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Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

Clown of Slipknot

06 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What reflections does Clown share about friendship and loss?

2.056 - 48.634 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

First of all, I'm very blessed and I keep the company of the most amazing people. I've always known this, but when you lose some friends, you start taking a good look at life. And then, you know, like with Joey, I try to explain to people, you know, because people are really hard on me with Joey because...

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48.614 - 73.826 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

you know, we separate it, you know, the band, you know, but human beings don't know the story. Real friends don't tell it because of love. And you get older, you start recognizing it. No one in my career has really, like, stopped me and asked me what the album cover was or why this, you know, I'm not trying to force it down anybody anymore. You know, I never was, I just love art.

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74.447 - 99.694 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And that was my job was to be this like visionary sort of, you know, Paul Gray, the bass player who I started the band with, you know, he always said that I was going to change the face of metal the way it looks. Yeah. And you did. I didn't recognize that until he was gone. And with Joey, I didn't recognize how great he was and how blessed I was to be in his presence.

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99.714 - 126.929 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Because I was like, yo, you're late. I carried your drum set up. Don't do it again. I'm going to kick it down the stairs. And he's like, I'd like to see it. We were bros. Yeah. And you were kids. Yeah, I'm not stopping. I knew his double bass was sick. I knew it was better than anyone. I know the sex of his fills. They're just sexy and romantic and have so much feeling.

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127.049 - 144.298 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

It's not even like a technique. It's like some sort of, hey, here's a silk handkerchief. And you're just like, oh, I feel good. So my job has always been to take What I do very, very, very, very, very, very, very serious. Yeah. Almost too serious because.

144.799 - 146.703 Rick Rubin

What's too serious? Well. Hard to say.

146.924 - 154.44 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Too serious is for the norm. I end up being around a lot of norm. Yeah. And so they make me feel crazy.

154.42 - 157.324 Rick Rubin

So your choice is to dumb yourself down to the norm.

157.344 - 157.545 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Yeah.

Chapter 2: How did Clown's vision for Slipknot's artistic direction develop?

298.742 - 324.827 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Anything I got, I had to get myself. There was no one helping. So I don't know what metal is to you. Paul Gray would watch Slayer in a parking lot in L.A. somewhere, you know, before their big time Slayer, like in a parking lot. He's telling me these stories, you know, East L.A. kid, you know, or Culver City and going to these shows. And he did really well with me and he showed me.

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325.364 - 351.049 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

my path and he thought my path was crescendos and breakdowns and and big rejoices so he showed me rage against the machine he went right to the big breakdown it actually played into it played it before it so i didn't even really get to hear it go down he's like oh sorry back play it Comes down, you know, fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. Boom!

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351.129 - 364.928 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I just looked at him, and he handed me the tape. He's like, that's yours. He's like, that's who I think, you know, you're... And he was right. I was a 4-4 drummer. I played some jazz, but I'm really good at 4-4.

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365.288 - 366.51 Rick Rubin

What's the music you grew up on?

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367.892 - 393.59 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

I grew up on Monterey Pop Festival. Hendrix, the band, Elvis, so much Beatles, you can't even imagine. I mean, my mom would tell me once a week, don't ever forget, the Beatles are the greatest band ever and always will be. And I'm like, whatever. You know, I'm like, who's Flattop? Turns out she was right. Yeah, and then... get the Ph.D. in rock and roll and, you know, I'm working with you.

394.592 - 411.115 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Greg Fiddleman tells me, hey, half this board is the double fantasy board or whatever. And I'm like, you know, so yeah, Beatles. Lennon's my sort of superhero. You know, he'd be who I probably would have hung out with if he would have had me.

412.016 - 414.94 Rick Rubin

Was there a seed idea for Slipknot?

415.072 - 439.218 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Well, interesting enough, there was like a Walgreens in a mall, and my mom was walking me in the mall, and I was holding her hand, and I was on the right side, and they put the vinyl in the window, big, long window. It had to be 30 foot long, and you just see all the new releases out in the front. And Kiss Dynasty is... the silver got me and the black got me.

