Heavy Metal / Nu Metal / Alternative Metal
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About :
Slipknot started in September 1995 with Anders (Colsefni) and Shawn (Crahan). Anders and Shawn hung-out all the time, they would play Werewolf: The Apocalypse (RPG) all the time (where much of the lyrics came from for MFKR).
Anders was helping Shawn with some welding in his garage one winter, and they got talking about putting together a brand new band. At the time they were both drummers (Anders had been singing for awhile), and wanted to put together a band with extra stand-up percussion. Anders called Paul Grey (who was in L.A. at the time), and persuaded him to return to Des Moines and give it a try. They'd attempted to do so before as early as 92 and even wrote songs: "Slipknot" and "Gently", but Shawn got too busy and it fell apart. With the three core members: Andy, Shawn and Paul they enlisted the help of guitarists Donnie Steele (ex- Body Pit guitarist) and Quan Nong (ex heads on the Wall). The band retreated to Anders basement to figure out their sound and how to improve musically.
The band began practicing under the name of Meld, following the first six practices Quan Nong left due to his following of a more Alternative/Punk style. Feeling something was missing, Paul was determined to get Joey involved with his new project, despite failing to receive his interest in earlier projects such as Body Pit. Paul met up with Joey at Sinclair's where Joey worked nights, there he tempted Joey to watch rehearsals within Anders' basement. Joey reluctantly agreed and despite missing two rehearsals due to work priorities, eventually made it down to the basement to view a practice session.
This basement, was "largely, open spaced", not only was the area so small and cramped but for soundproofing the members used carpet samples and scraps from a nearby pet grooming centre, this made the whole basement smell of Cat piss. The first song that Joey heard them play was a song known as "Slipknot", followed by "Gently" and "Fur".
Joey soon realized that he had to be in this band and soon began to play the drums; pushing Shawn onto percussion. A band had formed. Within the cramped basement new songs were being turned out by the minute, including titles such as "Killers Are Quiet", "Do Nothing Bitchslap", "Confessions", "Some Feel", "Part of Me" and "Tattered and Torn".
Paul, Shawn and Joey also began to meet up at Sinclair's to discuss ideas and plans for the future. Shawn and Joey also decided that the band would require three drummers to provide a hardcore audio assault. Shawn wanted a drummer to the left and right with one at the back controlling it all, creating a wall of power, a first layer... Joey plays the main set and as a result is the main drummer who holds the band together. Shawn is the "Total Power Drummer" and is all aggression, finally the third element of percussion was performed by Anders adding a tribal feel.
Within Sinclair's Shawn and Joey also realized that the band would need another guitarist due to the vacant position left by Quan. Josh formerly of Modifidious and Inveigh Catharsis was called and he soon added himself to the band. Now there were six. Josh was seen as the "icing on the cake" so to speak adding a touch of melody to the batch of songs already written The people of Des Moines knew that a new band was forming and they knew who was in it. However no one had heard or seen them. Soon a small performance was given, Slipknot's first show was actually under a different name, Meld (Josh's idea). It was at a club that (Josh) believes was called the Crowbar at that time. They did it without masks however Anders wore his fur skin loincloth and Paul wore wire through all his piercing.
This show happened about a month or two after Josh got into the band (I'm thinking it was mid to late Nov. 95'). That was the only show they'd ever done with Donnie. The band went through the names Pyg system and Meld, before agreeing on the simpler name of "Slipknot", the title of their first song. Slipknot began to take notice of their stage show and thus eventually the idea of "Slipknot" spawned. The idea of what slipknot was about evolved and following discussions Shawn turned up to a practice wearing his legendary Clown mask, the sextet decided almost unanimously, with the exception of Donnie, that masks should be worn.
Joey came fully equipped with his molded and expressionless Kabuki Mask and despite difficulty within practices the idea took off; the whole anti-image appearance which fitted so well with their rule of ignoring trends had a great appeal. Soon Shawn contacted Mike Lawyer, due to an interest in recording some studio work. Mike got an engineer/producer of his named Sean McMahon to meet up with them during a practice session. Sean McMahon: "I was contacted by former members of a band called Body Pit to check out their new band at their rehearsal space". Sean McMahon: " The band floored me the first time that I heard them play in Anders' basement. This was way before the masks and coveralls evolved. The band was solid and incredibly tight. The music had some melodic parts at that time. They played Slipknot, Gently, Do Nothing/Bitchslap, Killers Are Quiet, Vizqueen, and Fur for me.
