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That changed my world, he recounted in Paul Gray: Behind The Player. Its very important that everybody on the outside of us understands that Paul Gray was the essence of the band Slipknot, he said. Oh, and he didnt have a bass, either. Perfection is overrated! Rock n roll needs its rough edges. We both also share a love of melody and those three chords at the start of Louie Louie and all of the American garage-rock from the 60s. They were the first company to give me a deal and Warwick basses are great - I'll never talk crap about Warwick because they're amazing basses and an amazing company too and super great guys. Doing that actually made me fall in love with bass guitar and that's why I became a bass player.". Perfection is overrated! When asked about the song which best summarised Pauls contributions to Slipknot, its interesting that Corey and Clown have singled out Vermilion as his magnum opus both admitting they were moved by the chillingly real sense of pain and struggle on the bass players original demo. I'm able to leave gear at home, and that was the same with Ibanez. My mates at school and I would swap records and I got into Hawkwind with Lemmy and Machine Head by Deep Purple, and the bass was really prominent in both of those groups. I was just, I gotta get a real guitar and actually do it. Seeing them up there and the red lights and the smoke and it was all evil, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Weve a few of these units and they all seem to have an unfortunate tendencyonce or twice a tour, perhapsto freeze mid-song. Produced by the venerable Tony Visconti (best known as the helmsman of classic David Bowie and T. Rex albums), Evil Spirits sees the return of the Captains favored bass guitar sparring partner, Paul Gray, to the Damned for the first time in nearly a decade. Its a clairvoyant chemistry that cant be really pinned down. Im not a control freak and I want them to express themselves, and I wouldnt work with them if they werent great musiciansthats my criteria. The first 5 strings often stayed the same string gauge throughout his career. 1977 Rickenbacker 4001 I havent a clue about scales and stuff. Its a mission statement that encapsulated The Nines bloodthirsty ambitions and set the bar incredibly high early on, the verse shifting between a staccato and muted delivery to a more open, groove-orientated feel for tension and release. They also sound totally different. As Slipknot were an anomaly with nine members, dominated by three drummers, he had to work out how to cut through and complement the ferocious noise. If theyll go for that, then theres not much thats off limits Damned-wise apart from opera, that is. The 15-minute epic that closes the Knots second album showcased a very different side to Pauls playing, more '90s rock than extreme metal in feel sharing similarities with the kind of lines heard in bands like Tool and Pearl Jam. And how about you, personally? What strings did Paul Gray use? Seven months later, Paul was gone. Barely a year before, they had played their career-best show as first-time headliners at Download. If you listen to Pauls note choices on Vermilion, he was all over the shop and it sounded great I wanted to try things like that.. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases. During the third Slipknot record I met Dave Ellefson from Megadeth and he said, 'Try this out man' so I played through his Peavey amp. With Slipknot, my bass playing is a little more laid back and subdued, like I get spots where I get to do some stuff I guess, but it's hard to kind of like We have three drummers, there's a lot of low end, you know what I mean? If that bass went down that was it. I think it was made in February, which was just a month or two after they stopped doing the toaster pickups. Paul was there from the very, very beginning. This was thanks in no small part to his abilities. Frank Zappa? Not quite, but I'll take that as a compliment whether intended or not! Its not that he didnt like them of course he did, he went and saw Stone Sour, Murderdolls but when Paul would come home he would get really sad because all hed want to do was Slipknot. I was on my way to being like Andy Warhol or something!, Over the years, Pauls $1.75 pig mask morphed into a Hannibal Lecter-style serial killer face. Has there ever been something that was just too far out for the Damned? Their string of hits included Stimulation and I Could Make You Love Me. Taking his place in a finalised line-up of vocalist Corey Taylor, percussionists Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn, drummer Joey Jordison, guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson, sampler Craig Jones and turntablist Sid Wilson, they exploded on the brink of a new millennium, in a mass of masks and coveralls, attracting growing crowds of writhing, devoted maggots. String gauge. Rad in plaid, Captain Sensible strikes a pose and a power chord onstage. Thanks! Punk rock has morphed, been bastardized, revitalized, and analyzed infinitely since becoming a defined movement in the late 70s. Hellfest reveal 2023s line-up with headliners Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Mtley