The next generation of festival headliner metal is here in the form of bands like Sleep Token, Knocked Loose, Poppy, and Bad Omens (just to name a few). Though if you ask Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan, it's not all that great. In a recent interview with NME, Clown started off by talking about Sleep Token headlining Download 2025. Clown noted that of course popularity of bands is up to fans, and this is clearly what they want.
"They have their niche and they must be doing their business well. The old me might have torn it down, but the new me, the real me, is just like 'Hey, it's always up to the fans'. The fans let the business people know what to do. The fans speak and the business people listen.
"They must be very popular, and you've got to remember that there's not a lot of good music out there. There just isn't. In my opinion, these days there are so many horrible bands right now. I've seen Sleep Token, I've watched them for a bit and I've downloaded their stuff. They have their niche and they have a fan base. It doesn't matter if it has divided [Download fans] because that means 50 per cent are getting what they want. I no longer worry about these sorts of things, I just worry about being me and about being in the moment. If they're a good band, and if they work hard – as it seems like they do – they deserve everything they get."
Clown was then asked if it's important that festival organizers take risks on newer bands, and that's where things got a little negative. Clown notes that the "days of great music have come and gone at the moment," which I couldn't disagree with more – maybe it's not to our personal tastes, but bands like Sleep Token and that whole slew of new metal artists are doing some very cool stuff.
"As I was saying, there are so many horrible bands who are going to be our future headliners. You don't want me to start naming off names, because we'll both start laughing and laughing. The days of great music have come and gone at the moment. We're seeing the backlash of the computer and we're seeing the backlash of everybody being able to get in [to the music industry]. But where is everybody that got in and did it themselves? They all need validation.
"I didn't get in a band to get validated. I validated myself. When someone said I needed to work harder, I worked fucking harder. I didn't need the internet, or socials, or anything to validate me. We have a real problem now, and bands that are good these days – which is few and far – are being prepped for this future. We saw that with Bring Me The Horizon. They're a great band and I'm a fan. I've listened to the band since the very, very beginning and they're doing big things like headlining Download because they can make that jump.
"Great bands are being pushed into these new circumstances. What else do we have [without artists like that] – a bunch of crap bands that won't draw tickets. So yes, the business people need to take chances and push these few good bands in the right direction."
