Frequently Asked Questions


Where are Slipknot from? Des Moines, Iowa When did Slipknot form? The original Slipknot group was that of Anders, Shawn and Paul, they had the idea of making a group and played around with the idea, they even wrote some songs as early as 1992. However Shawn became busy and project "Slipknot" fell through. Fortunately the idea was revived in 1995 by Shawn and Anders and thus Slipknot was officially formed in the September of 1995. What are these Basement sessions from 1992 all about? The Basement sessions were 5 songs recorded by Anders Colsefni, Patrick Neuwirth, Paul Grey and Shawn Grahan in Paul's basement in 1992 under the name "Painface" (A band name Anders Colsefni later re-used) . Songs that were recorded include "Slipknot, "Gently", "Idiot", "What's wrong" and "Wise up(unreleased)". When did slipknot play their first show? Josh Says "Our first show was actually under a different name, MELD. It was at a club that I believe was called the Crobar at that time. We did it without masks, about a month or two after I got into the band (I'm thinking it was mid to late Nov. 95'). That was the only show we ever did with Donnie. The first show with masks we had Craig on guitar." They later got in touch with Mick so Craig could concentrate on sampling. What are the Rules and AIMS of Slipknots? Shawn says "Well, I started the band in 1995, and there were two rules. We had to play what we wanted to play, and doesn't matter what we play, how we play, how much it cost to see us play… And the second rule was that I wanted to have three drummers". basically, all of us are form different bands that had opened up for each other with the common philosophy of, we were just sick of the way that everything was going in our hometown. There was no music scene, it was hard to get bands CDs in that we liked and it was just frustrating and so Slipknot was born and they were on a mission to clean up the industry The band's initial aims (and what it still is) were to create something that the world has never seen, and probably will never again. We really sensed that people were ready for a show, not just guys playing some music. Where did they practice? When Slipknot first started practicing, they played in Anders basement. To soundproof the walls, they took carpet samples and scraps from a nearby Pet Grooming center... according to Mick, "The animals that were there had bladder problems, because the carpet smelled like animal piss... thereby making our practice space smell the same way." The basement Slipknot practiced in was so small that not all the guys could fit in the main area, so Craig, as cheesy as it may sound, had to set his equipment up and jam from the laundry room. Explain the percussion methods in the band. At the beginning, when I started the band with the bass player, I was the drummer, but I didn't want to play drums anymore. And then we got Joey in the band. Joey plays the main set which is all acoustic drums, and he is the main drummer; he sits in the back and is the glue that holds the band together. The Clown is a total power drummer, he is all aggression. Now, they have acquired using electronic drums to work with the samples for a different element to the music. The third drummer (Anders/Chris) takes care of a tribal, auxiliary sound while Anders would also do vocals. They wanted three perspectives for an almost auditory overkill. They are a very percussion heavy band. Shawn started the band and decided that he wanted to have three drummers because I am very into tribal, power stuff and also wanted the basics of all instruments which he believes is the drums. Shawn wanted one guy to stand on the left side of the stage and one on the right and to have a really kick ass drummer in the back and then you just have this wall of power that would be the fist layer. . . Was there obvious pressure in competing in the 1996 Battle of the Bands? We were definitely psyched. I've never seen us come together as much as we did at that time. Recording is one thing but when it came to the pressure we were all really competitive. I think that's the only way a band needs to be. There is competition and we like it that way. That night we went up against Stone Sour they were really on it that night, but we pulled together and ended up winning. It was probably one of the highlights I've had in being in a band. Right now with the line up we have and the style of music we play we have the best musicians coming out of Des Moines and I couldn't be playing with a better bunch of people How do i know if my copy of "MFKR" is real OR fake? Easiest way to begin is to see whether you have the correct tracklisting, MFKR never came with Bonus tracks from the self-titled album. Secondly i recommend you visit Mate Feed Kill Repeat.com, They have a series of tips to let you know whether you have a legitimate copy or not. What is "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat."