The Slipknot Songs That Remind Clown of Paul Gray + Joey Jordison

During a new interview with Vulture, Shawn “Clown” Crahan named the Slipknot songs that remind him of his late bandmates Paul Gray and Joey Jordison.

Gray died in May of 2010 while he was still a member of Slipknot. Jordison, on the other hand, was fired from the band in December of 2013. Despite the situation, the drummer was reportedly on speaking terms with some of his former bandmates when he died in July of 2021.

“I miss them,” Clown told Vulture. “You know, it’s too much. I feel bad even doing interviews about our 25th anniversary because most of it lives with them. Their contributions to my life are incomprehensible. Yet here I am.”

“And, you know, not that many people try to take Paul from me but a lot of people try to take Joey from me because of the circumstances,” he continued. “But none of the band ever talk about that. Why would we? That’s our brother. It’s hard today because so many people have all these opinions on what Joey’s thoughts might have been of me.”

Clown said the song “Vermillion” from their 2004 album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) reminds him of Gray because the bassist played the song a lot while they were working on the record at Rick Rubin‘s Los Angeles mansion.

The percussionist added that “just about everything” makes him think of Jordison, particularly the Slipknot track “Scissors,” which they just added back to their setlist this year in commemoration of the album’s 25th anniversary. Prior to this year, it hadn’t been played since 2000 [via Setlist.fm].

READ MORE: Slipknot’s Hometown to Allow Trick-or-Treating on Halloween for First Time Since 1938

“You can only play that song with his kind of ability and we haven’t been there for a long, long time. We’re finally back there. It was a song where he’d really just go off,” Clown elaborated, also citing “Spit It Out” as another track that reminds him of the drummer.

“… The way Joey demanded the attention in that song. He was like the conductor — everyone paid attention to him. I miss that,” he concluded.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Clown confirmed that he just approved of the artwork for the band’s long lost album Look Outside Your Window, which was recorded around the same time as All Hope Is Gone. 

Earlier this year, he promised it would be out sometime in 2024. Though that seems unlikely at this point, Clown assured that he “worked really hard to get it mixed and mastered.”