Remembering Narduwar’s car crash interview with Slipknot
Narduwar has always been known for his typically spiky and uncomfortable interviews, which often result in his interviewees either loving every minute or absolutely wishing they could be anywhere else. Given that balance, things quickly turned sour when the Canadian personality talked with metal’s most artistic outfit, Slipknot.
Immediately, when Narduwar asks Shawn Crahan who he is, Crahan pauses, looks completely un-arsed, shrugs, and replies, “…Clown”. Narduwar’s high energy is entirely at odds with Slipknot’s dark and dour mood, so from the off, it’s a match made in hell.
Responding to questions about the evolution of Clown’s mask, Crahan replies, “I’m going through amnesia right now. There’s a lot of painful things from the past, so I’m kinda going through a transition.” Turning his attention to Number Three, Chris Fehn, Narduwar asks him in a truly bubbly voice, “So, how about you Number Three, how do you think Shawn has changed over the years with his mask?” Fehn meets him with a stare through his ‘evil Pinocchio’ mask that looks like it was crafted in the deepest recesses of the underworld. Crahan then explains that the “trick is getting him to talk”.
Narduwar is known for doing his research on his interviewees before the chat goes down. He discussed with Crahan the potential of a Vanilla Ice/Slipknot collaboration in the same vein as the iconic Linkin Park/Jay-Z mashup, seeing as the band had worked with Vanilla’s collaborator Ross Robinson. Crahan then noted Robinson’s sentiments that “there’s nothing more punk rock than doing a Vanilla Ice record.”
The conversation then turns stranger. Referring to an FHM article, Narduwar asks the pair if they really “pleasure groupies with lobster crustaceans.” Crahan turns away in disgust and then says, “I don’t know anything about that.” At this point, Number Three finally pipes up in response to Narduwar wondering if he wears his mask during such acts and says, “I don’t pleasure them.” Crahan claims he is impressed that Narduwar got him speaking at last.
In typical uncomfortable Narduwar fashion, the interview ends with a call-and-response rap, with Narduwar singing, “I’m down with OPP, you know”, to which Number Three reluctantly replies, “me.” “You’re down with it Number Three”, Narduwar says, clearly excited by his involvement.
Eventually, Number Three storms out, though, clearly having had enough of Narduwar’s ironic over-the-top happiness. Crahan sticks around just about long enough for Narduwar to tell him to “keep on rocking in the free world”, which is just about as far a sentiment from the ethos of Slipknot as you can possibly get. Very uncomfortable indeed.
