Band auditions are a lot like interviewing for any other job. You have to prove you’re crazy to work there. Sid Wilson, who joined Slipknot, was no exception. He proved he was the right person for the job, going as far as knocking out Sean “Clown” Crahan, one of his future colleagues.
In a recent interview with Revolver, Wilson described what it was like to start working with Slipknot. “I was already practicing with a band and thinking of parts and everything,” he begins. “But I had to see the band live before I could make the appointment. They kept telling me, ‘We’re crazy, we’re crazy.’ we wear masks got it. check. crazy. I’m like, ‘I’m crazy. Trust me.'”
Seeing Wilson perform the band’s “Tattered & Torn” live was the perfect opportunity to prove just how crazy he was. Wilson said the minute Crahan started chanting “Kill Me,” he knew what he had to do.
He went out into the crowd, wrestled with the kids, tied them up with microphone cords, and dragged them across the floor,” he continues. “So he was in the crowd at every show. I didn’t know this. I had never seen the show. And I see him looking at me through the mask.” Can he start this “Kill me” [chant], and I could feel it when I saw him coming out from behind this drum. I was like, “He’s coming for me.” He wants to prove to me they’re crazy – and I’m crazy. And I just started running, jumping over people, grabbing shoulders, jumping over. And I’m crawling over the crowd And when I got up there, he was getting ready to step off the stage. He was looking down on him to check his position, but he was looking up.
According to Wilson, he grabbed Crahan and headbutted him six times. When Wilson came in for the seventh, Crahan pushed him away and fell to the ground. After returning to Joey Jordison, Crahan said: The rest is history.
Slipknot will start touring in March. Get your tickets here. You too might get headbutted by Sid Wilson.
A photographic timeline of Slipknot’s eventful career
Because it is not a knot without chaos.