Sid Wilson
Sid Wilson (born Sidney George Wilson on January 20, 1978 in Des Moines, Iowa) is a turntablist for the musical group Slipknot. He is the youngest band member in Slipknot. Sid also tours as DJ Starscream, a name taken from the popular 1980s television show Transformers (of which he has the shows symbols tattooed on the backs of his hands). He is currently signed to Japanese/US label Nitrous Oxide (N20) Records. He performs jungle music. He has a big following in Japan, as most of his CDs are released there first and recently callobrated with The Mad Capsule Markets vocalist Kyono on a song called 'HAKAI(Deathtroy)' for the Deathnote movie soundtrack He currently is involved with Ampt, with fellow N20 artist Rob Gee and The Sound Proof Coalition, whom he used to be a member of.
Facts
Sid is a sick son of a Bitch.
He's really sarcastic, and he claims he suffers from 'organic brain syndrome'.
Sid and Shawn maintain a rivalry, which usually breaks out as violence on stage.
Sid is definitely one of the craziest people in the band, he has stage dived from a 2 storey balcony.
Sid is the youngest of the band.
Joey describes Sid as a "lady's man" .
Sid's family is from England.
Sid is the crowd surfer of the band. He's not the only member that does, but he'll do some crazy shit.
Sid was born with 6 fingers on each hand, they were amputated at birth, Shawn: "They cut off his goddamn fingers cos society doesn't like them. Think what a DJ he coulda been with those extra fingers! We've been deprived of that cos of those motherfuckers!"
Paul Gray
Paul Dedrick Gray (born April 8, 1972) is the bassist for the nine-piece nu metal band Slipknot. He lives with his family in Des Moines, IA.
He has sung back up vocals for some of the Slipknot songs, such as "Spit It Out" and "Disasterpiece" - usually when Corey Taylor's voice has become too dry, tired, and hoarse. Unlike all the other members in Slipknot, Paul was born in Los Angeles, CA but later moved with his family to Des Moines, IA, where he lives now.
He was formerly in bands such as Anal Blast, Vexx, Body Pit, Inveigh Catharsi, and was one of the original members of Slipknot, along with Shawn Crahan and Anders Colsefini. He is also on tour with Reggie and the Full Effect.
Gray was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs in 2004.
Paul uses a Warwick Jazzman bass (4-string and 5-string).
Paul was also involved with a project called "F.O.R." with Benji Heldberg (formerly of Black Flood Diesel and now with American Head Charge)
Chris Fehn
Christopher Michael Fehn was born February 24, 1972 and is one of two percussionists in the nu metal band Slipknot. Chris uses a Pinocchio style mask, which has been seen in many different colors and styles with the nose of the mask always staying at 71⁄2 inches (about 19 cm) long. Chris's mask is most likely based on the masks worn by doctors during the Black Plague, where the nose was filled with herbs to 'protect' the doctor from inhaling the fumes of death, or possibly on the mask Alex wore during the rape scene from the film A Clockwork Orange. Chris likes to simulate masturbation with the nose of his mask during shows. Chris was a college football kicker before the start of Slipknot. He does most of the backup vocals together with Shawn "Clown" Crahan, but bassist Paul Gray also performs them in many live songs.
Chris is known as the soft spoken joker of the band. I mean, really... how could he not be with that mask?
Chris is the co-drummer and also the first percussionist.
Chris is the comedian of the band and on the bonus tracks of the self titled album he can be heard puking (within his initiation test).
Rolling Stone has described him as the most handsome and wholesome member of the band.
Chris enjoys "jacking off" his nose, he can be seen doing this in not only the Spit it Out video but also in many interviews and on Conan O'Brien.
Jim Root
James "Jim" Root (born October 2, 1971) is the current rhythm guitarist for Slipknot and the current lead guitarist for Stone Sour.
He joined during the end of the recording of the self-titled album. At this point, former guitarist Josh Brainard had decided to leave the band due to his unhappiness with the direction of the band. Singer Corey Taylor invited James to join the band, knowing him from their previous effort together, the first incarnation of Stone Sour . The only track on the self-titled album on which James can be heard is Purity, but this song was removed from the album due to a lawsuit and subsequent copies of the album do not feature any of James' playing.
Like the rest of Slipknot , James is from Des Moines, Iowa . At 6'6", he is the tallest member of the band. He worked as a screen printer, waiter, and bus boy before joining Slipknot. James has played in previous bands such as Deadfront, Anal Blast, and Atomic Opera. James is also the co-guitarist for Stone Sour .
