As his bandmates drift in and out, its really just #2 holding everything together from beginning to end. Yet again, he moved. Before his teenage years had even begun, his two greatest musical revelations had arrived in the form of Suicidal Tendencies 1983 debut and, not long after, experiencing Slayer live in the flesh. Slipknot is more dangerous now than ever and I have the fuel known as Paul Dedrick Gray in my blood, he said, even more fired up than usual. Rotosound (.049.090) Those killer riffs on Surfacing, which switch from propulsive to filthy, came from his death metal project, Body Pit. It allows you to throw things into the set on the flyjust call out a key and hell have a go at it. Recorded at Download 2009, Paul talked to TG about his solid playing style, his reason for being a bass player and his tips for making you play better. It may not display this or other websites correctly. What was your philosophy about shaping the tones for this album? Perfection is overrated! Seven months later, Paul was gone. Unsurprisingly, Evil Spirits sounds very much like a continuation of the sonic tack the group were on at that point in their career. Pure Ric-into-Ampeg glory. Thanks! Aim for clarity and precision on the riffs. Born in Los Angeles on April 8, 1972, Paul Dedrick Gray was in many ways the beating heart of Slipknot. Bunch of new American psychos just dropped. What Strings Did Freddie King Use? What did you hope to get out of the Damned in the studio? 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. He is honoured, but can never be replaced. 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. All rights reserved. I was going to donate my Epi Viola, but after putting LaBella flats on it, I liked it too much. It's weird but I love the bassline in Van Halen's 'Running With The Devil' in open fucking E. Now, I appreciate any player who can lay down a solid bass groove, like Cliff Williams from AC/DC. They started sending me Soundgears but I didn't want to play them and I said, 'If you start making these ATK's again like this one, I'll switch companies'. So I switched the strings on it and it kind of looked OK, like a left-handed bass if they'd put the knobs on the top. If I have a lack of inspiration, theres a few tunings I like, which have come up with some good results. Through gigging, they met future members of Slipknot: Shawn Crahan in Heads On The Wall, Jim Root in Atomic Opera, Joey Jordison in Modifidious. Bath Feed. thats corey's stone sour. Ive been there from the beginning, when Paul recognised my ability as an artist and said, Just do it, man! Its been 10 years since we lost Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. You can coax many different sounds out of a Rickenbacker depending on your fingering technique, what gauge pick you use, what year it is. 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. Once you get up to .100 or a .105, it just sounds kind of dull to me. With Mountain, Flowers of Evil has a live side, and the bass and guitar interplay on that album is just magnificent, and I love that really filthy sound Felix P. had: electric farts, we call it in the Damned. The Kerrang! Slipknot had arrived. I try not to step on anybodys toes but try not to get lost either. Luckily, it didnt choke at the Albert Hall during our 40th anniversary show. Largely penned by Paul and Shawn Clown Crahan before the band had formed, the song was originally titled Slipknot though the group ended up using the name for one of their first shows. Those strings are absolutely the go-to strings for me and I absolutely love them. Has there ever been something that was just too far out for the Damned? When it came to music, Paul was up there with some of the greats, remembered Corey, in a heartfelt tribute to his old bandmate. Aqua Marine. He had an ear for nuances that I dont think a lot of people understood. You must log in or register to reply here. Don't know if it's true though. Except for now I can afford drinks I can buy a few people drinks instead of having to bum money every day!, Corey vividly remembers getting the news of Pauls death. Matrix VB800 "It's a little bit of both, like on songs like 'Wait And Bleed' I'll use my fingers But then there's songs like 'Sulfur' or 'People = Shit' that have grind parts where you need the attack of a pick. The best record they ever made! Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, quite sensibly, stick to their perferrred Gibson SG and Rickenbacker 4001 combination. Let's take a closer look at the strings Sir Paul used and continues to use, as well as how they helped to shape his tone. 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. