There's no stopping the nine-headed killing machine, Slipknot. The band recently landed its first number one album with All Hope is Gone, was the star attraction of the first annual Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour, is about to release a psychological, rain-soaked video for “Dead Memories” (co-directed by percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan) and will return from overseas at the end of the year to launch a new U.S. headline run in early 2009.

At the moment, vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root aren’t even thinking about ramping up their highly successful side project, Stone Sour, again because they’re too tangled up in the Knot. Yet for percussionist and visual artist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown), all things Slipknot aren’t quite enough. Oh, he’s thoroughly enjoying the tremendous ride they’re on, and he’s got no plans to bail on The Nine. But at the same time, he’s got a few other irons in the fire, and one of them is his new band Dirty Little Rabbits, which released a three-song EP Breeding in 2007 and just signed to The End Records for their upcoming material. The day before Slipknot boarded a plane to head to Japan, HeadbangersBlog.com phoned up Crahan to talk about his new baby.

Tell us about Dirty Little Rabbits.
Shawn Crahan: Dirty Little Rabbits is my new Slipknot. I’m playin’ drums, and I’m a songwriter and this is the band I’ve been waiting to be in my whole life. And it’s more of an alternative band than a metal band. It’s everything I’ve ever been into. And it’s a thought process, it’s a mindset. And this will be the band I end my life with. A lot of people don’t know I’m more or less an alternative person in art and music. I didn’t grow up obsessed with metal. But that’s most of the beauty behind Skipknot. You’ve got guys that are completely dedicated to the metal, and then you’ve got guys who never even listen to it, like me. And you come together and make this thing called Slipknot that happens to be a metal band, and that’s awesome because I always believed when I got together with my brothers that they were writing music that I never heard or felt and that’s why I went with it. And I brought the art to this music, and throughout time I developed all my musical skills and – boom -- here I am with Dirty Little Rabbits and it’s finally everything I’ve ever wanted in a band. Read more...