Slipknot’s Clown
 talks killer clowns, his directorial debut and new music

Shawn Crahan, Slipknot's resident clown, has made a movie. We asked him all about it.

Clown, you’ve directed 
a film, Officer Downe. How did that happen?
“I was introduced to a producer, Skip Williamson, who’s partly responsible for the Underworld and Crank movies. We got a coffee and had a heavy, surreal 15-minute conversation about life, and he looked at me and said, ‘Clown, you’re going to direct a movie called Officer Downe.’ He sent me over the graphic novel. I looked at the 
first page and said, ‘I’m in.’”

You cast your bandmate Corey Taylor in it…
“I did! He’s paying a character called Headcase Harry, who’s awesome. Taylor wants to act, I believe, and he nailed it. His bits are some of my favourite parts of the movie.”

Clowns have been in the news lately. Killer clowns. As a clown, what do you make of it?
“A clown chasing kids – that’s just whatever. That’s media stuff. What people need to think about are the clowns that are behind fences. You’re in an apartment building, looking out, and there’s a clown behind a fence in the woods, just off your property, looking at you. That’s serious s**t. Some clown just sitting for three minutes staring at you? That’s concerning.”

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Are clowns just inherently scary?
“People have a hard time with clowns because they’re everything at once. People can’t handle that much colour. People are brainwashed to stay in-between the lines – go when it says green, have your tea at teatime. But clowns, they don’t care. They’ll pull you out of reality, man… into reality.”

Slipknot’s last album was in 2014 – what are the plans for the next one?
“We’ve been on everyone else’s schedule for 20 years and I’m tired of that s**t. I wanna write music, because I’m in Slipknot, but I don’t want to be told how long I need to write for or what 
I need to do. Jim [Root, guitar] and I are going to start up in February and embark upon a masterpiece. We’re going to dig deep into the canvas. It’s been 
a long time since we’ve been in practice room where we’re just jamming and going for dreams and locking everyone out. I just wanna make art, and everything else can suck it.”

Officer Downe is in cinemas and on demand now

Interview: Mike Rampton

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