Sid Wilson on how he proved he was “crazy” enough to join Slipknot

Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson has recalled showing the band how “crazy” he was in order to secure a spot in the metal group.

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Wilson said in a new interview that he was already practicing with Slipknot “and coming up with parts” but that he needed to see them play live before making a decision on joining.

He told Revolver earlier this month: “But before making the commitment, I needed to see the band live. They kept telling me, ‘We’re crazy, we’re crazy. We wear masks, we’re crazy.’ I’m like, Got it. Check. Crazy. I’m like, ‘I’m crazy. Trust me.'”

The DJ explained that ahead of the performance of their song ‘Tattered And Torn’, Slipknot’s percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan would set the mood by chanting “Kill me” and wandering out into the crowd, baying for commotion.

“[Clown] would go out in the crowd and wrestle with kids, tie them up with microphone cords and drag them across the floor,” Wilson continued. “So he would go into the crowd every show – I didn’t know this, I’d never seen the show before. And I can see him looking at me through the mask, and he starts this ‘Kill me’ [chant], and I see him coming out from behind this drum, and I could just sense it.

“I was like, He’s coming for me. He wants to prove to me that they’re crazy – and I am fucking nuts. So I’m like, It’s on. And I just start running and I start leap-frogging people, grabbing their shoulders and just jumping over. And then I’m crawling across the top of the crowd. And I get up there and he was getting ready to take one step off the stage. He looked down to get his placement, and he looks up and I’m right there.

“I grab him and I headbutt him six times. Bam, bam, bam. And I’m coming in for the seventh one and he pushes me away, falls down and crawls back to Joey [Jordison, Slipknot’s late drummer]. And he goes, ‘I don’t give a shit what anybody says – that guy’s in the band.'”

The news follows Wilson revealing recently his favourite song from the band’s back catalogue.

Also speaking to Revolver, Wilson noted that his favourites are the tracks that the band don’t often play live, but there’s one that stands out.

“‘Skin Ticket’ [is] one of my all-time favourite songs,” he said. “You listen to that song and you feel different after hearing that kind of stuff. You didn’t know that that level of fear even existed in the world until you hear something like that. It takes you out of your everyday world to a super dark place.”

In other news, Knotfest Japan has shared the final line-up for its 2023 edition, with Enter Shikari leading the latest names.

Last December it was confirmed that the delayed instalment of Slipknot’s travelling headline show would also feature a set from Korn as well as performances from Japanese acts Man With A Mission and Maximum The Hormone.

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