Sid Wilson recalls violent Slipknot ‘audition’

Wilson and Clown in 2011 (Image credit: Getty)

Sid Wilson has recalled the moment an altercation between him and Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan helped get him in the band.

The turntable guru and keyboardist was speaking recently with Brass Knuckles, when he recounted the first time he saw Slipknot in concert – and how a dust-up with Clown sparked the band’s interest in him after Clown previously told him how “crazy” they were live.

Wilson says: “I go and watch my first Slipknot show. There’s a song called Tattered And Torn and Clown comes off the stage on that song. He gets physical with fans, goes down to the pit and he’d wrestle with them and wrap a microphone cord around them and drag them across the floor.

“He decides he’s going to come down off the stage after me, so I start coming over shoulders of people. He’s right at the front by the monitors and I pull up and I grab his head and just start head-butting him as hard as I can.

He adds: “I head-butted him six times, he pushed me away and falls back on the stage. He crawls back to the drums. I was trying to knock him out. He went back to drummer Joey Jordison and goes, ‘I don’t care what anybody says, that dude is in the band.’”

Slipknot have just released a short video looking back at Knotfest 2017 which took place earlier this month in San Bernardino. They also recently launched the live package Day Of The Gusano.

Confessions: Sid Wilson, Slipknot

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.