? and where do I get it? Shawn explains "In 96 we made our first album called, "MATE. FEED. KILL. REPEAT." And that album was, basically, a kind of soul searching musical experience. We decided that we were going to experiment with a whole bunch of different musical styles to which we would assemble under the name SLIPKNOT". This RARE ass album is now out of print. Only 1,000 copies were ever made. By the time the record was released officially through Distributor -ISMIST, their were only about half left, most were given away as promo's during gigs. Will "MFKR" be re-released anytime soon by the band OR roadrunner records? Due to the popularity of the album, MFKR1.com began a Petition to the "Slipknot" to RE-RELEASE the album Online via mfkr1.com. The Petition has well over 3,000 signatures and the band are aware of the campaign so please sign the petition by following this link HERE How did the funk/ disco component enter into Slipknot's genre of music? Pretty much from different influences. It first appeared in "Do Nothing/Bitch Slap" which is this song that goes through funk, to industrial, to jazz, then to all out heaviness, with disco in the middle. It worked itself out magically. But we are always going to be a heavy band. All our diverse elements are going to be based around heavy riffs because for us there is nothing like playing all out pissed aggressive music, that's what really gets us off. Throwing in [the funk, the disco, the rap] just adds so much spice. I don't like going to see bands who just wear flannel and stand up there and play their three chords, there's more to life than that and more to music. Why the masks? Josh says" One of the fist questions they asked me was whether I was willing to wear a mask or not. My favorite band being Kiss, of course I said 'FUCK YEAH!!!'. We actually had a bunch of different masks around our rehearsal place, we would often trade and wear different masks. I think mine started when I wore a ski mask stocking cap to practice one night. We were playing and I just pulled it down". Mick says "Shawn, the clown, had his mask for years. Shawn put it on one day while the band was just fucking around and it was fun. Shawn put on the mask, next thing you know... all the band members started bringing in their own masks. Masks change you, allow you to be someone other than yourself. Took a chance, went fucking nuts and it worked. Wasn't a big contrived thing." Joey says "We never put on the shit we wear to try and get people into us. We did it because, after being degraded constantly for trying to play music or do something in Des Moines, it just came to be like we were an anonymous entity. No one gave a fuck, no one cared, so we were never about our names or our faces; we're just about music. So we just put it on and it started getting' people, and it just started to turn into this big thing. The music's the most important, though. What does Mate Feed Kill Repeat mean? Anders says that it represents the circle of life - Reproduce , Feed to survive and Kill to overcome the opposition then the cycle repeats itself. Josh says "MFKR is the cycle of life in it's most basic form. Cover art consists of Joey sitting in a huge metal Death Cage that Shawn welded." Shawn: I'm a welder, and I'm really into steel and the theory behind metal and everything. I've made things that the band likes. The MFKR album cover had this cage on it called "Patiently Awaiting the Jigsaw Flesh." It was a sculpture that three of us made. Every time we carry it, someone gets brutally cut. Who are those guys in the inside tray of MFKR? Many of you guys out their think that those guys are Slipknot, while technically you are correct because the guy with the steel frame around his face is actually Cuddles, the ex-percussionist well before he was in the band. His name is Greg and he was the bands tattooist at the time. The other guys name is Dav-O and he also was the bands tattooist and good friend at AXIOM PIERCING. What was it like Back in the day? Back then we had very, very wacky shows instead of like, now we have all the same masks and stuff but in the old days, I would rent a Barney suit or a nuns suit or someone would wear a ballroom dress. . . and one of the guitar players would dress up like Little Bo Peep. Our shows, even though they were really dark and scary and underground, there was a humor to what we did and that went along with some of the music that we created like at the beginning of the shows the Strobe lights would kick in and Craig would play a sample loop of a maniacal laugh and ice cream man chimes which added to the anticipation. The Clown dropped his power saw, sending sparks across the already charged crowd, We also had this one song called "Do Nothing Bitch Slap" and it went from grindcore to death metal to punk and reggae and then ending in disco. It went through all of these different variations of musical styles but all under the name SLIPKNOT and we were able to make that work Has Slipknot always been Nine people? No. When the band started in 1995 there were only 6.