Craig Jones (musician)

Jones joined Slipknot in early 1996, replacing original guitarist Donnie Steele after the recording of the band's debut demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. He was enlisted to the band by drummer Joey Jordison, with whom Jones had previously worked (alongside guitarist Josh Brainard) in the band Modifidious. However, shortly after joining the band, the "electronics and computer genius" moved over to the role of sampler due to the increase in sound effects, background noises/programmed samples and media samples used in the band's music. Mick Thomson replaced him on guitar. Jones' contribution to the band has been described by BBC Music as "provid[ing] samples, speeches and noises as a kind of audio garnish in the band's dark maelstrom". Jones was given the nickname "133" as a reference to the processor speed of his computer, 133 MHz, which author Joel McIver claims "was considered the state of the art" at the time. Speaking about the situation, guitarist Jim Root explained that "We're filling his spot, we've got a picture of him in the dressing room and we miss him every day, [but] we couldn't cancel the tour". It was announced on June 7, 2023, that Slipknot parted ways with Craig Jones. ==Mask==

Upon joining the band as a guitarist, Jones initially wore women's pantyhose on his head when performing, which was said to give his face a "compressed, robber-like look". This was later changed to an astronaut space helmet with long nails hammered through it. The helmet was later replaced by a bondage mask, and a zipper was also added over the mouth area. Along with those of Jordison, Root and Thomson, Jones' mask has been acknowledged by fans as having stayed very much consistent over the course of Slipknot's career. For the group's 2019 album We Are Not Your Kind, his mask was slightly modified, with the nails being replaced by screws and being longer at the top of the mask, achieving a mohawk effect. ==Personal life==

Jones was often identified by the media as the most quiet and private member of Slipknot, earning him the nickname "The Quiet One". Vocalist Corey Taylor has commented on his demeanour by describing him as "the quietly scary type". Loudwire's Graham Hartmann noted that he "almost never speaks" and "keeps people at a distance", theorizing that these qualities inspired the style of his mask. Ian Gittins of The Guardian described Jones as "patently a strange individual", as well as quoting the band's manager's dubbing of the sampler as "the Unabomber", a reference to terrorist Ted Kaczynski. When asked early in his career about what job he might be working at if not in Slipknot, Jones responded that he'd likely be "driving forklifts in a warehouse all day long", although he has also joked that he would "probably be out killing people", which has earned him the nickname "The Killer". According to Robinson, the latter comment was the first the sampler made in an interview, and it inspired a number of complaints from readers of the publication to which it was made. ==Discography==

With Slipknot • Slipknot (1999) • Iowa (2001) • Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004) • All Hope Is Gone (2008) • .5: The Gray Chapter (2014) • We Are Not Your Kind (2019) • The End, So Far (2022) Compilation albums • Antennas to Hell (2012) Video albums • Welcome to Our Neighborhood (1999) • Disasterpieces (2002) • Voliminal: Inside the Nine (2006) • Nine: The Making of "All Hope Is Gone" (2008) • Of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams (2009) • (sic)nesses (2010) • Goat (2011) • Day of the Gusano: Live in Mexico (2017) ==Filmography==

• Rollerball (2002) ==References==