphold versus people's perception or expectation? No--the band came together and had a set of values and we've just sort of stuck with those values and that's about it. One is integrity. I'm a fan of music, and when I'm into a band or a group and then all of a sudden they just do something completely, "Like, what the fuck is this," I am completely turned off. So, Rule Number 1, don't do that. I don't want to turn anybody off. I want to make sure that they grow with you or that they like what you're doing and that you have every intention of making sure that they enjoy each record they get, you know what I mean? And with us it's never gone beyond, "This is awesome. This is a great song." And that's about it, no more, no less. It's, "What do you think of this title?"--"Oh, cool title."--"What are you going to write about?"--"This."--"Oh, I've got something for that." And then you put together great songs and things that you like because you don't want to disappoint yourself or your fan base, because we know how disappointing it is when bands just all of a sudden just do something just completely just like not anywhere near the vein of what you initially started. And you were thinking, "What the fuck happened? Did I miss something?" And then you're disappointed and then you don't buy the next record for fear that it's going to suck. You've said that you're a fan of metal yourself and you guys set out to do something and you've never deviated from that. So, what comes to mind, then, is Metallica, and at one point they kind of went off in a direction that really disappointed a lot of people-- Well, not too many. Do you feel anything about that in regards to Slayer? Do you feel like there's extra pressure on you to sort of be the "torch carriers"? No, there's no pressure on us. I mean, we do what we do and it comes natural to us. So, why do stuff that's unnatural because it's going to sound unnatural? So what we do--we've been doing it, nothing is contrived. We just sort of come up with it and we think things are great ideas and that's about it. If it's a great idea, we stick with it. If we feel it's something that's like, "Uh," we don't. And we have to like the music before we can even start to think about lyric ideas. And you know, I'm sure Kerry and Jeff have ideas as they're working on music. But a lot of the songs, if we don't like them musically or if they don't gel musically, or feel or groove musically, then we pretty much get rid of them. Then as far as doing something different to change--you know, I guess with Metallica it's like most people, you have to take a chance. Metallica took a chance, okay. They took a big chance and succeeded with flying colors. Okay. And now there's other bands out there that have taken those same chances and have not fared very well. Everybody comes to a crossroads and everybody has to sit there and think, "Okay, do we take this chance, or do we just do what we do and just do it because we enjoy what we're doing."? Metallica took a chance and they succeeded, and there are other bands out there that have done the same thing. They have started a certain way and then just took a chance and just really didn't succeed, didn't fare very well. There's no pressure because we don't have to prove ourselves to anybody. Our track record is proof enough of that. It's kind of like AC/DC. You know, they're not out to prove anything. Now they're just making records, which is what they've always done, which is what we've always done. We just make records. I agree that when artists try to guess what people want to hear it's usually not the right thing to do, just express yourself from your heart and you're never going to be wrong. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You're never going to be wrong as long as you're sticking true to what you know and what you can do best, what you're good at. Just do it. And that's basically how we've been at it. We've been just doing it. Since the inception of this band, we've just been doing it. Well, I think you're obviously speaking to people and satisfying people because Slayer is so engrained in pop culture--maybe it's hard for you to notice because you are Slayer? Do you realize that it's like entirely appropriate at any given time or place for somebody in a crowd to just yell out "Slaaaayyyyerr" and nine times out of 10, somebody is going to respond to that? I mean, sporting events, it doesn't really matter. It's like another way of saying, "Yippee." How does that make you feel? Yeah! It's actually pretty cool. Another thing that makes me feel really proud and cool is that you can't just say "Slayer," you have to scream it. And it's universal, you know. I could be in Germany and do that. I could be in the Bay Area and do that, whatever, and somebody's going to yell it back. Yeah, yeah, which is really cool. The Slayer logo--well, you have had several logos, but like the one you're using now is really easy for people to just mimic and scratch into cement, etc. People have become really clever with some of the stuff. I remember a billboard that that says, "God listens," and somebody had spray painted Slayer across it, so, "God listens to Slayer." Yeah, they do stuff like that, like "Angel of Death," or a phrase in one of our songs that seems to be scribbled into something. That was just kind of cool. Is it getting harder as time passes maybe to get your energy up for live shows or touring? No. No, you know, it doesn't because the music just kicks you in gear, just the vibe and the excitement and I'm a performer so then the nerves-- it's just like, "I hope I don't forget anything. I don't want to forget words," and just jitters, show jitters, I still get them. Some days are stronger than others. But I mean, it's like a nervous energy that you just kind of channel it. And that's what I do, I channel that nervous energy and it just it makes the set go by real quick. [Laughs.] So there are no plans