He and Corey reunited the band during the hiatus between the Slipknot albums Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
In Slipknot , most of the guitar work is fast, heavy. James and co-guitarist Mick Thomson do trade some leads on the band's Vol 3 album (especially in The Pulse of the Maggots's solo), but their music is otherwise almost completely devoid of guitar solos. Guitars in Slipknot rarely take the spotlight, rather, Mick and James fill in the sonic territory not occupied by the band's other seven members. All guitars in Slipknot are tuned to 1 1/2 steps down from dropped D (Low to high, B, F#, B, E, G#, C#,) except for on the songs My Plague, The Heretic Anthem, Skin Ticket, New Abortion and Iowa, on which they are tuned to B tuning dropped A (Low to high, A, E, A, D, F#, B.) Standard tuning is used on prelude 3.0.
James's playing in Stone Sour concentrates more on building melodic metal anthems. It has been rumored that he will be releasing a signature Fender Telecaster in early 2007, and this was confirmed by James Root in a recent interview in the January '07 issue of "Total Guitar" magazine..
Craig Jones
Real Name: Craig Michael Jones
Nicknamed "133"
Craig "133" Jones, born Craig Michael Jones on February 11, 1972, is a musician, better known as the sampler/keyboardist.
In the early days, Craig originally joined Slipknot as a guitar player to fill in for Donnie Steele, but later switched to being in control of the samples working with Sid Wilson. Craig also controls the guitar effects used live. His mask in the early days of Slipknot was a Gas Station mask with long needles, but eventually switched to a tight leather mask with six inch nails in it.
While all of the Slipknot band members wear their stage masks in the public eye, most have been seen without their masks, mainly due to side projects they may be involved in that do not have this same tradition. Craig Jones is the most elusive face of Slipknot, and until the the 'Duality' video shoot in Des Moines, IA, no fan had ever seen his true face knowingly. He is a video game fanatic and gets his ideas for samples in songs from movies. Eg: The line "Here comes the pain" in the track "(Sic)" was taken from Carlito's Way; the voice was of Al Pacino. The opening track for their self-titled album was created by Craig, and the dialogue in the background, "The whole thing I think, is sick", was taken from a Charles Manson documentary.
Craig has also never been quoted officially as having made any comments to interviewers, preferring to start an interview with the zip covering his mouth opened, and closing it in answer to any questions asked. During photo shoots, he wears patches over his eyes to keep his anonymity. He is also known to leave shows early for the same reason. It would seem he is rather isolated and independent, which is why he is probably looked upon as the "darkest" member of the band.
James Root once said about Jones that: "He even scares me. I kind of feel I'm doing a service to the community by knowing where Craig is from day to day."
There is a persistent rumor that his only words have been when an interviewer asked him to describe himself; "I have a rather slim, serial killer profile." Craig Jones has given an interview about his samples to the company Cakewalk , which is the company he prefers when doing samples.
In the new Slipknot DVD Voliminal: Inside The Nine, all band members were individually interviewed unmasked, but Craig never said a word and his face is blurry. Craig was asked how many people were buried in his backyard, but he did not say a word.
Shawn Crahan
Michael Shawn "Clown" Crahan, born on (September 24, 1969), is a percussionists in the nu metal band Slipknot. He has a set of deeply tuned toms (drums) on which he provides a powerful backup (along with Chris Fehn #3) to the drumming of Joey Jordison. He has a height of 5'7". According to Slipknot, he was one of the first band members to wear a mask (he had an old clown mask). He found his mask sitting lonely in a shop one day and he decided "it was right."
Personal
Because Shawn has a background in welding, his drum set, which was made by Dunnet Classic Drums , is made of titanium, with an empty beer keg thrown in for variety in the percussion. He is also one of the co-founders of Slipknot with Paul Gray #2 and Anders Coselfini . Shawn does most of the interviews and also ran www.Slipknot2.com which no longer exists. In 2003, Shawn changed his mask along with the rest of the band. He has fought Sid Wilson in some live concerts, as seen in the "Spit it Out" video. They are not enemies but have been described as having a brother-like relationship - only play fighting in order to get the adrenaline needed for shows. In a current Revolver interview where Shawn talks about Voliminal: Inside the Nine , it shows a picture where he is sitting at an oranged shell Ludwig 5 piece drumset.
Production
Shawn was an executive producer for the Mudvayne album L.D. 50 as well as the 40 Below Summer album Invitation to the Dance . He has also made a brief appearance in the American Head Charge music video for "Just So You Know" and remixed one of their tracks for the Just So You Know single release.