Anders himself was wearing a wolf fur loincloth - and nothing else. I did not pretend to fully understand what the band was about, as we were just getting to know each other, but it was very plain to me that Slipknot (Meld or Pale Ones at that time) was extremely good at what they did, and had the requisite drive to take it all the way". " The band soon started work on their first project, dubbed, MFKR. "Mate Feed Kill Repeat". The band grabbed every available moment to practice, perform and record within the SR Audio Studios. SR audio was customized for the MFKR sessions by the band itself. SR audio was filled with pornographic posters, films, toys, lights and many other objects all to make the band feel right at home.
The recording phase for MFKR was one odd occurrence after another, Sean explains "We cut basic tracks live - all of them, including all 3 drummers, all playing together in the same room! The band advocates the use of extreme violence as a conflict resolution tool, and recording was no exception. The wall next to Clown's percussion rig acquired a few holes from his fist and drum sticks. Then there were the anatomically correct chalk line body outlines in the parking lot.
Also, Joey played drums naked on one track, which he nailed". During February of 1996 (the post production stage of mfkr) a great change occurred within Donnie Steele; he found God. He realized that he could not be within such a band as Slipknot with the beliefs he held and as a result withdrew himself from the group. At this crucial point in the bands short history a new member was called up; a former member of Joey's band Modifidious, his name was Craig Jones, he had come highly recommended by Jordison.
During his arrival, the MFKR album was already in its mixing stages. The mixing of MFKR was anything but smooth, each song being remixed many times. Strain was added by different view that each member held and things often got intense. Not only were their problems with the mixing but the band was also unhappy with the mastering that was done on the CD, hence they insisted that Sean should do it. Slipknot's first major show in which they would unveil themselves to the people of Des Moines became booked for the 4th April 1996 at the locally known meeting place pronounced, "The Safari".
On the day's arrival the room was packed with 200 people. The band arrived in Joey's car and each member sported their individual garments. Paul with wire weaved in and out of his piercing, Andy covered with electrical tape and tribal paint, Josh showing off an executioners hood while Craig had placed pantyhose on his head. Joey and Shawn each used the masks they had always worn, the Clown and Kabuki masks. Before the band began to play Joey began to incessantly shout, "I need a little Christmas in my drink" repeatedly with each new phrase increasing in volume, energy and power.
The band then slammed into their debut song, "Slipknot". By Slipknot's second performance at the club Paul had found a new "Pig" mask. The band played a total of seven shows at the club in one month alone. The band carried on playing their shows which were much more "insane" than we see these days (taming of the media etc...), rather than the same uniform jumpsuits and regular masks the band played in different things, for example Shawn rented out a large purple "Barney" suit and others wore Nun dresses and even ballroom dresses or a Little Bo Peep outfit. The shows were really dark, underground and scary however they still carried an element of humor. The shows would start with strobe lights flashing and a sample from Craig, usually of a mad laugh and "ice cream" man chimes, Shawn would drop a power saw to create a series of sparks to fly over the crowd.
Joey still felt that the band was incomplete. He wanted more; a different sound and a greater variety. Craig was promptly shifted onto samples, leaving an empty vacancy. Hence Mick formerly of Bodypit arrived. MFKR was eventually finished on Halloween, 1996. The party had begun and 400 people turned up in masks to celebrate the occasion. The album was sent out to many people and a person named Sophia at a local station KKDM managed to hear it and liked it. This lead to the arrangement of Slipknot's appearance in the local KKDM battle of the band's contest. The on air tournament was held every Wednesday at the Safari club in Des Moines, and spanned across several weeks beginning with the individual heats. Slipknot faced the band; Stone Sour - they won. Slipknot also defeated "Maelstrom" and "Black Caesar" who came second. Slipknot conquered all. This was one of the band's highlights that fuelled them to their current stardom. The money from the win helped fund the heavily in debt band's new projects and demos. The band continued the onslaught of supporting their debut Mate Feed Kill Repeat.
According to ISMIST records the distributor, there were only 1000 copies of this made and distributed by the band as a promotional tool. By this time several record companies had investigated the band, one of these being Roadrunner who felt that they should not pick up Slipknot due to their thought that the vocalist required more melody. This rejection continued and nowhere could they be signed. Sophia became their first manager due to her contacts and love for this new band. Things then seemed to get worse; Shawn bought the Safari, which took time away from the band despite being a good investment. The band could no longer play in Anders' basement and things were falling apart. There were often tensions between Joey and Shawn and "Slipknot" had nowhere to play.
