Slipknot percussionist Clown has spoken out in favour of AI, which he says he thinks of as “a professor in my pocket who only wants to do what I ask it”.
- READ MORE: Clown talks Slipknot’s 25th anniversary tour and future: “We probably have several albums in us right now”
The artist – real name Shaun Crahan – has said in a new interview that he is “employing AI 190 percent” and he’s been using it “my whole life”, thinking of it as a tool that can be helpful to musicians. In addition, he also claims to have used it to transform “thousands and thousands” of poems he’s written since he was young into something else. “No one needs to use it,” he added.
“Here are my words,” he offered as an example to The Escapist. “Don’t change them. Don’t alter them. But show me some different ways to sing it.”
“What’s the difference between me pulling out my pocket producer… or me trying to get a famous producer that might not even work with me and could potentially cost me $150,000… who will only give me one or two ways – I’m not mentioning any names!”
“It’s still going to take me to sing it. And it will never be like it was,” he said, before adding: “None of it can work without you, the human. It’s a giant oracle… but it needs you.”
By contrast, Crahan’s bandmate Corey Taylor revealed in 2023 that he “can’t stand” AI-generated music.
“I don’t care for any of that crap dude, to be honest,” he said when speaking to Kerrang! Radio. I don’t know what people are trying to prove. Are they trying to prove that computers can do things just as good as people? Because if so, then what’s the point?,” he replied.
In other news, earlier this month Crahan said that he hopes that Slipknot will release their long-delayed “lost” album ‘Look Outside Your Window’ next year.
They have teased the eventual release of the album since 2019, when Crahan said that the band were readying the release, and Corey Taylor later added that he “tried like hell to make those worlds come together” to complete the project. Meanwhile, Root has mentioned that he has threatened to leak it on multiple occasions.
In a Discord Q&A, he said (via Kerrang!): “I know I told everyone it would be this year. I’m very sorry it hasn’t been. Things come to play that change things all the time with the art we create. I want you to know 2026 is the year. It’s just simply time and I’m just getting tired of waiting myself. Have faith. I promise.”