Cre and KISS. Joey also recalls laying down the drums for All Hope Is Gones Gehenna, while Paul wrote instinctively. Back in the late 1960s the bass player in my band (who was left-handed) purchased a Hofner. I just pick out licks and phrases I heard my heroes play. The Des Moines scene was thriving, as Americas corn belt misfits ploughed their frustrations into thrash, death metal and rock at clubs like the Runway. I have to find my place in Slipknot and stay away from just following the guitars, so I play along with what the drums are doing. The main guitar is a 1959 Les Paul Standard . With Slipknot, my bass playing is a little more laidback and subdued. Paul, youve name-checked unexpected influences for a guy whos made his bones playing punk: particularly Felix Pappalardi from Mountain and Roger Glover of Deep Purple.Paul Gray: I was always drawn to the bass end for some reason. Blending subtle humor and loud guitar has been his forte since he switched to the bands lead musical role in 1977. "You know what, some of my favourite basslines are the simplest ones ever. It was the first time the whole band had been in my house together and it was a very surreal moment There was this wall of anguish and silence just sitting on top of us and it was fucking gnarly., The band knew their friend had been suffering. One has a clanky sound and one has much more growl. So many things set him apart from the rest: his attention to detail; his ear for hooks; his approach to a riff; his ability to hear several variations on a riff so it never felt repetitive; his vision for songs or passages; his single-mindedness when it came to fighting for what was best in a song I could go on and on here.. I didnt know any of the bass lines but I knew all the guitar parts, so I faked it. They toured All Hope Is Gone across nine gruelling legs, starting in July 2008 in Washington, taking in Download in June 2009, and finishing in Las Vegas that October. A long time ago we used to do a cover of that song 'The Humpty Dance' and I would have to tune during the song, as we're playing.". The blueprint Paul helped draw up for Slipknot shines through its bludgeoning riffs, and even through the energy of latest album We Are Not Your Kind. The 1980s were yet another decade that brought massive changes in music. ), but i'm not 100% sure Apr 26, 2001 #3 Jman Mar 24, 2000 Waterport,NY In the early days the Beatles would steal piano strings to put on the bass. A Les Paul is easier to play than a Strat because a Les Paul has a far lower string tension compared to a Strat with the same gauge strings. Apart from a regular open-G blues tuning [Editors note: Check out Silly Kids Games on The Black Album for an example. How do you get A Slipknot guitar tone? There's a heavy difference in style between the two basses, that's for sure. How did you and Tony Visconti record the bass tones for the album? I've no idea if he used foam with the Hofner (hollowbodies don't have much sustain in the first place) but I would definitely assume that was going on with the Rickenbacker stuff. Sadly, those close to Paul knew hed been battling demons for a while. He took up an interest in music early on thanks to some guidance from his older brother William Jay Matthews, who introduced him to bands like Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and KISS. The Nova is great, combining analog distortions with digital delays and reverbsand despite being a bit long in the tooth these days, theres not a lot of similar alternatives. You are using an out of date browser. We have a tendency towards being first-takers together. Actually I played guitar first - hang on, my sunglasses are totally fucking up here - I played guitar first and never picked up a bass, wasn't interested in it at all. Although fans knew Paul as part of the nine, he had a low public profile, rarely speaking to the media. ], my chum [singer-songwriter] Martin Newell showed me a couple of his own tunings that, although a bit off the wall, have an infectious jangle thats particularly inspiring when it comes to 60s Beatles/Monkees kind of tunes. The bass player often partnered with ex-drummer Joey Jordison, fleshing out early anthems such as Surfacing and Spit It Out, the former including riffs hed written back in his Body Pit years. Tony Visconti is mates with Eventide designer Tony Agnello, who brought some interesting toys to Atomic to play with, and which got a lot of usethe H9 in particular. He played the ES-345 with the volume fully up on the bridge pickup. We spend a lot of time thinking about Paul, Shawn told us in 2018. Matrix VB800 Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). I will miss him with every fibre of my heart, as will everybody at this table and everyone who knew him he was the best of us.. By their own admission, it was a chaotic time for The Nine Clown once described the sessions as hell and this track in particular as their way of saying, "Fuck off and leave us alone.". On July 10, at 2pm, thousands of Sonisphere-goers joined together in a two-minute silence for #2. Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. and four years as Production Editor and Deputy Editor at Bizarre. Who cares if theres a few jazz notes in there. However, first-generation punks the Damned dont care much about any of that. http://www.bassstringsonline.com/Hofner-Beatle-Bass-Strings_c_101.html, First New Bass Day in decades for me: Yamaha BB350F, Fun with a Squier Bass VI and a AB165 1968 Bassman setup -. Rotosound (.009.042) England and Wales company registration number 2008885. But life was still difficult, so he contacted his mum, who by this time had managed to secure a house in Iowa. "I was listening in on their conversation, eavesdropping, they were talking about doing covers of Slayer and Metallica - all these songs that I knew how to play on guitar. I think it was made in February, which was just a month or two after they stopped doing the toaster pickups. Bands rose and fall, members came and went. So I was like, I've moved to Iowa, I don't know anybody, so maybe I should jump in and say I play bass and try to meet some people? Did McCartney use flatwound strings on his Hofner bass from the very begnning or did use round wound on it at some point? While testifying in court against her late husband's physician, Brenna Gray revealed that Paul actually suffered a relapse around 2008 and later spent the last weeks of his life fighting a losing battle against his demons. There is no definitive answer to this question as Paul McCartney has been known to use a variety of different strings on his Hofner bass over the years. The Damneds dynamic duo, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, played together in the studio for the first time in 22 years while recording the bands new album. I became slightly obsessed with the solos on Strange Town and the way the excitement builds in them, carrying the listener away on a tidal wave of excitement. Whats your dual playing relationship like? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Ive been there from the beginning, when Paul recognised my ability as an artist and said, Just do it, man! However, it is generally believed that he typically uses roundwound strings on his bass, with a gauge somewhere in the range of 45-60. The Ibanez PGB1 electric bass guitar is the choice of Slipknot's Paul Gray. Paul Dedrick Gray Born April 8, 1972 Died May 24, 2010 Country United States IPI 00344172381 21 works Affiliation ASCAP Member of Slipknot Bass (1995-2010) Meta. Steve is an idol of mine and I actually got to meet him - I listened to him a lot because he's all over the bass when he plays.". Whether he knew you or not. It doesnt get thin at the top end and it keeps its clarity in the bottom end. Title Written by Originally by Original date Covered by ; Before I Forget . How did you capture the albums live feel in the studio? When he pulled on a guitar, a transformation kicked in. Growing up with little money, his family were living in shitty roach- infested apartments, and by age 14 Paul was out on his own, struggling with homelessness, bouncing between friends and locations. TDPRI, short for Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue, is the leading online community and marketplace for Telecaster guitars. A metalhead through and through, he nevertheless began listening to funk and jazz, taking a few lessons to learn slap and pop techniques. There had been a headline-generating arrest for drugs and drink-driving in 2003, sobriety, relapses and recent treatment for addiction. "I took a few bass lessons to learn slap and pop techniques, because once I really got into bass I started listening to everything - not just metal and rock. We had no rehearsals for the recording sessions, as we all live in different places now, and I had only heard the songs three days before, so we were in the deep end. Premier Guitar sought an audience with Sensible and Gray to discuss the making of the Damneds triumphant return to studio recording, their philosophies and roots as players, the symbiosis that exists within their playing relationship, and even a bit of gear geekery. But the novelty of freedom at such a young age soon wore off and he called his mum, now living in Des Moines, to see if he would able to sleep on her couch and start a new life in Iowa where, while playing in death metal bands Anal Blast and Body Pit, he would eventually meet the other original members of Slipknot. But also, Ive never known trust like the nine.. Inkcarceration announces headliners Slipknot and Limp Bizkit alongside Megadeth, Lamb Of God, In This Moment and more. Rock n roll needs its rough edges. 1990s Vox 4x10 cab "But then I ended up going to Ibanez on the last album because - I can't remember where we were - but I went to a pawn shop and picked up this Ibanez ATK that they've stopped making and I just loved the way it played and sounded, so I started playing it too and Ibanez approached me to offer me a deal. Later he sometimes used strings wrapped with black nylon to get more of a thumping sound. You dont often get that, and I struggle to think of any other guitarist that Ive worked with that Ive had that relationship with. Everything he did, he did for everyone around him. Sensible: Tony and engineer Kevin Killen thought the material had a 60s garage vibe, so sought out less-saturated distortions, mainly from the studio Vox AC30 and an excellent Matrix VB800 amp that Id packed in my suitcase, which certainly packs a punch despite being on the dainty side. PAUL GRAY, who was the lead singer of the 1980s pop band Wa Wa Nee, has died aged 54. What gauge is the low E string? It broke in a roaring cheer. He was loved around that scene.. Try this!. It looked pretty violent. Guitars Aqua Marine. They gave me a full deal and they treated me really good, which was great because we had no money at that time and I couldn't afford anything. Eddie Van Halen. Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Neck Deep, Bob Vylan, Hot Milk, Palaye Royale, Jinjer and more join this years Download Festival. He could listen to something and de-construct it in his head and go, You know what? Luckily it all seems to work most of the time anyway. Lurking in the back of the studio was this really, really old Ampeg, which the guy said was handwired. Any doubts over Slipknot sustaining the brain-melting brutality of their debut were answered in a vicious storm of blastbeats and tremolo-picked guitars that felt even angrier and more possessed than before. Seven years ago today, extreme metal music lost one of its most radiant beacons - Paul Gray of Slipknot. "It was weird because when I started practising these songs on bass, I didn't know any of them. Eventually, he managed to procure a replacement. What gear are you using live?Sensible: We have built up a collection of Marshall EL84 20/20 20-watt stereo power amps, which might even have warmed up Mrs. Thatchers cold heart if someone had thought of it! He had an ear for nuances that I dont think a lot of people understood. He spent the several decades with Spirocore Mittels. "Finger stretches? 2,977 1,264. The same was said of his personality, Corey often describing him as the glue of the band the one member who lived and breathed Slipknot all day every day, the worlds best cheerleader to bring them together no matter what challenge or hurdle lay ahead. What gear was important to making the new album? 1974 Rickenbacker 4001, Amps Apart from the TC Nova System, for its analog distortions, and a Dunlop wah, the only other pedal used was the H9 Harmonizer. staff present the albums that shaped their individual 2022s! At one point, Paul drifted back to LA, but was persuaded back by Anders and Shawn. On Octobers behalf, the Gray family sued pain relief specialist Dr. Daniel Baldi and his former employers, alleging Paul hadnt been properly monitored during his drug addiction treatment. While the Damned are fronted by a crooning vampire-poet of a man in Dave Vanian, much of the groups sweeping sonic vision has hinged upon the guitar work, songcraft, and imagination of founding member Captain Sensible (born Raymond Burns). Its what he was born to do, its what hed love to do, its the thing hed love more than anything., As fans wondered about Slipknots future, the band grieved. Bassist Paul, aka The Pig, aka #2, appeared in a black uniform, steadily headbanging and riffing while chaos erupted around him. Captain Sensible: In the late 60s, this amazing bunch of blues guitarists appeared on the U.K. scene at the same time I started going to gigs: Paul Kossoff, Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Abrahams, Peter Green, Jimmy Page. On May 25, 2010, the members of Slipknot filed into a room to face the press, on one of the bleakest days of their lives. Search Ray Brown for details. Eleanor was promoted to the role of Editor at Metal Hammer magazine after over seven years with the company, having previously served as Deputy Editor and Features Editor. Gary Moore played Gibson Les Paul guitars. It allows you to throw things into the set on the flyjust call out a key and hell have a go at it. Yet again, he moved. I try not to step on anybodys toes but try not to get lost either. I recall after releasing a self indulgent double album featuring quite a lot of trippy guitar noodling, one critic asked, Who does he think he is? Doing that actually made me fall in love with bass guitar and thats why I became a bass player., Paul was my biggest influence when he came into the band, recalled Anders Colsefni, Vexxs drummer. And that goes for the records, too! Rhythmically, however, the song was a bit more challenging; Pauls verse basslines picked as strict alternate 16th notes throughout, which, once you factor in the boiler suit and pig mask for the live shows, would have been a quite a workout for his left arm. Duality (Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) landed a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. For me, it was an extremely emotional experience., When Paul was interviewed during the Vol. You gotta find your pocket, he said. I still do the same shit, man. What did you hope to get out of the Damned in the studio? It's worked for me So far anyway! As a comparison, I recenly picked up a Johnson Viola bass to donate to my daughter's school auction. