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Interview
by SashaS
9-10-2003
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| To My Surprise: 'Clown' is lite-obscured |
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Master lug
‘Clown’’s serving of surprises
If you are clear on Slipknot, you are bound to encounter confusion with To My Surprise. It is on the other side of the rock realm the other splinter projects, drummer Joey Jordison’s Murderdolls (‘Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls’ CD) and singer Corey Taylor/guitarist Jim Root’s StoneSour (eponymous debut also issued last year), presented us with. Shawn ‘The Clown’ Crahan and his two cohorts’ ‘To My Surprise’ is a rock solid LP but not the language the ‘Knotists have learnt to parley.
If you happen to have heard TMS’ contribution to Kerrang!’s covermounted CD a few weeks back, it is far from what is on the self-titled debut disc. It is pop-rock with certain emo-moments that touch the parts The Beatles, The Kinks and Small Faces liked to communicate with. Add to that all the rumours about the future of Slipknot and you have – confuso mondo!
The very interesting observation during the To My Surprise promotional European tour is Crahan’s remark that Slipknot may never release another album: “There’s a hope that there will be another Slipknot album, but there’s a chance there won’t,” was his estimation about a month before the members were due into a studio. Well, they’ve made it back in and are recording an album with Rick Rubin producing (also behind the controls on To My Surprise) but the release is not due out until the first quarter of 2004 which would allow time for ‘Clown’ to tour with his other outfit.
We caught up with the band’s singer/guitarist Brendan Darner to find out what does the future hold for TMS, what it brings to their lives, new maturity and progression well beyond… the realms of the offshoot albums or the Slipknot’s last studio effort, ‘Iowa’. (For the record, the third studio member is Stevan Robinson, guitar/bass; the band plans to have additional members for live work.)
“Shawn and I were talking about recording some songs for a number of years,” Darner explains patiently, “and we got together to try some songs and only when we got a feel for it, had about five songs we started talking about forming a band. He’s known for Shawn for years and plays guitar and bass; he fitted right in.”
With the state of rumours around Slipknot, doesn’t releasing the album add to the confusion in the ‘maggots’’ (fans in Slipknot’s speak) minds?
“No, why should it? There were other projects and it didn’t really reflect on Slipknot’s music? This is something he had to do, explore these different songs we had written, discover and show another side of his musical interest… Yes, these songs are different to what other members have done but there is no point making an album sounding like the band’s… This is totally different and is an expression of his softer, more melodic side, more songwritery… Anyway, a lot of time will have passed before the ‘Knot’s record appears in the stores.”
Shadow lurker
Crahan’s intention is to appear onstage with TMS partially obscured, as well as in the promotional photos (see above), to retain some mystique he was fully afforded by Slipknot’s image. It is a completely opposite to what the three other members did in their side-projects, all expressing relief to get out from behind the masks.
“Well, I understand that he’s not into a cult of personality,” Darner discloses, “he doesn’t need to feed his ego, he is not so much about anything but the quality of music. He’s not about how his hair looks like, how he’s dressed, whether his face is on a cover of a magazine or not… All I can say is that Shawn is an artist and creativity is what interests him and not you seeing his face. It is not important to him, he doesn’t care on selling music by other means; I’ve never met a person like Shawn, so totally dedicated to his art and everything he does is governed by it.”
Still, his infamy-luggage is hefty and will distract attention from you, the frontman; how’s receptive is your ego?
“No, that’ll be no problem,” he sounds frank. “Shawn and I are great friends and we’ve been through a lot together. When he is off the road he’s simply Shawn; how the world sees him, that doesn’t affect our relationship. I understand he’ll get a lot of attention but, if I felt that his popularity would sell the band’s music rather than the quality of songs, I wouldn’t be doing it. People can view the band whichever way they want to.”
“I respect Shawn, for his views, but I’m not like that. I like to look nice, have cool wardrobe and have to admit that I’m not on the same artists level as Shawn is; I’m in my own way but not to his high standard.”
No middle ground
To My Surprise is not a one-off, or short-term, project and may be considered as setting up the platform for the post-Slipknot period. Especially when Brandon confidently pronounces that, “We’ve recorded a great album, I think we have our own unique voice and I think this band will write music for years to come. Eventually, everyone will know this band and not because Shawn is in it.”
To My Surprise is going to be a big pill to swallow for ‘Knot’s fans, don’t you think?
“Of course we do,” Darner agrees, “but the way Shawn’s always presented himself, and I think the fans know that, to them what he does in To My Surprise shouldn’t be strange. People who know him know that to expect anything and they should know that he’s capable of this and it was only a matter of time before he does it. The time seems to be now.”
“Perhaps they’ll understand that he is pointing out something different… The thing we’ve always said about this is that we want everyone to hear it. Whether they love it or hate it, and I don’t think there is going to be any middle ground here. I’m prepared for any sort of reaction…”
Is that why you named it To My Surprise?
“When we started writing songs,” Brandon smiles, “I’d feel we were writing it in certain colour; the first five songs were ‘orange’ and we were going to call ourselves The Orange. Shawn loves that, he thinks in colours, and one day would be green, the other blue… He loved it and when we started thinking for a band’s name, we were stuck… Then, one day Shawn called me up and asked me what I thought of To My Surprise, I was delighted because it described perfectly what we were doing.”
“It doesn’t sound like an average band name and it captures an idea. It reflects my idea what our music sounds like to me. And, how our music is going to sound in the future.”
We can expect To My Surprise in Europe early next year.
SashaS
9-10-2003
To My Surprise’s album ‘To My Surprise’ is released 06 October 2003 on Roadrunner
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