( Anders , Shawn , Josh , Joey , Paul , Donnie ) next member to join was Craig Jones to replace Donnie who quit , the band then grew to seven because Craig wanted to work on sampling and so got Mick to take over guitars, The band then grew to eight with the addition of Corey , soon after Anders left and so they got in touch with Cuddles , the band then grew to 18 legs with the addition of Sid Wilson , Later on Josh quit and the band got in touch with James Root. Do all members play on every song? No. Mick says "Things never get cluttered. We only use shit that fits. If there's a song in which Shawn and Anders' percussion has no place, then it's not in there." you will usually see Shawn pumping up the crowd whilst Anders Sings. What does "Slipknot" mean? Mick says "No real deep meaning.. just one of those things." " Joey says "The first track off Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat is titled "Slipknot", and that is the song that we always opened with. It was just simple and sounded cool and it was pretty easier to remember. Like there is no actual meaning to the name and we don't even consider what an actual "Slipknot" is. What does 742617000027 mean? This number is the barcode number on the Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat album, The band purchased the rights to this barcode and is used and abused only by Slipknot What is that sound at the start of the song Slipknot and the end of Dogfish Rising? The sound at the start of Slipknot is Shawn recording a power saw in the studio, overlapped and sampled against the noise of Anders ripping all the electrical tape off his face and beard, all of the samples heard including the Famous "Black and Decker dildo's" verse were put together by Shawn Anders and Producer Sean Mcmahon, the secret track Dogfish rising is actually a song filled with samples and loops including the voices of many friends of the band . Which members were present when recording Mate Feed Kill Repeat? MFKR WAS Slipknot, but isn't anymore. Original members for the recording: Anders Colsefni: Vocals Donnie Steele: Guitars Josh Brainard: Guitars/b. vocals Paul Gray: Bass/b. vocals Shawn Crahan: Percussion/b. vocals Joe Jordison: Drums Who is Corn Wallace? "C. Wallace is Me (Anders). Sometimes it was Joey. He came up with the name. When recording MFKR, he scribbled this funny, childlike picture of a monster with big, long claws and crazy hair. He wrote Corn Wallace under it. We all laughed our asses off. So, we played with the name. I used it to sign biographical writings I did for the band, so people would think we had some poor guy chained up in our practice place (my basement) writing stuff for us. Joey drew pictures and signed them C. Wallace. That's about it." What is Crowz and what is the Shit video? all about Crowz refers to a saying we (slipknot) started which started following a spooky incident when we where taking Paul home after a studio session, and the road his place was on was covered entirely with crowz, or blackbirds, or whatever. Thousands upon thousands of them. When the headlights flashed over them, they all took to the trees as one big, black mass. It was eerie. Then, they all sat in the trees and phone lines watching us. That's where Crowz came from. Plus, Shawn found a dead one in his driveway, and kept it in a big, commercial pickle jar, and carried it around at shows until it turned to mush, During shows Shawn would open the jar, this would cause him to vomit all over the place and also cause fans to start vomiting all over the place. It was (sic), it was kept in the jar with all the bacteria and flesh eating creatures. It started secreting this brown liquid and became a fine sauce. [yum] Some kids broke the jar open and played catch with it for awhile and now it's disposed.-----The shit video was an actual pornographic scat film that everyone laughed at in the studio lounge. We made our producer watch it once, and he locked himself in the studio control room, and layed on the floor meditating for 1/2 an hour. For more info on Crowz go checkout the facts section I've seen the Bootleg "SLIPKNOT - Live Rare and Unreleased", is that an official release? The album "Live Rare and Unreleased", is a bootleg released by MFKR1.com in conjunction with GEINED.com featuring tracks that were not released officially. MORE TO COME AS LONG AS I GET FREQUENT EMAILS ASKING ?'S ;)

