An older fan Q&A with Corey Taylor has been making the rounds on YouTube as of late. While fielding some direct questions from fans, he was asked why Craig never talks. Craig, of course, being Craig Jones, Slipknot’s infamous #5.
Craig has notoriously let his ominous mask and presence do all of the talking for him throughout Slipknot’s career. Whereas other members like Shawn Crahan and Jim Root have been very public in the press throughout the years, #5 has definitely been more of an enigma, at least to us.
According to Taylor, it’s not just the press and public that Craig Jones doesn’t speak to. Apparently he doesn’t really ever speak to his own band members, either. Here’s what he had to say:
“There are several joke answers I can give you, one of which is that he’s an android. Another of which is that he’s secretly a serial killer. Which we all call him, like, you’re just a killer, dude. And he just goes [nods yes] and he doesn’t say a damn word.”
After joking, Taylor offers a real honest answer to the question:
“The honest answer is that’s just the way he is. I mean, I’m talking about a dude who I knew before Slipknot was even a band, you know? We used to go to Rocky Horror Picture Show back in the day.
He would come out – he wasn’t really a part of the crowd that I ran with – but he knew people that I was friends with, and he would just show up and he’d just kind of sit at a table, you know? And it was like two years before we had an actual conversation.
I’m talking about a cat I sat at the same table with him… I can’t even remember if I ever just looked at him and said do you say anything? You just knew he wasn’t going to say a damn thing. But when he did talk, it was like it scared the hell out of you. Like he’d pipe up and be like ‘that was a hell of a show’… Jesus Christ, really? I didn’t even know you were there! That’s just the way he is man.
He’s a guy that when he says something, you listen basically. Because he doesn’t say anything. There’s a reason we call him the killer because you never know when it’s going to come. So you’re just like ‘god i can just feel his presence.'”
A fan in the crowd then quips that it’s like Michael Myers. Corey agrees: “Michael Myers, basically yeah, the shape very much so but without that mask, he’ll just come up behind and he’s strangely, strangely strong. Okay he’s deceptively strong. He’ll put you in a headlock that you weren’t prepared for, and you can’t get out of. You’re like ‘get off me, Craig! I’m trying to get on a plane,’ that’s true. It’d be right in the middle of the airport, he’ll just take your hat and throw it and put me in one of these [headlocks] and I’m like I’m gonna kick you right in the gooch dude, get off me.
So yeah, there’s no real reason that he doesn’t talk… he just doesn’t. And if you asked him, he’d go [shrugs shoulder] and that would be it. He’d just move on his way.”
You can watch it all in Corey’s own words below. In the meantime, sounds like it’d be wise to never cross Craig Jones. The silent types are usually the one’s you’ve gotta watch out for, in our experience.