SLAYER, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, JACK WHITE TAKE PART IN RECORD Store

Record Store Day will take place April 18th around the world and Slayer and Killswitch Engage talk about how important independent record stores are

The 2nd Annual Record Store Day is set to take place around the world on Saturday April 18th with more than 1,000 retail outlets celebrating the ever dwindling Independent Record Store. With participating stores offering in store events, signings, collector’s edition releases and performances by a wide range of artists, fans are encouraged to come out and spend a little money on some of their favorite music in support of a great cause, which is to help these retail record stores survive. Having seen a dramatic decrease in actual stores in recent years, luckily there has been a slight resurgence even in a weakened economy, due to vinyl record sales, original artwork, imports and limited edition collector’s items and releases. A few of the bands set to participate in Record Store day in 2009 include Killswitch Engage, Slayer, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode and Death Cab for Cutie to name just a few.

We caught up with Tom Araya of Slayer to get his thoughts on the band releasing a limited edition 7″ vinyl on Record Store Day of their latest single “Psychopathy Red,” which is the band’s first song from their upcoming new album and was inspired by the Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, aka the Rostov Ripper, who confessed to brutally murdering 56 children.

“Last year we recorded three songs and one of them being “Psychopathy Red” which is going to be released on a 7″ vinyl. That ones actually kind of cool because the packaging is kind of neat. The disc itself is going to be inside an envelope which is going to have a little string attached to it, which is like an evidence envelope. One side is going to have information on the idea on the serial killer that the song is about. It will have stuff like that on the inside and the label itself and it’s going to be in Russian, which is really cool.”

We also caught up with Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D, who designed a limited edition Killswitch Engage Record Store Day poster that he will be signing at Bull Moose’s Scarborough location in the U.K., to get his thoughts on how important independent record stores are to the music industry.

“We need it or else we don’t make any money. Independent record stores is what it’s all about, for sure. It means a lot to us and we can wait to do it.”

A few of the other bands participating in record store day with a limited edition release or artwork include Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jane’s Addiction, MC5, Mastodon, Oasis, Radiohead, Sublime, Elvis Costello, The Grateful Dead and Jack White’s new band Dead Weather. For all the latest info on participating stores and artists fans can visit recordstoreday.com.