Where are Slipknot from?

Des Moines, Iowa

When did Slipknot form?

The original Slipknot group was that of Anders, Shawn and Paul, they had the idea of making a group and played around with the idea, they even wrote some songs as early as 1992. However Shawn became busy and project "Slipknot" fell through. Fortunately the idea was revived in 1995 by Shawn and Anders and thus Slipknot was officially formed in the September of 1995.

What are these Basement sessions from 1992 all about?

The Basement sessions were 5 songs recorded by Anders Colsefni, Patrick Neuwirth, Paul Grey and Shawn Grahan in Paul's basement in 1992 under the name "Painface" (A band name Anders Colsefni later re-used) . Songs that were recorded include "Slipknot, "Gently", "Idiot", "What's wrong" and "Wise up(unreleased)".

When did slipknot play their first show?

Josh Says "Our first show was actually under a different name, MELD. It was at a club that I believe was called the Crobar at that time. We did it without masks, about a month or two after I got into the band (I'm thinking it was mid to late Nov. 95'). That was the only show we ever did with Donnie. The first show with masks we had Craig on guitar." They later got in touch with Mick so Craig could concentrate on sampling.

What are the Rules and AIMS of Slipknots?

Shawn says "Well, I started the band in 1995, and there were two rules. We had to play what we wanted to play, and doesn't matter what we play, how we play, how much it cost to see us play… And the second rule was that I wanted to have three drummers". basically, all of us are form different bands that had opened up for each other with the common philosophy of, we were just sick of the way that everything was going in our hometown. There was no music scene, it was hard to get bands CDs in that we liked and it was just frustrating and so Slipknot was born and they were on a mission to clean up the industry The band's initial aims (and what it still is) were to create something that the world has never seen, and probably will never again. We really sensed that people were ready for a show, not just guys playing some music.

Where did they practice?

When Slipknot first started practicing, they played in Anders basement. To soundproof the walls, they took carpet samples and scraps from a nearby Pet Grooming center... according to Mick, "The animals that were there had bladder problems, because the carpet smelled like animal piss... thereby making our practice space smell the same way." The basement Slipknot practiced in was so small that not all the guys could fit in the main area, so Craig, as cheesy as it may sound, had to set his equipment up and jam from the laundry room.

Explain the percussion methods in the band.

At the beginning, when I started the band with the bass player, I was the drummer, but I didn't want to play drums anymore. And then we got Joey in the band. Joey plays the main set which is all acoustic drums, and he is the main drummer; he sits in the back and is the glue that holds the band together. The Clown is a total power drummer, he is all aggression. Now, they have acquired using electronic drums to work with the samples for a different element to the music. The third drummer (Anders/Chris) takes care of a tribal, auxiliary sound while Anders would also do vocals. They wanted three perspectives for an almost auditory overkill. They are a very percussion heavy band. Shawn started the band and decided that he wanted to have three drummers because I am very into tribal, power stuff and also wanted the basics of all instruments which he believes is the drums. Shawn wanted one guy to stand on the left side of the stage and one on the right and to have a really kick ass drummer in the back and then you just have this wall of power that would be the fist layer. . .

Was there obvious pressure in competing in the 1996 Battle of the Bands?

We were definitely psyched. I've never seen us come together as much as we did at that time. Recording is one thing but when it came to the pressure we were all really competitive. I think that's the only way a band needs to be. There is competition and we like it that way. That night we went up against Stone Sour they were really on it that night, but we pulled together and ended up winning. It was probably one of the highlights I've had in being in a band. Right now with the line up we have and the style of music we play we have the best musicians coming out of Des Moines and I couldn't be playing with a better bunch of people

How do i know if my copy of "MFKR" is real OR fake?

Easiest way to begin is to see whether you have the correct tracklisting, MFKR never came with Bonus tracks from the self-titled album. Secondly i recommend you visit Mate Feed Kill Repeat.com, They have a series of tips to let you know whether you have a legitimate copy or not.

What is "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat."? and where do I get it?