However they still managed to make it onto the bill for the local "Dotfest" in June. There they played to the largest crowd in their history, a crowd of 12 000, containing many industry people. Not only was the sound dodgy and kept going out but the crowd began to throw chicken bones on stage. At the show Slipknot came out throwing Tampons into the crowd and had several "gimps". This was the first and last time for the "gimps". The gimps were Frank with a gas mask, Lanny with tribal markings in liquid latex, Greg covered with liquid latex and a ball gag in his mouth and Greg's friend Slick Rick in a latex hood. Slipknot had the original idea of having a professional stunt man, Rick, come out dressed as Shawn and then Shawn would come out and set him on fire. They had all thethings
The set ended with them being cut off and an almost riot breaking out as Andy cut open his arms and tossed CDs over the fence to the fans. Joey quit. But he reconsidered and came back. Some good things did come out of this though, their performance left a mark, they made new fans and most importantly they discovered Sid Wilson (even though they did not speak to him).
Slipknot looked for the success they were not getting and decided to enlist Corey Taylor of rival band Stone Sour, to join the line up. Joey, Shawn and Mick confronted him with the an ultimatum at his work place, "The Adult Emporium". They said, "Join the band or we will kick your ass!" Slipknot provided an opportunity not present in Stone Sour; the band could go places. The music over image policy also appealed. Corey began practicing with the band and the first lyrics he wrote were to be used in the song, "Me Inside". This was a very experimental move and everyone was wondering how it would turn out. This change resulted in Anders being pushed back to percussion and back up vocals. Soon this new breed of the Knot performed a show; it turned out it was a charity event for a local hospital. The Safari was packed to the brim. Corey came out wearing a large amount of makeup that gave a dark appearance, this was added to by two latex crosses marked over his eyes.
Despite this excitement the show was riddled with technical problems and was the show that resulted in Joey's nickname, "Superball". Their next show was on 17th September, again at the Safari. This show was a great improvement however nearly a year on from the MFKR release an announcement was to be made. Just before Slipknot were about to storm into their final song, "Heart ache and a pair of Scissors", Anders made an announcement, "This will be my last show" he stated. This stunned both band members and the audience. Following this sudden change the band returned to the studio to re-record the songs on their second cd titled "Crowz" - minus Anders' vocals. Of these songs included, "Gently", "Do Nothing", "Slipknot", "Tattered and Torn", "Me Inside", "Carve", "Coleslaw", "Scissors", "Windows" and "May 17th" a song written by Shawn. Crowz was to be released October 31st 1997. THE REST IS ALL HISTORY.
History :
Formation and early years (1995 – 1998)
Early formations of a band were beginning to coalesce as early as 1992, when the core band members, drummer Shawn "Clown" Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefini, and bassist Paul Grayenlisted the help of guitarists Donnie Steele and Quan Nong, and created "Painface".
In September 1995, the band "The Pale Ones" was created comprising Crahan on drums, Gray on bass, Colsefini on vocals and guitarist Steele. Joey Jordison joined the band shortly after, taking up the role of drummer and, subsequently, Crahan moved to percussion.The band continued to develop their vision of what the band would be, deciding to add a second guitarist, recruiting Josh Brainard and moving Colsefini to percussion along with lead vocals. The band played their first live performance under the name of Meld on December 4, 1995 at a club called Crowbar in Des Moines. Soon after, Jordison suggested renaming the band "Slipknot" after their song that eventually appeared on the band's demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.. The band also began experimenting with their image, wearing grotesque make-up and eventually the anti-image concept developed towards the members wearing masks. Up until this point, the band had remained mainly obscured due to their desire to wait until their music was fully developed.
With plenty of material ready, the band began recording in a local studio, SR Audio with Sean McMahon. In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele left the band due to his Christian beliefs; though the other band members were prepared to allow him to stay, Steele decided to leave. His replacement, Craig Jones, arrived during the mixing stages of this new project. On April 4, Slipknot played their first public performance at Des Moines reggae club the Safari, where they played most of their early gigs. Their second gig at the Safari was alongside Stone Sour. The band began to realize again that there was need for a change, as they were adding samples to their recordings but could not produce these sounds live. Subsequently, Jones moved to full-time sampler and Mick Thomson was brought in to fill the space on guitar. After conflict over the mixing and mastering, the band self released their first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.on Halloween, October 31, 1996.
