Slipknot just released their seventh album, THE END, SO FAR, which marked their last for longtime label home Roadrunner Records. In press surrounding the record, the members of the Iowa Nine made it very clear that the band weren't closing up shop, as the title may suggest, but rather moving into a new era of the band's ongoing history.
In a new interview with NME, percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan offered fans a peak at what this new version of Slipknot might look like — a band who release one-off singles instead of full-length albums.
In the interview, Crahan reasons that "absolute albums are going to be a thing of the past" because "physical product is becoming obsolete," and he expressed his enthusiasm at the prospect of giving fans individual song ideas instead of making them wait however many years to hear a full record all at once.
"I always thought, 'What would it be like if Slipknot was big enough that we weren't held to albums?,'" Crahan said. "Let's say Clown could convince you, 'Hey, instead of waiting two years for 12 songs, I'm gonna give you one song every month.' So in reality, I'm shaving a year off for the same thing.
"You have to go with me on this journey," he continued. "But what I promise you is, there's artwork that goes with it, there's utility that goes with it, it's cheaper than what a normal individual song would be… And it's gone through all the filters — it's gone through the band, it's gone through Corey Taylor, it's gone through a professional mixer and masterer — no avenues have been chopped up, it's all business as usual. And we want to do this because I think it's time for you, our fans, to get everything."
There's more to Crahan's plan than just delivering regular old Slipknot tunes on a song-by-song basis. Since they're free from Roadrunner, the percussionist is thrilled that collaborations with other musicians won't be subjected to the bureaucratic tangles that ensue when two big labels communicate with each other about their clients. In essence, Slipknot are free to be more collaborative and experimental with their music, and Crahan suggests these new singles are the perfect format to experiment with whatever the hell they want.
"I've always thought it would be interesting for our fans to know more about us," Crahan said. "So if the Clown and Corey Taylor and [guitarist] Jim Root were all interested in playing with the Number One sitar player on the planet — and we would be because we're artists — and we brought this person to our location, and this person adorned us with their craft and taught us about the sitar… If we got to sit in and listen, and partake, and touch and smell and feel that vibration … Wouldn't it be interesting?"
"Let's say that sitar player's on a label and they have management — well fuck it, I'm going to call them up directly and they're only going to have to talk to their label, and their label's going to have to talk to my management. It's not going to be my label and their label, and my management and their management, and then me and the artists. [When it's like that], we never get to work together; we never get to make this piece of art. So being free, in that sense, gives us the freedom to explore deeper, more surreal opportunities to hone in with our craft; it's a win-win for everyone.
"The philosophy is for the fans to be sucked into thought, rather than just heavy metal, record labels, video channels, radio… No, it's the love of music — you love us as artists, you love our band, you know we have our own filter… Look at what we can do when we are free to dip our paintbrushes anywhere."