for retirement or anything like that? No, not at the moment. I mean, at the moment we all still feel strong and capable. [Laughs.] It's the music that kind of carries you and the energy and then the crowd too, and then sometimes you have your off days, some days you have your great days, you have your bad days and we all have days like that. And we're no different. There are some times that that comes across onstage when you've just had a bad day and it's even coming across on stage that, man, you've just had a shitty day today. I, myself, feel really young at heart so I don't have any worries about anything. I'm serious, for the music that we do and the intensity that we play, we're all pretty much still young at heart. Great, good to hear it. I really appreciate you giving us some of your time today. Do you have anything that you care to add before I let you go and tear the face off of Philadelphia? Yeah, you know, this is for the Internet, right? Yes. Yeah, this is for the "spider" generation. Well, let me ask you about that. What is your opinion on digital music, and are you a consumer of digital music? Yeah. Yeah, and actually our album or last two records have been all digital. It was all done through the wire. In fact, I was at home and listening to complete mixes, you know, being quickly iChatted to me over the airways, which is amazing technology. They get a mix done and they can have it to me within seconds. As far as consumers go, you know, as far as the Internet goes, whatever you need or whatever you want, you can pretty much get through the Internet. So people can sit there and put restrictions on whatever. You can make up a law that says this but, you know, back then it was tape traders, people would trade tapes--they never would sell each other tapes, they would trade tapes, "I have a tape of this band."--"Well, I've got two tapes of this band."--"Tell you what, I'll dub one off for you and you dub..."--you know what I mean? So people would trade tapes, right? Now it's just become a much easier and quicker thing to do. Before, you actually had to have tape. Now all you need is a wireless unit that can steal from wherever. [Laughs.] As opposed to having a microphone and sticking it in front of somebody's speaker because they're listening to something you like and you want a copy of it. It's the same thing. It's convenient, you know, I mean, what are you going to do. Well, I'm glad you're down with that, because a lot of people that do balk, I remind them that metal was built on tape trading. That's how you got your name out. You made sure people got a hold of your tape and they traded that sucker off. That was the premise of the music industry. "Check this out, but don't make copies for people," which is telling them to make copies for people because eventually they will go buy it. If they get a bad-enough-quality copy, they're going to buy a good one. As much as I do enjoy all the advantages of digital, I do kind of miss when your pal would come over with a tape in his leather jacket and go, "Put this on." Yeah, exactly. Now it's more like, "Dude, listen to this," and you get a "Do you accept this file?" [Laughs.] The stuff's moving by real quick. But I don't have any qualms. I mean, my wife buys iTunes, it's like 99 cents a song! To me, it's like, how can you beat that? It's like $1, which to me that just makes so much more sense. And however it gets divided, whatever. It's all about modern conveniences and people will pay for the convenience, you know what I mean. People will always pay for the convenience. I always pay for the convenience because you don't want to have to deal with all the bullshit that really goes on. You've got to make a drive there when it's like, why make a drive when you can go to Amazon? You can go to whatever you want and find any record you want. If you can't find it there, you can find it somewhere else. And then you can get it in a day. It's like you could just say, "You know, I want this record but I can wait a week." So you get it at the cheapest price possible and you didn't have to go anywhere. I think it's just that convenience is a big thing, and people will pay into convenience and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a lot easier to carry around a little device the size of a Zippo or something with all of your collection on it. Exactly. Because you know why? Because you have your entire collection of CDs in the car that gets broken into and you get your entire CD collection ripped off. And now it's on a little thing that if it gets stolen, that sucks, but at least you still have your collection at home, you haven't lost anything. I remember having this fantasy when I was walking to high school, "One day there's just going to be like a little chip you put in your ear and you can listen to Judas Priest or something," and then here we are, essentially that's what we do. That's what we do. Exactly. That little FM transmitter just sits right there in your ear like your iPod, you know, your in-ear iPods just sit there. You don't even need a microphone to speak into your speaker system that you use as a speaker and mic connection for your phone, you know what I mean. It's just sitting right there in your ear and they can hear you speak, and that to me isn't any different than trading tapes. There's going to be something new. There's going to be a whole new format that's going to freak people out. I don't know what it is but it's going to be something completely new and weird and people are going to go like, "Whoa." We'll have to get it to the stage where it's like the Holideck or something where instead of like, just the DVD, it's Slayer in 3D hologram in your living room. Yeah, believe me, it'll come up. I mean, with this iPhone miracle [laughs] anything is possible now. Well, Tom, thank you so much for taking some time out and all the best to you and the rest of the boys there. Thank you! [Laughs.]