With the production of this album, Sean McMahon began distributing it between record and management companies, which resulted in airplay on local radio and, in turn, won a spot at Dotfest. Slipknot had returned to the studio having developed new material, which demanded more vocal melody. As a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour; this moved Colsefini to backing vocals and percussion. While experimenting with their new vocalist, the band continued to do shows at the Safari club, during one of which Colsefini surprised his band and fans alike announcing on stage that he was leaving the band. The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, who was affectionately known as "Cuddles". Towards the end of 1997, the band was assigned individual numbers respectively and began wearing uniform coveralls at their shows.
In early 1998, the band recorded their demo, which included "Spit It Out". The Slipknot Demo was sent to many record labels and, along with a growing popularity on the Internet and help from their then manager Sophia John, interest grew from record labels and eventually producer Ross Robinson was contacted. The band, which had a strong interest in working with Robinson, met with him and it was then decided they would work together. Soon after, DJ Sid Wilson was brought in to the band after showing great interest and impressing band members. With the acquisition of Ross Robinson, interest grew and the band began getting offers from record labels. On July 6, 1998 Welts was asked to leave the band becoming the first (and only) band member to be ultimately fired from the band. Chris Fehn replaced Welts on percussion and on July 8 they signed to Roadrunner Records.
Debut album and commercial success (1998–2001)
In late 1998, Slipknot entered the recording studio to work on their debut album. In the early new year, guitarist Brainard decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. His replacement was Jim Root leaving the band with the line-up they retain. Recording finished in early 1999, with "Me Inside" and "Purity", and the band attended the Ozzfest which began in March. On June 29, 1999, the band released their eponymous album Slipknot. Regarding the album, Rick Anderson of Allmusic wrote "You thought Limp Bizkitwas heavy? They're The Osmonds. Slipknot is something else entirely." The band performed in the Livin La Vida Loco tour in support ofSlipknot.
Slipknot included variations of previously released songs, including "(sic)"; a version of the previous song "Slipknot". These versions were faster than their previous recordings and this shift in intensity was welcomed by old fans. In the same year, Slipknot released their firsthome video Welcome to Our Neighborhood (which was later released on DVD in 2003). In early 2000, Slipknot was certified platinum, a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records. In July 2001, Q named Slipknot as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time".
Iowa and side projects (2001–2003)
After the success of their debut, Slipknot decided to enter the studio again for a second album. By then, the band had created a huge fan base, and the expectations for their follow up album were great. They went back into the studio in early 2001 to work on a new album. Iowa, the band's second album with Roadrunner Records, was released on August 28, 2001. Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic said "It's really all you could ask for in a Slipknot album, and then some", and David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the album "the first great record of thenu metal era." It was also a commercial success, peaking at number three on the Billboard album charts, and at number one on the UK album chart. In mid-2001, the band once again toured with Ozzfest, and performed in the Kill The Industry tour in support of Iowa. The band also appeared in the concert scene of the 2002 movie Rollerball. In the same year, while touring Europe on their European Iowa Tour, the BBC said that Slipknot stole the show and proved entertaining after the band performed at Reading Festival in England.After touring Europe, the band performed at venues in Japan for the Japan Iowa Tour. In the same year, Slipknot released their second visual output with the release of their DVDDisasterpieces.
2002 also saw the first serious musical projects for Slipknot members outside of the band. Lead vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root revived their band Stone Sour with the release of their eponymous debut album Stone Sour. Drummer Jordison also had his own project in which he took up the role of guitarist in the Murderdolls. Slipknot planned to work on a third album towards the end of 2002 but the band was experiencing problems. At this time there was rumours concerning whether the band had split and the possibility of a third album.By mid-2003 Crahan also had a new side project, To My Surprise, in which he worked with producer Rick Rubin.
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 9.0 Live, and side projects (2003–2007)
In late 2003, Slipknot began writing and recording with producer Rick Rubin, who had previously worked with artists such asJohnny Cash, System of a Down, and Slayer. Roadrunner Records also announced they would no longer be distributing Slipknot's albums in Scandinavia, due to financial terms. However Slipknot managed to pen a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in early 2003 for the releases in Scandinavia. The band released their third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) on May 24, 2004, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic called the album "a satisfying, carefully crafted representation of [the band's] career to date", while Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone said the album "experiments with even newer extremes, which in Slipknot's case means tunefulness and traditional song structures." The title of the album denotes that this is their third album, band members later mentioned that they do not consider Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. as an album which reflects the band. In 2004, the band toured on the Ozzfest for a third time, the same year they made their first appearance at Download Festival where Jordison replaced Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich after he was rushed to hospital. In 2005, Slipknot made live appearances without percussionist Crahan—who was supporting his wife during an illness—including their return to Download Festival.
