Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / A Complete Look Inside The World Of SLIPKNOT With SLIPKNOT MUSEUM GLOBAL DIRECTOR CAELIN MEREDITH

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A Complete Look Inside The World Of SLIPKNOT With SLIPKNOT MUSEUM GLOBAL DIRECTOR CAELIN MEREDITH · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, I am Caitlin Virginia Meredith, and I am the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: global director of the Slipknot Museum and we are going
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to be at not Fest Australia this year that you.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Are in Date, Caln. Thanks for joining us again.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: This yere my pleasure, Chris, Thanks to you and all
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the fans out there in Australia. Again. We can't wait
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to bring you guys something really special and it's good to.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: See Heavy being represented in the official Nott Face Museum
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: as well.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Actually, actually, Chris, this is I'm gonna blow your mind
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: right now because I decided to take this interview from
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the Slipknot warehouse. So before I get on my flight tonight,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I thought it would be great to give Heavy fans
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the once never before seen view of the actual Slipnot
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: warehouse behind me wearing the Heavy shirt before I get
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: on my flight to go to Australia in three hours.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Yarah, absolutely legend, Thank you for that.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. What you see behind me is where we
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: pull everything from the museum. So I just wanted to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: give your fans literally and never before seeing view of
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: where Slipknot keeps their things in an undisclosed location perhaps
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: in California. That's all I'm gonna say.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think can you around a little bit so
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: you get to say to how Lot.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, yeah, I'm going to show you. They go advices
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: there you go.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Wow. At least it's the first before, never seen before
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: view for fair Media.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Correct. Correct, Yeah, this is probably this represents maybe about
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: since both rigs are out right now, I would say
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: this represents maybe a third of what we own. We
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: actually have another warehouse space across the street. We have
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: another a third warehouse space. But everything is really empty
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: now because this is where we have all the stages.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: So one was in South America, one is going to Australia,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: so imagine it. This is actually quite empty the way
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: you're seeing it right now.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing. You could get lost in there for days.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Oh you could. It's a treasure trove. I mean, I
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: will tell you that I have a ball every time
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I get to pull new things from the museum, just
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: hunting through everything.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: So that's fantastic.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: Now, as you say, you will be returning to Australia
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: with the Not First Museum as part of Not First
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Australia on February twenty eighth, in Melbourne, marcha second in
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: Brisbane at marcha eighth in Sydney. So it looks like
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: you're on top of everything, but I can imagine it
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: be a bit of a stress face at this stage
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: right now.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: No, if it hasn't been done, it's not going to
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: get done. So it's I mean, that's the one good
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: thing about Australia. You have to pre plan so far
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: in advance, just because the distance it takes to get there,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: in the logistics. So really I'm kind of just excited
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: to get there and start unpacking everything and start setting
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: it up because we have some of the amazing new things.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: This year. We've taken the curation of the museum in
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a different direction. We've made it
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: a lot more raw, and so I just kind of
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: can't wait to get on this flight tonight so I
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: can get to Melbourne and just start unpacking Thursday morning
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and setting everything up for the fans to just continuously
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and hopefully blow their minds with new with new items.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Right and for.
