Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Clown of Slipknot
4 snips
May 6, 2026 
Michael Shawn Crahan, Slipknot co-founder, percussionist, visual artist, and director, gets into grief, intensity, and the chaos that shaped the band. He revisits Kiss and Pink Floyd as blueprints for spectacle. He talks masks, numbers, and building a collective identity. There is also fatherhood, loss, AI art, and a Minecraft world born from his mother’s writing.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
How Slipknot Grieved Paul Gray Onstage
- After Paul Gray died, Michael Shawn Crahan rejected the easy line that Paul would have wanted them to continue.
- Instead, Slipknot toured without a new album, put Paul's bass onstage, held silences, and grieved publicly with fans city by city.
Paul Gray's Death Changed The Meaning Of Everything
- Michael Shawn Crahan recalls arriving at Paul Gray's death scene, nearly letting his car roll away, and catching Gray's pregnant wife as she collapsed.
- He links that loss to the album title All Hope Is Gone and to the later deaths of both Slipknot's number one and number two.
Slipknot Fans Use Music As Survival Not Violence
- Michael Shawn Crahan sees Slipknot fans as disciplined outsiders who need music more than conflict, not the dangerous stereotype projected onto metal crowds.
- He points to a hometown fair show with no arrests or fights, while a country show the next night brought violence and a gun.