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). But the time was right. He spent the several decades with Spirocore Mittels. His eyebrows would go down, his brain would switch off, and the music sang through him. It suits the Damned material better and cleans up nicer with the volume knob than a straight SG Standard, for some reason. But also, Ive never known trust like the nine.. He turned up to rehearsal with a right-handed bass borrowed from his brothers friend, Frankensteind into a left-handed one, and played the regular guitar parts on it. I recall Visconti lounging in his producer's chair dialing up sounds on his iPhone. So I went over and said, 'Dude, I play bass' even though I didn't have a bass guitar and never picked one up. Stevie Ray Vaughan String Gauge Table. Based on the Ibanez ATK series, it features a massive 5-piece maple/walnut neck, light ash body and an ultra-powerful tripl Show More. Paul, who cofounded Slipknot in 1995 with drummer Joey Jordison and percussionist Shawn Crahan, was found dead at age 38 in an Urbandale, Iowa hotel room in May 2010. Bassist Paul, aka The Pig, aka #2, appeared in a black uniform, steadily headbanging and riffing while chaos erupted around him. Things like that made a big difference, and on some tracks, youre hearing five to six guitar takes all at once. 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. If theyll go for that, then theres not much thats off limits Damned-wise apart from opera, that is. I've tried that set but I couldn't hang with the .038 low E. Too loose. Overview. How did the Australian singer die? Its in the title. Sensible: Unlike some punk bassists who could only play by numbers, with the potential song disintegration if they lost their way, Paul can really busk it up! He has been adding internal mikes for amplification. scullyfan. In sixth grade, aged 11, he got Suicidal Tendencies self-titled debut, which fuelled a desire to learn the guitar. So all those prominent bass players really caught my ear and I thought it was so great, because it was such an important part of the song. 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. Of course, when younger I may have felt slightly different. Im a dreadful singer, but Ive got all of these melodies in my head and I kind of approach the bass as a tool for countermelody, and I weave between what the Captains playing and what Daves singing. We used that with an 8x10 and had everything up full blast and thats the sound on the record. There had been a headline-generating arrest for drugs and drink-driving in 2003, sobriety, relapses and recent treatment for addiction. Seven years ago today, extreme metal music lost one of its most radiant beacons - Paul Gray of Slipknot. 1960s Ampeg B-15 Portaflex, Strings and Picks It couldve also been our disgraceful behavior, but who really knows? Surprise! as for basses, I think Paul generally used flats on his Hofner and Rick, not sure about the Jazz bass he may have used later on (and no idea about the Fender 6 stringer that John and George sometimes used) tjmicsak Member Messages 5,690 Mar 24, 2010 #4 You can hear them on the older stuff. It was always the singer or the guitarist that got the glory, so I liked the slightly subversive nature of those bass players. Bath 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. I saw Slayer on the Hell Awaits album and that changed my world, he once said. I'm trying to figure out what type of strings he was using in around '64. There was one problem: hed never played bass. 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). Perfection is overrated! I named all of them after the Captain, and I think maybe there will be a Captain Sensible pack at some point for the H9. Gary Moore played Gibson Les Paul guitars. "He had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known, and he had the greatest soul I've ever . Unmasked, heads bowed and choked with emotion, they paid tribute to their friend and bandmate, Paul Gray. The 77 I have has the toaster pickup, and that one is much filthier sounding. 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. Total Guitar has not edited this interview, deciding instead to leave as much of Paul's personality and character in as possible RIP Paul. Gibson SG 60s Tribute models with EverTune bridges When we started the band I felt it, right when we started it, and it still feels the same. The riff that appears two minutes into Eyeless could very well be the Knots finest. I don't even know if you can actually hear it - it was more like a sub-woofer king of thing. The Damned opened for T. Rex back in the day, and I even asked Captain why we never did this before. 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. I didnt know any of the bass lines but I knew all the guitar parts, so I faked it. What is it about them that you like so much?Gray: I was very much drawn to Rickenbacker sounds, to the point where Id listen to the radio as a kid and was always trying to figure out if it was a Rickenbacker I was hearing. Its got a really nice punch. 1980 Rickenbacker 4001 Sensible: Theres something about the Gibson SG 60s Tribute. He brought the knowledge and the enthusiasm, and he was the most social of all the people on the metal scene. It was hard to comprehend. Sadly, those close to Paul knew hed been battling demons for a while. Added by Bastien. It was as simple as that. 