History
Crahan says he had a happy youth. His parents financed Slipknot in the early days and he professes nothing but the utmost respect for them. In the early '90s, he had a drinking problem, exacerbated when he bought a Des Moines bar, "The Safari". Frustrated by the lack of success, he says he would have killed himself if he hadn't met his wife Chantal. "My savior, my hero," he says. "She saved my life." - Q Magazine .
Mick Thomson
Birth Name: Mickael Gordon Thomson
Mick Thomson (born November 3 , 1973 ) is the lead guitarist for the nine-piece band Slipknot . Thomson is known as #7 in the band and despite popular belief his name is spelt Mick Thomson not Thompson .
Before Slipknot, Mick was in the band Bodypit with former Slipknot members Anders Colsefini , Donnie Steele and current bassist Paul Gray .
Picture to the left; HIGH SCHOOL photo
Trivia
- He has a fascination with serial killers.
- His previous job was teaching guitar lessons at Ye Olde Guitar Shop . He hasn't taught since 1999.
- Before Slipknot wore coveralls, Mick dressed up as Little Bo Peep once.
- Many fans believe that previous Slipknot member Greg Welts was indeed Mick, just with a different mask, but this has been proven to be untrue.
- James is actually taller than Mick, contrary to what it looks like and what most people think. James is 6'6" and Mick is 6'2".
- Mick Thompson has recently left B.C. Rich and is once again using Ibanez.
- His current Ibanez has the word seven in the fret inlays. It's equipped with EMG 60 and 81 pickups and factory tuned to Mick's preference of drop B tuning. His new signature model for 2007 does not feature the "seven" inlay although the word "seven" is prominent on the truss rod cover.
- Before leaving B.C. Rich, his guitar had the word HATE on the 2-5 frets.
- Mick has the word 'seven' tattooed on his left arm;- his number in Slipknot
- He's the oldest of four . He has two brothers and one sister.
- He likes cats and has two of his own.
- He recently toured doing a guitar workshop on his own.
- He would like to branch out into other genres in the future, such as jazz.
- In the Volominal DVD Mick said he is "a big fan of masturbating.Its therapudic.Keeps the body count low."
- Corey Taylor
Real Name: Corey Taylor
Nicknamed "The Sickness"
Corey Taylor, born December 8, 1973, is the lead singer of nu metal band Slipknot and vocalist and occasional guitarist of the band Stone Sour, the latter being formed prior to the commercial success of Slipknot.
Corey is the master of the horrid vocals and lyrics in Slipknot. Before he joined the band, he worked in a porn shop to earn money (it was called "Adult Emporium"). On stage he is loud, fast, and out of control. Offstage, he seems very calm and down to Earth. Before Slipknot he was part of the band Stone Sour. Corey loves Comedy albums, which he grew up on.
Battles With Alcoholism
Known as "the guy that was always ready to go out and do shots", Taylor's drinking became more and more problematic as time went by. Eventually it reached a point where Taylor would begin to drink as soon as he got up in the morning and generally would not stop until blacking out. According to Taylor, the problem began to eat away at his family life as he became more and more apathetic to the people and things surrounding him. Taylor finally made several attempts at suicide . All this culminated to the night of November 14 , 2003 . On this night, Taylor was about to jump off of the eighth story balcony of the Hyatt on Sunset Boulevard but his wife, Scarlett, managed to talk him down. After this incident Scarlett told him either he had to sober up and start being a father and husband or she was leaving with their kids.
Taylor chose to quit drinking and go sober rather then lose his family. The next year would prove to be "the worst year of his life" as Taylor struggled to redefine himself as a person and give up his partying persona and repair the damage that he had done to his body. He spent the year in self-imposed isolation, claiming that he "pushed his wife away for a while and was a really selfish, cold dick". In the process, the struggle would fuel some of his songs with Stone Sour, such as "Socio" and "Zzyzx Rd". Finally, Taylor would come to grips with his sobriety and began to use it as a source of inspiration.
Death Scare
In September of 2004, fans of Taylor were alarmed by quickly circulating rumors that he had died. The rumors were started by a website that had declared Taylor's death on the Friday of September 10, 2004. Further fanning the flames of the speculation into the matter, radio personality Mancow Muller discussed the subject of Taylor's death on his show on the following Tuesday, September 14.
According to Scarlett, the rumors first attributed Taylor's death to a drug overdose, then later to a fatal car crash. The whole incident happened to coincide with a birthday for Taylor's son on the following Friday (September 17). The sudden and unexpected influx of people going into the Taylor household for Taylor's son's birthday party only caused even higher heights of concern, causing even Taylor's manager to call them and confirm that Taylor was alright. Finally Taylor decide to put the issue to rest, walking out onto his front patio and yelling to the crowd "I am not dead." Laughing, his father-in-law backed him up, "Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated".