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  Speaker 3: Those who don't know, like you say you curate and
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: run the whole official nod Face Museum that travels the
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: world as part of not fence.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Is it as a as what it sounds.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: It's massive. Yes, I up to my title from museum
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: manager to global director because it is quite an undertaking.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: But it takes a village. It's not just me on
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: my own. I work with great local partners and I
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  Speaker 1: have to say the Australian team is so tight and
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I just want to shout out like Lizzie and Anna
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: and Katie who worked on it two years with me
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: and Jack. There's some real passion boots on the ground
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: and they're the ones that helped me with all the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: logistics and they basically help me create the container of
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: whether it's a marquee or whether it's the structure, all
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  Speaker 1: the site ops, and then I get to come in
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  Speaker 1: and basically like fill it with all the things, all
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: the memorabilia, all those things that fans get to see
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  Speaker 1: and interact with that make the museum so special because
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: you know, for those of you who haven't seen it,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you're thinking art museum. And while there are pieces that
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: people will look at and have an emotional reaction to,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: we tried to keep it really guttural and primal and
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: on brand with the band, and so there are things
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you can interact with, so we really want to acknowledge
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: the fan as well as the band, and like I say,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: this is as close as a fan can get to
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: being on stage with the band. So you will really
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: have that intimate experience with some of these items that
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: you've only seen in videos or you've seen on photoshoots
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: or in interviews. So these are priceless in terms of
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: their net worth and emotional value.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: And this year those also celebrate Slipnotch twenty fig that adversary,
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  Speaker 3: so it's a museum going to be curated in line
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: with that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so I went really far back, Like so if
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: you can imagine, if you can imagine, I like dug
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: through like all of these boxes because there is just
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: so much here that I had access to. And basically
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: what I did is I basically got as much original
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: material and items as I could. So you're going to
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: see some things from that first year, and we've got
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: a couple of great photo opportunities. I'm not going to
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: give away too much, but we've really tried to be
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: in line with that first album and again how like
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: guttural and primal it was and what it was that
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: pretty much got everybody to love slipknot, which was the authenticity,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the rawness. And you know, fans will get a chance
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: to essentially time travel and go back and see and
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: interact these items that are from the very beginning, well
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: do you.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Put the whole thing together? To yourself for to the
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: boys stepping to give you a hand.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: IM sorry, I don't mean to laugh. No, they definitely
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: have a say in everything, and I vet everything pass them.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: They're very hands on in terms of what is being
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: delivered to the fans. They care so deeply about their
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: fans and they really want it to be an authentic experience.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: They wanted to feel and look a certain way. And
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: so while I like, let's say curate, and I know
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: that's like a real fancy word and it really sounds
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: museum ish. But while I'm sort of pulling these items
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: together and I present it, they kind of give me
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: the overall Okay, But they're great because I've now been
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: with them for four years and I think I've earned
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: over these last four years is their trust. So they
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: know that I'm going to deliver to a certain quality
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: and caliber and uh that I'm going to give the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: fans an amazing experience, which is what I try strive
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: to do every single time is give them something new
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: and interesting.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: You have a butt heads of them like do you
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: ever play anything out and you've gotta this is gotta work,
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: and they say, no, it's not new.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Pull rank.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: There's a diplomatic way to do that. Yeah, So I
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: never pull rank. But I would say that obviously Clown
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: has the most influence and uh he's he's the final
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: say in what what, what stays or goes, But he
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: and I are on the same track, so I don't
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: usually need to bring anything to him that will be
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  Speaker 1: too much of a surprise.
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  Speaker 3: Let's say, yeah, now, anyone who went last year will
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: be out of a chest.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah good, it was.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: Well, he went through the different album cycles. He had
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: different stuff from all the albums, So how different is
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: he is going to be? Well to just focus on
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: that first album, balls are going to be a.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Bit other stuff, No, I mean, of course we have
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: you know, we we are focusing it mostly on that
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: first album. But obviously there's so much that we wanted
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to bring to the fans that we really wanted them
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: to see and interact with. So there's like two pieces
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: in particular that are from more recent touring cycles, but
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: we couldn't leave them out because we wanted the fans
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: to have that experience because again, how often is it
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: that you get to see these things up close? You know. Again,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: let's say something of Sid's, we'll just we'll leave it
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: at that, Rightid is usually up there, he's kind of
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: on you know, one of the taller columns. So to
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: be able to see something of his up close, I
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: think really gives you that intimate feel.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, And one I.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Expect of the museum that a lot of people have
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: spoken about from last year is the fact that they
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: got to play the band actual guitars as used by
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: the band on stage.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Will let me back, absolutely, it will be back. And
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: actually for those who know, uh, you know that Mick
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: has changed guitar companies, so there'll be something special there
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: for his fans to play. So look out for something
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: really special from Mick in the museum.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: And then just to get that.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Wrong, because I've got a lot of people ask me
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: about this, but people, they do get to come in
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: and they do get actually playing, like you don't have
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: to pay any extra money to pay by the guitars.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, And actually what I was going to
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: tell people and I'm just gonna move this again because
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: I really want you. I really love that slipnot fan.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: It's so yeah. If I could pack it for you, Chris,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: I would. Not only do you not have to pay
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: anything extra once you pay to the museum. First of all,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: you can stay as long as you want, You can
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: take as many photos and videos as you want. We
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: never want to rush the fan experience. But finally to
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: pay the museum. The instrument's part of me. Of course,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: you don't pay anything extra, But I tell people, even
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: if you don't play an instrument, pick up v Man's
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: bass and take a picture with it. I mean, like,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: when are you ever gonna get that chance ever again. Also,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: there's something again that's like connective about touching their instruments
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: and knowing that that is actually in rotation. So all
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the musical instruments that we do have in the museum
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: are on rotation on the stage currently, So you're actually
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: playing something that they might have played, you know, a
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: couple months ago.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: I gotta put you on this, buddy, because you've tried
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: to scare the issue a couple's office, but last year
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: had Clam's Gold Mosque, which was a big wow factor
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: of the museum. What's the way factor in the VD
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: this year?