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. Theyre just magnificent!Paul Gray, Clairvoyant Chemistry: The Damneds Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, A Guide to Essential Effects Plugins for Your Home Studio, ESP Announces LTD Kirk Hammett Signature Series KH-V, Epiphone Introduces the 1958 Korina Flying V and Explorer, Building a Pro-Level Home-Studio Mic Closet, DAngelico Guitars Introduces Deluxe Eric Krasno Brighton Signature Model. Onstage, as it filled with sweat and snot and spit, he cut a forbidding, expressionless figure, often bent double as he sunk down into those low-end notes. And that goes for the records, too! When he pulled on a guitar, a transformation kicked in. I helped start one of the biggest metal bands in the world and Im not necessarily a metalhead. Gray: I used the 1980 Ric that I used on TheBlack Album, but the one that ended up on most of the tracks was my very early 74. 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. I introduced him to the wonderful world of Eventide, and we used the H9 a lot. Although fans knew Paul as part of the nine, he had a low public profile, rarely speaking to the media. I think they picked me because they collectively like various albums Ive made: especially the T. Rex and Bowie stuff. The founding bassists untimely passing remains one of metals most heartbreaking tragedies, Slipknots loyal legions left no choice but to ponder the prodigious creations his mind would have gone on to conceive. What Guitar Strings Does Paul Simon Use? 3: (The Subliminal Verses). You've mentioned quite a few genres there, so what's your favourite bassline of all time? Gray has been in and out of the bandmostly outsince 1984.Photo by Tony Woolliscroft. 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.. Everything he did, he did for everyone around him. Or Maiden's Steve Harris, who does all kinds of amazing stuff and who is completely different to Cliff. Did McCartney use flatwound strings on his Hofner bass from the very begnning or did use round wound on it at some point? What Strings Did Gary Moore Use? He entrusted his prized guitar to a friend for safekeeping only to later discover itd been sold for an 8-ball of speed. Not being able to predict what kind of music wed deliver mustve pissed off the record labels, because things never lasted long before us being shown the door. The fact that Ament was using an 12-string bass helps to explain the instrument's presence on the track, although you won't hear the extra strings ringing out individually - they simply add to the overall tone. Captain, please tell us a bit about who influenced your guitar playing? Or why not treat yourself? There was a band in our town that had a great bass player called Mark and he could play jazz and funk, so I sat down with him about five or six times and learned a lot of techniques. What was the first bassline you ever tried to play? What strings did Paul Gray use? 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. When you play, do you prefer to play with a pick or your fingers? There was nothing funny going on with the studio desk: everything was flat. Its complexity is countered by the open-string drone that dramatically brings everything to a close the guitar and bass amps ringing out together in a hellish orchestra of earth-shaking noise. I just do standard exercises, you know, what do they call 'em? Being back in New York brought that whole Damned relationship back to all of us, honestly. It took me 15 years to figure out that all they were really playing was the pentatonic scale with some extra notes chucked in! Some of Pauls favourite stuff was the crazy shit, yknow? Corey told us in 2014. After the bassist's family attempted to stage another intervention over his drug use, Gray left home on May 22, 2010, and . You gotta find your pocket. I had to get a real guitar and do it. He was the sort of person who, when he got his meagre paycheck from working at the gas station, would go down to the bar and spend it all buying people drinks. 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. Marc Bolan wouldve loved that! 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. Did you ever take lessons in bass guitar? Ive always used .009.042 gauge strings: Rotosounds if we can get hold of them. After the third or fourth show I met somebody from Warwick and they sent me out a Corvette or some model and it was awesome. Barely a year before, they had played their career-best show as first-time headliners at Download. We made the tour and we were able to get out there, but by the end of it, he was so sad, there was a lot of fighting going on, remembered Shawn. Most of the guys you cited developed their sounds around a Rickenbacker bass, and thats been your instrument of choice over the years. They are EADGBD for songs in A and EADGAD for D. Paul, what basses did you use on Evil Spirits? Its so easy to be generic or cheesy in metal, and Paul never was. It would prove to be a life-changing decision, as was his switch from guitar to bass, Theres a funny story about how I got playing bass, he explained in his Behind The Player instructional DVD. Slipknot had always seemed combustible yet invincible nine individual, larger-than-life characters who came together as a unit onstage. But more importantly than anything else, Paul Grays songs and performances have resonated louder and prouder with each and every passing year. 