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 2004), in a heartfelt tribute to his old bandmate, The inside story of Vol. In December 2010, they announced they would headline 2011s Sonisphere to honour the legacy of their fallen friend. Try not to get stuck playing the same thing and if you feel yourself wanting to play something a certain way all the time, change it up by using different fingers. Its been 10 years since we lost Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. I was used to hearing the guitar in each song and the bass is there and you can hear it filling out the song, but I really had to listen to his parts. Although fairly light, I find the reduced-thickness picks weve moved over to hardly break any strings these days, which is good, because I hate changing guitars mid-gig. Works 23; All; Songs written by Paul Gray [US1] Original songs. Bunch of new American psychos just dropped. The Damned play their unofficial anthem, Smash It Up, from 1979s Machine Gun Etiquette, at BBC Radio 6s annual Christmas Punk Party. Its so easy to be generic or cheesy in metal, and Paul never was. And yes, listen to any isolated Beatles-era bass track and it's pretty obvious that flat wounds are part of the equation. Corey Taylor and his late bandmates Paul Gray and Joey Jordison team up with Scott Ian and more for this historic performance of Slipknots (sic) in New York in 2005. What Strings Did Freddie King Use? A guitar most often associated with him is the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Greeny".Now a famous guitar, once owned by Peter Green of the Fleetwood Mac, and now in the possession of Metallica's Kirk Hammett.Another one worth singling out is the Les Paul Standard nicknamed . What's Inside show Bath What Paul did with Slipknot was revolutionary. Ampeg 8x10 cab I was going to donate my Epi Viola, but after putting LaBella flats on it, I liked it too much. I try not to step on anybody's toes but try not to get lost either. The top 3 are unusually light for a blues man. Which isnt the end of the world, of course, but there seems to be no fix, according to chatter on gear forums anyway. two very different bands. He wrote that whole song, and there was such an essence about it that was so odd; the way his eyes were looking at his guitar, and the way he was writing it when we were playing together, it was almost scary, he told Revolver in 2010. So between that and jamming along with the records is how I got my fairly unorthodox guitar technique together. Cliff Burton was awesome and since we were doing Metallica covers, I really had to sit down and learn Cliff's parts because he was all over the place. There were three mics on it: one on the speakers, one three feet back, and one six feet back, and a little bit of DI. Luckily, it didnt choke at the Albert Hall during our 40th anniversary show. Warwick was an awesome company but they were a small company and it was more difficult to get stuff on the road if I needed it. Just seeing them up there with the red lights and smoke it was all evil. Or any money to buy one. In 1975, Eventides Tony designed the first harmonizer, so it was nice to meet the bloke whose gear Id used so extensively over the years. in July 2008. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, And while his technical prowess has been overshadowed by his giant personality and tucked away within the confines of excellent songs, Evil Spirits puts his cadre of guitar-borne personas on display as he chunks, clatters, burns, and jangles through the albums tracks. Listened to 4 Beatles LPs (yes; these black huge 33 1/3 things) the last days. . As one of the three founding members of Slipknot, Paul Gray fast became one of their key songwriters his name more often than not found in the credits for the tracks that werent assigned to the group as a whole. Tony McPhees Groundhogs performance of Cherry Red on Top of the Pops departed radically from the shows usual fare, and that was the moment I decided to get a guitar and only a Gibson SG would do. [Editors note: Thats Andrew Pinching, the Damneds drummer.] It required the heaviest gauge top string he could find in order to hold the notes well enough to record. The day after it happened, we were all over the place, and we all kind of made our way to my house, he recalled. We have three drummers, theres a lot of low end, do you know what I mean? . Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis. When asked, three albums in, if this is what he imagined being a rock star would be like, he humbly replied, I dont really consider myself a rock star, but obviously I guess I am. It wasnt a million miles away from the sound John Entwistle got on Live at Leeds. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Things like that made a big difference, and on some tracks, youre hearing five to six guitar takes all at once. The world would never be the same. "Actually it was some Sabbath and Metallica stuff. The track also been a source of inspiration for Pauls successor, Alessandro Venturella, who told this writer about filling a great mans shoes and doing him justice for a 2019 Bass magazine cover story around the release of We Are Not Your Kind. The only tweaking was in the mix with a bit of reamping. She has also written for the likes of Classic Rock, Prog, Rock Sound and Visit London amongst others, and was a regular presenter on the Metal Hammer Podcast.