Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan says he will continue wearing protective face masks, even when COVID (hopefully) goes away someday. The metal musician notes that “people are filthy all over the world” as one of the reasons he will never stop masking up.
Clown, of course, has been wearing a stage mask as a member of Slipknot for the past 25 years or so, but as he tells Forbes in a new interview, he’ll continue sporting a protective face mask off the stage for the rest of his life. “I’m not ever going to stop wearing a mask, COVID or not,” said Crahan. “I’ve been in this business 25 years, and people are filthy all over the world. So when I had to be in the studio and I was asked to put on a mask, it didn’t bother me, it was business as usual.”
He added, “I mean I’m glad at least the majority of the world has been profoundly open to the idea of, ‘Hey, when you’re going to be out in public there’s a chance you could be around someone with pneumonia, the flu, or just a nasty cough, why not wear a mask to just protect yourself?’ We live in a filthy world, and we live in a world where people don’t wash their hands, they wipe their nose and they open the door and then you touch it. I have four children and I know what it’s like to drop your kid off at school and they come home sick and then you’re sick.”
Slipknot are mourning the loss of former drummer and founding member Joey Jordison, who passed away on July 26th at the age of 46. The band issued a statement that read, in part, “Without him there would be no us. We mourn his loss with the entire Slipknot family.”
In recent months, Slipknot have been working on the follow-up to their 2019 album, We Are Not Your Kind, with Clown saying, “It’s been a highly intense album making process because of COVID. There’s been lots of testing, there’s been different time frames and different restrictions, and it was business as usual. I don’t believe anyone in the band missed a beat.”
The next LP will also fulfill the band’s long-term contract with Roadrunner Records. “What I can tell you right now is that we are getting off of our record label,” continued Crahan. “This is a very fascinating time in my life because I’ve lost both of my parents and if they were alive my dad would be so excited that I have fulfilled a contract.”
The band will also embark on their Knotfest Roadshow tour this fall, bookended by two Knotfest festivals, one in Iowa and another in L.A. In the same interview feature, Cory Brennan of Slipknot’s 5B Management, says ticket sales are better than ever. “In terms of historical numbers if you compare the tour this year in 2021 compared to the tour in 2019 or 2018, I’d say the ticket sales at this pace are double what they were at this point compared to the last tour,” revealed Brennan. “At this point they’re selling because people just want to get out to shows.”
Meanwhile, Clown has also started his own cannabis line, simply called Clown Cannabis. “I’m not a doctor and I’m not trying to be, I just think there are alternatives in life and I believe that [cannabis] flower is great alternative,” said of his entry into the business.
Tickets for Slipknot’s upcoming tour are available via Ticketmaster.
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