Slipknot released their first live album, 9.0: Live which included recordings from shows in Phoenix,Las Vegas, Osaka, Singapore, and Tokyo. The album was released on November 1, 2005 and peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200. In 2006, the band won their first and only Grammy for Best Metal Performance with "Before I Forget". Later that year, Slipknot released their third DVDVoliminal: Inside the Nine.
Several members of the band collaborated with other artists on the Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions CD released in October 2005. On the record, Jordison was named a "team captain".Root, Taylor, and Gray also contributed to the album. In 2006, Root and Taylor once again returned with Stone Sour releasing their second album Come What(ever) May. Jordison drummed for several bands while on tour including; Ministry (2006) and Korn (2007). He also produced 3 Inches of Blood's third album Fire Up the Blades which was released in early 2007. Later in the year Crahan revealed a new side project, Dirty Little Rabbits.
All Hope Is Gone (2008 onward)
Slipknot released their fourth studio album All Hope Is Gone on August 20, 2008. It is the first Slipknot album to ever peak at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The Album has gone on to sell 825,000 copies in the U.S., been awarded a Gold certification, and has spawned 5 singles with the third single Dead Memories charting at #1 on the Hot 100 Mainstream Rock tracks. Preparation for the album started in October 2007 with recording pushed back to February 2008. For this release the band expressed an interest in making it their heaviest album to date with an expansion of the thrash metal riffing introduced on Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). However, they also wanted to make it their most experimental record, and wished to include more acoustic guitars and melodic vocals, as well as introducing hi-hats and cymbals to the additional percussion. The album was the band's first work with Dave Fortman as producer. Along with the album, the band debuted "evolved" masks and uniforms, which matched the style of the album. Slipknot headlined the first ever Mayhem Festival festival in July and August 2008. The band was scheduled to play in the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2008, but was forced to cancel after drummer Joey Jordison broke his ankle.
Slipknot also toured Australia, Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom in the latter months of 2008, with the bands Machine Head and Children of Bodom opening at their concerts. The UK dates were announced on August 20, for an early December tour. Slipknot were also forced to cancel their show in Israel, due to 2 of the members having family problems, it was stated by Corey that the show would be rescheduled to the tour.
In the summer of 2009, Slipknot made several appearances at European festivals, notably theSonisphere Festival for its Dutch and Spanish legs, and headlining performances at Germany'sRock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals and the UK's Download Festival. The band completed the All Hope is Gone World Tour with a performance at the first annual Trinity of Terrors Halloween Celebration which took place at the Palms Resort and Casino on November 1, 2009.
In August 2009, Slipknot won two Kerrang! awards, including best live act. They were also voted best international band. 1 It has been confirmed by Corey that the band will be going on another short break after the All Hope Is Gone World Tour, so he can get back in the studio with Stone Sour also to work on his solo album.
On September 9, 2009, Slipknot re-released their album slipknot as Slipknot 10th Anniversary – Limited Edition. The album features 25 tracks, including the original album as well as rare demos, remixes, rare b-sides and more. The DVD, entitled "of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams", contains behind the scene footage of the band from 1999 as well as music videos and other extras.
On September 17, 2009, Shawn Crahan revealed that he is writing and releasing a book titled The Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey; telling the journey of being in Slipknot, there is no known date when the book will be released. He has also started his own art gallery showings, selling his photographs, paintings, and canvas prints.
On December 18, 2009, Slipknot released a short film about the song Snuff taken from the All Hope Is Gone album.
Members :
Current Members :
Sid Wilson : Turntables (since 1998)
Joey Jordison : Drums (since 1995)
Paul Gray : Bass, Backing Vocals (since 1995)
Chris Fehn : Custom Percussion, Backing Vocals (since 1997)
James Root : Guitars (since 1999)
Craig Jones : Samples , Media (since 1996)
Shawn Crahan : Custom Percussion, Backing Vocals (since 1995)
Mick Thomson : Guitars (since 1995)
Corey Taylor : Lead Vocals (since 1997)
Former Members :
Donnie Stelee : Guitars (1995-1996)
Anders Colsefini : Lead Vocals, Custom Percussion (1995-1997)
Greg Welts : Custom percussion (1997)
Josh Brainard : Guitars , Backing Vocals (1995-1999)