439.658 - 450.152 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I just stopped and my mom's hand went and I was just staring at Gene Simmons. And my mom goes, you like that? And I go, yeah, I don't know. What is it? And she's like, let's go look.

Chapter 3: What early experiences shaped Clown's musical journey?

744.619 - 746.021 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I really look forward to them.

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746.041 - 747.685 Rick Rubin

Would your parents play music in the house?

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748.446 - 765.298 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

My mom, my dad, and I mean this in the most loving way, you know, but my dad was an alcoholic and he had a lot going on. And so he wasn't really present because of things he was suffering from, you know? So mom played the music. Yeah.

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765.278 - 788.427 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

She noticed very early that I gravitated to it, that I could get some peace and that maybe it was even better than going out and playing kickball because maybe I had some built up aggression a little bit and I'm actually, you know, got some things going on because of what's going on here. But we're not going to know that until I'm older and I'm being imprinted.

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788.467 - 816.867 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

But music, you know, I almost got expelled out of high school for temper and They finally did this biofeedback crap on me, and I lost my way. They brainwashed me, basically, for a bit. But I had music, and I had my friends, and music never gave up on me. And even though I couldn't get it, I totally, they clockworked orange me. Like, straight up, I couldn't get angry. It saved my life.

817.688 - 819.591 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I was so good at biofeedback.

819.611 - 820.772 Rick Rubin

They didn't sedate you, though.

821.493 - 830.143 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

It was two things on my, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's good. You know, I'm so scattered, Rick. It all makes sense. Yeah, it's all good.

830.163 - 831.484 Rick Rubin

You never have to apologize to me.

Chapter 4: How did Clown's first concert experience influence him?

2298.608 - 2324.937 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

I had a vision of three drummers. I wanted a triangle. I had lost my ability to learn for a moment on drum set. I was repeating myself. I was really trying to learn. I hired a jazz drum teacher. I was really stuck in a locomotive. I was on a rail on a certain engine with certain coal, and I just had to get off and hitchhike. So I'm a professional welder.

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2324.917 - 2348.659 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I had a good friend that was listening. And he's like, hey, you said you wanted to make some shit. So we went in. He got the place we worked. And we got it for the weekend. We took my first drum set. And we got it up so I could stand up. And then I had a relationship with a junkyard guy. No one's supposed to be able to buy from there.

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2348.899 - 2371.421 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

But I walked in and he's like, you're a curious little fellow. And I'm like, hey, man, I'm in a band. I want to get some kegs and stuff. And he's like, you're an art student, right? With the university? I'm like, yeah, I'm an art student of life. And he's like, get whatever you want, put it in a pile. You have cash? I'm like, I got cash.

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2371.962 - 2390.454 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And so I'd walk around and I'd get kegs and 30 gallon drums, 50 gallon drums, everything and anything that I thought had a sound. So the original lead singer was a drummer too, and he felt he lost his way on drumming, and he felt he didn't have what it took for the technique.

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2390.654 - 2413.547 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

So if they were going to do him and Paul and Joey, all those guys were in death metal bands, and Andy was a drummer, and he just... felt he couldn't cut that drumming. So he wanted to be a singer, and he can growl. And to this day, he's the man. So he's like, I'm not going to give up my drumming either. And I was like, you play those. So I made him drums.

2413.527 - 2429.929 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I had drums, and originally Slipknot was less people, and the original lead singer was the other drummer, and he was more up front. And what was wonderful about that situation is he was a very technical, black metal, thrash.

2430.049 - 2432.532 Rick Rubin

Other musicians as well, or just the three of you?

2432.512 - 2446.415 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Paul Gray playing guitar, Andy Ryle playing the drums and singing, a gentleman by the name of Donny Steele was playing guitar, and I was playing drum set.

