About Craig Jones from Slipknot

Nov 15, 2021

Craig Jones Before Slipknot

Craig Jones from Slipknot, is an American heavy metal artist best known as the sampler & keyboardist for Slipknot. 

Jones was born in Des Moines, Iowa on February 11, 1972. He was a member of many local metalcore bands, notably Modifidious. 

Craig Jones Joins Slipknot

Jones joined Slipknot 1996 to replace Donnie Steele on guitar, who had quit during the recording sessions of Mate. Kill. Feed. Repeat.. Although he did not contribute to the demo because it was mostly finished, he did gain credit for the jacket idea and visuals in the liner notes. Shortly after joining the band, he changed to sampler and keyboardist when he was replaced by guitarist Mick Thomson. 

He was nicknamed “133” as a reference to the processor speed of his computer (with 133mhz being blazing fast at the time), but is also known as #5 when performing with the band.

Jones is currently the band’s second-longest-serving member, following Joey Jordison’s departure in 2013. 

craig jones from slipknot

Is jones the most enigmatic?

His past is arguably the most enigmatic of any member of Slipknot, to the point that he has been known to remain silent throughout even a series of questioning. That’s how he got his second moniker, “The Silent One.” But that’s not to suggest he’s never talked outside of the band. Jones has even agreed to an interview with Cakewalk on their equipment, which he likes for Sampling. Most discussions begin with the zip covering his lips open, and he closes the zipper before responding to the questions. When Jones broke his silence during another interview, he was cited as saying that, “If I weren’t in this band, I’d be out killing people!” Jones sparked a flood of protest emails. “If I weren’t in the band now, I’d be running forklifts in a factory all day long,” he has also said.

On Voliminal: Inside the Nine, Jones is the only band member who isn’t entirely uncovered. During the interview, he does not wear a mask, but a blur constantly obscures his face. He also does not talk throughout the film’s section or the extended version of the footage available on user-submitted content platforms like YouTube (originally from the Outside The Nine released DVD: Fan Club Propaganda Reel 1). At the start of Welcome To Our Neighborhood, he also talks for 2 seconds. “133, number 5, sampling,” he says.

craig jones is a misanthrope

Jones is a misanthrope, according to former Slipknot singer Anders Colsefini. Colsefini said that Jones was the idea for the song “Killers Are Quiet” when expressing his displeasure with Jones’ actions. However, the song’s suitable title is ascribed to Frank Plumley, a close personal friend of the band at the time. “Computers are Craig’s best buddy,” Colsefini said, providing more insight into Jones’ nature. Jones was unnervingly silent during their studio sessions, according to music producer Ross Robinson.

Contrary to his public persona, Jones has been known to be quite accessible and chatty with Slipknot fans after their shows. This might indicate that his dangerously quiet demeanor is an act of exaggeration intended to gain attention and interest. Some have speculated that his “serial murderer” statements, as well as his penchant for talking during interviews with the zipper covering his lips closed, are an effort at dark comedy. After the Slipknot (album) publication, he did two online text interviews, and viewers of the interviews discovered that he is a lot less nasty online than he lets on. 

Jones is credited with work on the 2010 video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

A Brief History of the Slipknot mask

Since the band’s formation in 1995, Slipknot masks have been an integral component of their image. Clown, Slipknot’s lynchpin, was the one who came up with the idea for their masks. The band was rehearsing just before their first-ever show, which took place on Halloween in 1995.

The Slipknot masks have become so iconic, horrifying, and occasionally hilarious that photographer Paul Harries recalls being stopped by people outside gigs and asked whether he’d ever seen the band without their masks. He was once questioned, “Do they have genuine faces underneath?” As a result, a legend was formed.

Clown recalled, “We were all walking all around the room asking, ‘What are you going to wear?'” “I took out my clown mask and declared, ‘I’m wearing this.'” His bandmates didn’t love the idea.

“‘No fucking way,’ said a few of them. He remembered, “You can’t be the only man wearing this dumb mask.” “So I told them, ‘I don’t give a damn what you think; this is who I am and what I’m going to do.’ So here we are, after all these years.”

Craig Jones Slipknot Mask

Craig Jones Slipknot Mask, was originally pantyhose over his head and a Spam (food) t-shirt. On some occasions he wore a wolf-skin mask. With the arrival of Mick Thomson, Jones began wearing a white racing helmet decorated with a Sinclair Oil logo. He most likely got the helmet from drummer Jordison, who used to work for a local Sinclair gas station. 

Later, this helmet was painted black, and it had long nails sticking through the top to imitate spiky hair.He disliked wearing the masks, which he wore in conjunction with a tactical gas mask; a camera flash was put to the top of the helmet, but it was quickly removed. It was thought to signify suffering. The mask features a collection of nails emerging from its skull in his Vol3, AHIG,.5, and WANYK variants, with longer nails along the top to mimic a mohawk.

Eventually the helmet was replaced with a Bondage hood, it features two small openings for eyeholes, two tiny circular nose holes, and a large silver zipper added over the mouth area. 

craig jones slipknot mask

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