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. 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. In the early days the Beatles would steal piano strings to put on the bass. I havent a clue about scales and stuff. 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. What's Inside show I figured that it couldn't be that different to playing guitar, but later on I found out it's a totally different thing. in July 2008. But it was seeing a nascent Slayer touring the merciless Hell Awaits that made the biggest impact on the young Paul Gray. The Gibson Les Paul Goldtop was on the cover of his album "Blue Guitar Hero". I like a bit of everything, drawing your attentionhopefully not unwiselyto the fact that I had the first rap hit by a white artist with 1981s Wot! Please dont forget the exclamation mark by the way. This is the strings in Paul Simon's Guild F-30. Not I; thats for sure. Instead of sticking with the drop B tuning used on its other tracks, Paul used a drop A tuning with this thickest string another octave down which he described as a super low, almost sub-woofer kind of frequency. That 77 has much more of a Lemmy-type sound than my 74. 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! Kill. A true athlete when it comes to traversing the fretboard of a Rickenbacker bass, Grays lead bass style and the way his playing seamlessly weaves with the Captains is a massive part of Evil Spirits musical bedrock. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, The bass fills he did, I really had to fucking rewind tapes and play them over and over to get it.". Originally titled Lust Disease on an early demo, Iowas lead single might not be one of Slipknots fastest or heaviest, but its riff is certainly one of their busiest from the earlier years of their career using double notes, slides and chromatics that snake their way around the fretboard. I still do the same shit, man. two very different bands. Mar 3, 2003 #9. 9. While Paul tragically left us too soon, his creative influence remains. When I tried out I constantly turned myself down or turned the tone knob down by accident. At one point, Paul drifted back to LA, but was persuaded back by Anders and Shawn. Although Slipknot's Paul Gray was known to many simply as . Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Neck Deep, Bob Vylan, Hot Milk, Palaye Royale, Jinjer and more join this years Download Festival. 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. Its cheaper, too, and once youve smoothed the frets and boshed on a scratchplate, youve got yourself a cracking guitar for what it costs. I wish I had known that back then! Even if you're playing metal bass, listen to jazz, country, punk rock or whatever because you can always pick up tips from other players. 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. String gauge. Does new pickguard & knobs = NGD? Punk rock has morphed, been bastardized, revitalized, and analyzed infinitely since becoming a defined movement in the late 70s. What gear was integral to creating the guitar tones on the album? Summary is that he used Guts until around '59. 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. Despite his use of D'Aquisto strings in the 1960's and 1970's, Paul has always preferred the D'Addario lighting (EJ16 phosphor bronze) on his acoustic guitars. Given an exclusive listen to the second full-length in the months ahead of release, Kerrang! What kind of tips can you give us for improving finger stretches when playing bass guitar? Its a drag to repeat yourself, and thats why no two Damned albums sound alike. I'm . "I started with Ampeg but now I'm with Peavey. Eventides Tony Agnello is a big fan of the Damned and brought some secret prototypes to Atomic Sound for the Captain to use, but Im sworn to absolute secrecy about what they are and do. As a standing tribute to the late Paul Gray, TG presents this never-before published interview with the Slipknot bassist. And that goes for the records, too!Captain 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! Captain Sensible, You can coax many different sounds out of a Rickenbacker depending on your fingering technique, what gauge pick you use, what year it is. Title Written by Originally by Original date Covered by ; Before I Forget . Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis. 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.. Grays recorded output with the Damned includes two of the bands most revered and musically fibrous albums, Strawberries (1982) and The Black Album (1980). TC Electronic Nova System "Oh yeah, of course. I was writing lyrics when Paul and Joey played this to me, Corey told Kerrang! People say they eat into frets, but Ive never found that to be the case, and I change them every night when Im on tour. 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. Slipknot have just released a brand-new song, Bone Church, which started life in a jam room on the .5: The Gray Chapter tour. He never returned home. And how about you, personally? One has a clanky sound and one has much more growl. For me, it was an extremely emotional experience., When Paul was interviewed during the Vol.