Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan recently clarified that he, bassist Paul Gray, and vocalist Anders Colsefni are the original three founding members of the band. Now, in an interview with Fishman Music, Slipknot guitarist Mick Thomson details how the band truly came together.
Thomson explained that he, Gray, and Colsefni were initially part of a death metal band called Body Pit. This band eventually brought in Crahan, who started jamming early Slipknot material with Gray and Colsefni. This trio then recruited the legendary Joey Jordison, who brought guitarist Josh Brainard and sampler Craig Jones into the fold. The rest is history, and here we are decades later, still listening to and talking about Slipknot!
“Before Slipknot, Paul, Andy, and I — Andy was our original singer — were in a band called Body Pit, a death metal band. They had just lost their drummer and brought me in. When the drummer and other guitarist left, we were left looking for a drummer. So we wrote songs — me, Paul, and Donnie Steele, a former guitarist and bassist for Slipknot. We even recorded some things on a four-track, but they never really went anywhere.”
“We practiced at our singer Andy’s house, where Clown would come over since he knew Andy. Clown started jamming with Paul and Andy in the basement where Body Pit practiced. Without a drummer, they had downtime and began working on new stuff.”
“Paul and Andy started playing with Clown. I didn’t really know Clown back then; I’d only met him before. While I was still with Paul and Andy, they were exploring new music with Clown. We couldn’t find a technical death metal drummer in Des Moines, but Joey Jordison eventually got involved. Joey didn’t initially want to join but was interested in the Slipknot material with Andy, Paul, and Clown. That’s how our band fell apart.”
“Joey was in a band with Josh and Craig, who were also guitarists in his band. Essentially, we combined me, Paul, Andy, Joey, Josh, and Craig, and added Clown. Clown was the pivotal factor, as two bands dissolved and reformed around him.”
“In a way, two different bands merged to form Slipknot. It wasn’t planned; it just happened. Ironically, we broke up another band, Corey’s band [Stone Sour], by recruiting him. Eventually, we needed another guitarist, so we got Jim Root from Corey’s band. It was very interconnected. We essentially disrupted other bands to form Slipknot.”