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. You know, we have four things that
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I kind of are all, Oh, that's a really tough Chris,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: You're good at your job.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Sorry.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: I would say that there is something original that I
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: think is going to blow the fan away. I think
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: there's a specific photo opportunity that I think also is
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: going to really I think those two things, I know
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: again I have to beg a great photo opportunity. And
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: then there's this key installation that I've created that goes
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: right back to the very beginning that I think when
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: fancy it, their their jaws are going to drop.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: So that's good enough for me.
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: Now, it's not just a spectacle of a Slipbok treasure
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: trive inside the museum that gets Fable excited, but you
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: also dressed upon and help make it a fully immersive experience.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: So tell me about it. From that sort of things,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: it's a fantastic expect to go.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I mean, I think like I'm
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: going for a sort of museum maven slash mistress slash
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: ringleader kind of vibe. So I definitely dress up and
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: play the part. I want to initially welcome everybody into
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: this space because once they cross the threshold, it is
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: a portal. They are going to be sent into a
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: parallel dimension, an alternate universe, whatever you want to call it.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: And I feel like I get to almost like shepherd
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: souls across the ferry into the afterlife. So I feel
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: like I need to represent and make it interesting and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: enjoyable and play it up a little bit, have a
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: little bit of fun. So yes, I will be your ringleader.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Welcome Ben.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: You've traveled all over the world with this, and don't
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: just say you's drive because you're talking this drive. But
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: what are some of your favorite places you visited as
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: part of the Northfest Museum?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Oh? Wow? You know what's great is South America. The
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: appetite for metal down there is insane. And because they
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: don't get a lot of tourists coming through because they
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: are sort of farther away in the same way you
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: guys are. I think they just they go over and
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: above Brazil, in particular with the Not Fast Museum. They
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: built a geodesic dome one time just for the Not
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Fast Museum. So uh, and then you know, Germany, Germany,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: like you know, they that's like a kind of a giving.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: You just announce this not showing Germany and it's just
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: immediately a sellout. So i'd say other than Australia so
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: excited to come back to and literally leaving in a
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: matter of hours, I would say Germany and then Brazil.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Two those two not fests are great. Yeah.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Now we start a touch on this a little bit before.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: But the best thing about the North First Museum is
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: it doesn't cost an arm and a legs to get in.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: So how how much is it and how do people
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: go about getting their tickets once they've already got they're
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: not first tickets?
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, Chris, Well, there is a QR code.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: First of all, they can go on the website and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: purchase a ticket. There is also a QR code at
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: the box office. They can come up to the museum directly.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: But yeah, it's intended to be accessible and again people
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: can spend as long as they want there, but we
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: tried to make it as easy as possible. And you
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: can buy time slots, so you know, you can purchase
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: a ticket and then come at a particular time. And
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I just want a footnote that if you miss your time,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: do not worry about it. Of course, the most important
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: thing is that you come inside, so we will welcome
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: you no matter what.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: No, No, and Trising describe the not Face Museum Forest
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: in just a few.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Centizens Gosh, I mean, I think I already did. I
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: think it's just a portal to the Slipknot dimension. I
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: think it's as close to you can be to the
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: band without being on stage. I think it's primal, guttural.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I think it's emotional. I think it's incredible how many
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: people have really intimate personal stories about the band, and
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: once they see items, it sort of brings up those
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: memories and how eager they are to share. And everybody
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: who works there wants to hear those stories. So please
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: come up to myself, the host, the pas, anybody in there,
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: and if you have something you want to share, we
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: always want to hear it. And you know, not to
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: get too dark. But Slipknot is responsible for saving so
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: many people's lives, and I can't tell you how many
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: people come up and actually show me scars or tell
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: me stories. And for us to be able to create
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: a safe container for people to experience that or release
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: it one final time is absolutely an honor. So I
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: would say that's the museum in a nutshell, which I
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: know is probably vague, but you have to sort of
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: see it and experience it to believe it. And we
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: are here for you. We are fans ourselves and it's
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: something that binds and so many people around the world
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: is this band. If you are a maggot, if you're
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: a Slipknot fan, you are truly in in the elite class.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: You do belong and you belong with us.