Mastodon drummer incurred $800 phone bill texting film quotes to late Slipknot member
A mid-2000s European tour friendship between two prominent metal drummers, built on exchanging lines from a 1986 crime drama, ultimately influenced the sampling on Mastodon’s latest album.
Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor recently revealed he incurred an $800 mobile phone bill during a mid-2000s European tour. The excessive charges resulted from a relentless text message exchange with the late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison.
The two musicians forged a rapid friendship while on The Unholy Alliance tour across Europe. Their bond was cemented when Jordison spontaneously quoted the 1986 crime drama River’s Edge during a soundcheck.
Dailor recalled noticing Jordison watching the soundcheck and approaching him afterward. When Jordison observed police cars nearby and stated, "Somebody fuckin' parked," Dailor immediately replied with the film's subsequent line.
"Duck down, goddammit. You wanna get yourself caught?" Dailor said, marking the beginning of their close friendship. He noted to Full Metal Jackie that he had memorized the entire movie.
The shared obsession with the film, which features Slayer on its soundtrack and follows what Dailor described as a "bunch of metalheads with no future," led to late-night messaging. While touring on separate buses in Germany, the pair would text quotes back and forth at three in the morning.
Upon returning home, Dailor faced an $800 phone bill. When his wife at the time asked if the cost stemmed from exchanging River’s Edge quotes with Jordison, he admitted it was true.
He explained that he could not risk letting Jordison believe he was unaware of the next line in the sequence. This dedication to their private joke came at a notable financial cost.
This decades-old touring relationship continues to influence the band's creative output today. Mastodon’s new album, Marrow Deep, features a direct sample from River’s Edge on the track Poisonous Weapons.
The 1986 film stars Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, and Dennis Hopper. This anecdote underscores how informal networking during major European touring circuits can directly shape a band's creative output and intellectual property, as evidenced by the film sample on a new commercial release.
