Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, the percussionist and co-founder of Slipknot, has claimed there are “real misunderstandings” about how the group started and squashed the false rumours of their origin.
The shock-metal band’s drummer stated that it was he and bassist Paul Gray, as well as frontman Anders Colsefni, who started the group in 1995. Crahan is now the only remaining original member.
The lineup on the group’s independently released debut album, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. included the above trio as well as drummer Joey Jordison and guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh Brainard. Longtime guitarists Mick Thomson and Jim Root would not join until 1996 and 1999, respectively, with vocalist Corey Taylor joining their ranks in 1997.
Appearing on The Break Down with Nath & Johnny on February 12th (via Loudwire), Crahan explained how things started for Slipknot: “There’s all these real misunderstandings about who started the band or whatever. And the bottom line is it was Andy Rouw, the original singer, myself and Paul.”
He continued: “Andy ended up leaving really early in the game. And so once we were signed, it was just basically Paul and I.”
“I’m here to tell you my friend Paul Gray was at my wedding three years prior [to] he and I and Andy starting the band. And that’s that. And so I had family. I had two kids at that moment. When Paul came to the wedding, we were eight months pregnant walking down the aisle,” Crahan added.
The percussionist concluded: “Then we start the band, and then a year or so after starting the band, we get pregnant and have our third child, and we have that child before we’re signed.”
Meanwhile, last year, the estate of Slipknot’s former drummer Joey Jordison filed a lawsuit against the band and claimed they “callously” used his death as a marketing tool for their most recent album The End, So Far.
The lawsuit states: “The callousness of Jordison’s firing and other mistreatment at the hands of Crahan and Taylor have been widely reported and criticized by fans of the band. Since the 1990s, Jordison had dedicated his life to making Slipknot a metal sensation, from which Crahan and Taylor handsomely profited. It made no sense why Crahan and Taylor would treat Jordison with such disdain, especially in light of Jordison’s declining health.”
Slipknot are yet to respond publicly to the filing.