Shawn explains "In 96 we made our first album called, "MATE. FEED. KILL. REPEAT." And that album was, basically, a kind of soul searching musical experience. We decided that we were going to experiment with a whole bunch of different musical styles to which we would assemble under the name SLIPKNOT". This RARE ass album is now out of print. Only 1,000 copies were ever made. By the time the record was released officially through Distributor -ISMIST, their were only about half left, most were given away as promo's during gigs.

Will "MFKR" be re-released anytime soon by the band OR roadrunner records?

Due to the popularity of the album, MFKR1.com began a Petition to the "Slipknot" to RE-RELEASE the album Online via mfkr1.com. The Petition has well over 3,000 signatures and the band are aware of the campaign so please sign the petition by following this link HERE

How did the funk/ disco component enter into Slipknot's genre of music?

Pretty much from different influences. It first appeared in "Do Nothing/Bitch Slap" which is this song that goes through funk, to industrial, to jazz, then to all out heaviness, with disco in the middle. It worked itself out magically. But we are always going to be a heavy band. All our diverse elements are going to be based around heavy riffs because for us there is nothing like playing all out pissed aggressive music, that's what really gets us off. Throwing in [the funk, the disco, the rap] just adds so much spice. I don't like going to see bands who just wear flannel and stand up there and play their three chords, there's more to life than that and more to music.

Why the masks?

Josh says" One of the fist questions they asked me was whether I was willing to wear a mask or not. My favorite band being Kiss, of course I said 'FUCK YEAH!!!'. We actually had a bunch of different masks around our rehearsal place, we would often trade and wear different masks. I think mine started when I wore a ski mask stocking cap to practice one night. We were playing and I just pulled it down". Mick says "Shawn, the clown, had his mask for years. Shawn put it on one day while the band was just fucking around and it was fun. Shawn put on the mask, next thing you know... all the band members started bringing in their own masks. Masks change you, allow you to be someone other than yourself. Took a chance, went fucking nuts and it worked. Wasn't a big contrived thing." Joey says "We never put on the shit we wear to try and get people into us. We did it because, after being degraded constantly for trying to play music or do something in Des Moines, it just came to be like we were an anonymous entity. No one gave a fuck, no one cared, so we were never about our names or our faces; we're just about music. So we just put it on and it started getting' people, and it just started to turn into this big thing. The music's the most important, though.

What does Mate Feed Kill Repeat mean?

Anders says that it represents the circle of life - Reproduce , Feed to survive and Kill to overcome the opposition then the cycle repeats itself. Josh says "MFKR is the cycle of life in it's most basic form. Cover art consists of Joey sitting in a huge metal Death Cage that Shawn welded." Shawn: I'm a welder, and I'm really into steel and the theory behind metal and everything. I've made things that the band likes. The MFKR album cover had this cage on it called "Patiently Awaiting the Jigsaw Flesh." It was a sculpture that three of us made. Every time we carry it, someone gets brutally cut.

Who are those guys in the inside tray of MFKR?

Many of you guys out their think that those guys are Slipknot, while technically you are correct because the guy with the steel frame around his face is actually Cuddles, the ex-percussionist well before he was in the band. His name is Greg and he was the bands tattooist at the time. The other guys name is Dav-O and he also was the bands tattooist and good friend at AXIOM PIERCING.

What was it like Back in the day?

Back then we had very, very wacky shows instead of like, now we have all the same masks and stuff but in the old days, I would rent a Barney suit or a nuns suit or someone would wear a ballroom dress. . . and one of the guitar players would dress up like Little Bo Peep. Our shows, even though they were really dark and scary and underground, there was a humor to what we did and that went along with some of the music that we created like at the beginning of the shows the Strobe lights would kick in and Craig would play a sample loop of a maniacal laugh and ice cream man chimes which added to the anticipation. The Clown dropped his power saw, sending sparks across the already charged crowd, We also had this one song called "Do Nothing Bitch Slap" and it went from grindcore to death metal to punk and reggae and then ending in disco. It went through all of these different variations of musical styles but all under the name SLIPKNOT and we were able to make that work

Has Slipknot always been Nine people?