2446.435 - 2446.555

Right.

Chapter 5: What insights does Clown share about his early interactions with Corey Taylor?

3510.072 - 3519.267 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

They'll be out here in about an hour. So who's there? Corey Taylor, sitting right there. And I go, fancy seeing you. He goes, yeah, who are you here, Bill?

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Chapter 6: How did the band Slipknot navigate changes after losing their original singer?

3519.287 - 3539.759 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And I'm like, Tony Gray, Frank Plumlee. He's like, yeah, I'm here to get Junior. And Corey Taylor and I got to sit down for two hours and talk. He didn't know, but I was like, where are you from? Where's your mom? Where's your dad? Did you go to high school? How long have you been singing? What's your favorite music? What do you want to do when you grow up? What are you doing with Stone Sour?

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3540.379 - 3555.316 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

You know, I just really enjoyed his company, and we just got off so well. And then when the time came, everything, all hell was breaking loose with our original singer. We already had a crowd of 1,500 people, probably, and all hell broke loose. How long did that take?

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Chapter 7: What does Clown reveal about the significance of the number six in Slipknot's identity?

3555.336 - 3576.041 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

You know? We were big. I started the band when I was 26. And I helped get it signed right at 29. And I was on the road at 30. So a couple of years. And then he quit. Well, he was on his way out. And everybody was like, what are we going to do? And I'm like, there's only one thing to do if we're serious. And they're like, what? I'm like, Corey Taylor.

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3576.401 - 3594.854 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

You know, everyone's like, that'll never happen. You know, he likes this type of music. I'm like... Man, I'll go talk to him. So we went from a studio. Mick Thompson, guitar player, shows up unannounced. And he's like, hey, guys, what's going on? We're like, Andy's more or less just quit the band.

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3594.874 - 3603.948 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

And we're going to go over to the Adult Portium, which is a porn store where Corey worked nighttime shift. I'm going to ask him if he wants to try out for the band. And he's like, what?

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Chapter 8: How does Clown express the impact of music on his life and well-being?

3603.968 - 3617.995 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

So we drive out there. And Joey and Mick go do their thing. And I go up. And Corey sees us from the security camera. And he's like, what are these dudes doing here? We always wore jackets, so not jackets, with numbers. So people ought to be like, there's three of them here.

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3618.015 - 3618.977 Rick Rubin

When did the numbers start?

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3619.398 - 3626.455 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Real early. Because it just, we wanted a gang, man, you know? It's not about Sean or Paul. It's just like...

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3626.435 - 3627.056 Rick Rubin

Number six.

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3627.196 - 3646.692 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

Yeah, number six. You know, clown. It's like, quit talking to me about my name. It's like, I'm here to talk about Slipknot, and this is one way to get to it, but I'm just number six. You know what I mean? It's like, we're not here to talk about my military school upbringing. We're here to talk about my dedication with my brothers, so get with it. Ask me another sports question, and I'm out.

3646.712 - 3651.797 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

It's just that simple, and that's how we did it. So numbers, barcodes, a couple logos.

3652.978 - 3655.8 Rick Rubin

Was your number six related to the prisoner at all?

3655.915 - 3686.094 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

no you know i was pretty diverse in numerology and in a lot of tarot six is the sun and nine's the moon and you know i just always knew six was nine upside down and i just felt like everything happens at six you know from zero to nine and come back around you know one insinuates two if you have two why not three four is church five things are molecular six it's happening It's going on.

3686.154 - 3712.893 Michael Shawn Crahan (Clown)

It's on fire. Seven, we're on our way. We're flying through the solar system. Eight, getting ready to settle down. Nine, we might as well be at zero. It insinuates rebirth. So I just, like all things in Slipknot, I let all choose first. I remember Mick going, I'm number seven. It's my lucky number. No one else can be seven. And it's like, dude, you're seven. Joey's like, I'm number one.

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