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 Dan Lorenzo: Hey Kerry how you doing today?
Kerry King: Ah, I'm fucking sleepy (It's 6:20pm)
How late do you normally sleep until?
Oh, probably three. It's been a drinking binge week.
And I had heard you guys calmed down?
Some of us did. (Laughs)
All right my first question - What do you think of people who are concerned Taliban prisoners aren't getting good treatment in Guantanimo Bay?
I think they've got too much fucking time on their hands! The stupid part of it is, they're all worried about this shit and these people were living in caves eating bugs. We set
'em up over there and feed them, clean their fucking shit up you know, and it's not good enough.
How did September 11th change you?
It's changed me in a way....my record came out that day. I've never been, you know, gung-ho patriotic American or anything, but after that it converted me instantly. I realized
people were fucking with me, my country....I'm not gonna go out and fight in the war or anything.
You look big enough to take down a couple Taliban soldiers.
I'll take on some fucking hairy assed Afghanies!
After September 11th Pantera backed out of your European tour. Did you have any concerns on the flight over to Europe?
Hell yeah! But this is what I do. It's like what Bush said at the time "If you don't go on with your life, you just buy into the terrorist ideology" I was gung-ho to go anyway, I'm
like -You know what? - this is what we do and people in Europe are expecting us so it was never an option for me.
 Your new cd "God Hates Us All" was postponed a few times, did that get you concerned that some
people would start tape trading it way before it's release and you would lose sales?
I didn't feel that on this one. I felt this one was a really strong record so I didn't think that for half a second.
So you don't worry about losing out on sales to Napster types?
Well you know our fans are such diehard people. We've probably got both ends of the spectrum. Some fans probably buy every version that comes out, just so they have it. Then other fans don't have as much money-they
might use Napster. That was a concern of mine at the beginning. When the early tapes went out I told the dude at Sony to limit it to 6 songs but he didn't listen to me at all
and a couple days later some journalists had 11 or 12 songs when we only wanted to get out like six.
Why do you think your fans are more rabid than say Metallica fans?
Probably because it's just heavy music. We've definitely earned credibility over the years and haven't done anything to shit on our own credibility. I think that turns up in the
fans you know and we're big time fans of the music ourselves. Kid relate to it, they look, over the years we've never let them down. Every time we've ever put something
out, it's pretty much intense as the last one, if not more.
So you never feel pigeonholed not being able to experiment with acoustic stuff or the blues?
Fuck no! This is Slayer bro!
What do your parents think of your music?
My dad used to come see me before he got older, not as a fan just because he was proud you know. I think they see it for what it is, this is the way I make my living. They know
they brought me up in a way where they don't have to be concerned about my values or any weird shit like that.
Do they ever get upset about the lyrics?
I don't know if they ever bothered to read the lyrics. They know the kid they raised and it doesn't even matter what the lyrics say because it's entertainment and this is America
and I can say whatever the fuck I want (laughs).
Tom (Slayer vocalist) told me your first tour was done in his Camaro with a U-Haul. If you had to go back to roughing it could you?
Fuck no! Once you get to a certain level you can never go backwards.
People seem to love MTV Cribs. Even though I don't believe all those people really own those houses...what is your house like?
Kerry King: 1 - People With Necks: 0
It looks like a custom estate. I've got 3,500 square feet. I'm like an hour and a half out of L.A., fifteen minutes off a highway. If my house were in say Beverly Hills it would be
worth over a million dollars, but it's not.
I asked Glenn Tipton this - If they took away all your guitars and said you couldn't play anymore, would you be able to find happiness?
Hell yeah.
What would you do?
Go to a bar! (Laughs)
Interview courtesy of Dan Lorenzo and
Steppin’ Out Magazine.
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