No. When the band started in 1995 there were only 6.( Anders , Shawn , Josh , Joey , Paul , Donnie ) next member to join was Craig Jones to replace Donnie who quit , the band then grew to seven because Craig wanted to work on sampling and so got Mick to take over guitars, The band then grew to eight with the addition of Corey , soon after Anders left and so they got in touch with Cuddles , the band then grew to 18 legs with the addition of Sid Wilson , Later on Josh quit and the band got in touch with James Root.

Do all members play on every song?

No. Mick says "Things never get cluttered. We only use shit that fits. If there's a song in which Shawn and Anders' percussion has no place, then it's not in there." you will usually see Shawn pumping up the crowd whilst Anders Sings.

What does "Slipknot" mean?

Mick says "No real deep meaning.. just one of those things." " Joey says "The first track off Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat is titled "Slipknot", and that is the song that we always opened with. It was just simple and sounded cool and it was pretty easier to remember. Like there is no actual meaning to the name and we don't even consider what an actual "Slipknot" is.

What does 742617000027 mean?

This number is the barcode number on the Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat album, The band purchased the rights to this barcode and is used and abused only by Slipknot

What is that sound at the start of the song Slipknot and the end of Dogfish Rising?

The sound at the start of Slipknot is Shawn recording a power saw in the studio, overlapped and sampled against the noise of Anders ripping all the electrical tape off his face and beard, all of the samples heard including the Famous "Black and Decker dildo's" verse were put together by Shawn Anders and Producer Sean Mcmahon, the secret track Dogfish rising is actually a song filled with samples and loops including the voices of many friends of the band .

Which members were present when recording Mate Feed Kill Repeat?
MFKR WAS Slipknot, but isn't anymore. Original members for the recording:
Anders Colsefni: Vocals
Donnie Steele: Guitars
Josh Brainard: Guitars/b. vocals
Paul Gray: Bass/b. vocals
Shawn Crahan: Percussion/b. vocals
Joe Jordison: Drums

Who is Corn Wallace?

"C. Wallace is Me (Anders). Sometimes it was Joey. He came up with the name. When recording MFKR, he scribbled this funny, childlike picture of a monster with big, long claws and crazy hair. He wrote Corn Wallace under it. We all laughed our asses off. So, we played with the name. I used it to sign biographical writings I did for the band, so people would think we had some poor guy chained up in our practice place (my basement) writing stuff for us. Joey drew pictures and signed them C. Wallace. That's about it."

What is Crowz and what is the Shit video? all about

Crowz refers to a saying we (slipknot) started which started following a spooky incident when we where taking Paul home after a studio session, and the road his place was on was covered entirely with crowz, or blackbirds, or whatever. Thousands upon thousands of them. When the headlights flashed over them, they all took to the trees as one big, black mass. It was eerie. Then, they all sat in the trees and phone lines watching us. That's where Crowz came from. Plus, Shawn found a dead one in his driveway, and kept it in a big, commercial pickle jar, and carried it around at shows until it turned to mush, During shows Shawn would open the jar, this would cause him to vomit all over the place and also cause fans to start vomiting all over the place. It was (sic), it was kept in the jar with all the bacteria and flesh eating creatures. It started secreting this brown liquid and became a fine sauce. [yum] Some kids broke the jar open and played catch with it for awhile and now it's disposed.-----The shit video was an actual pornographic scat film that everyone laughed at in the studio lounge. We made our producer watch it once, and he locked himself in the studio control room, and layed on the floor meditating for 1/2 an hour. For more info on Crowz go checkout the facts section

I've seen the Bootleg "SLIPKNOT - Live Rare and Unreleased", is that an official release?

The album "Live Rare and Unreleased", is a bootleg released by MFKR1.com in conjunction with GEINED.com featuring tracks that were not released officially.

MORE TO COME AS LONG AS I GET FREQUENT EMAILS ASKING ?'S ;)