Sid Wilson

Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) also known as Ratboy or DJ Starscream, #0 (or 0), is an American DJ, keyboardist and pianist, best known as the turntablist of the Grammy Award-winning band Slipknot. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until Jay Weinberg joined the band as the touring drummer at the age of 24 in 2014.

Biography

Sid Wilson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. He performs in the American band Slipknot, and also tours as DJ Starscream, a name which is derived from the Transformers character of the same name. He is a fan of the Transformers franchise, and has Transformer tattoos. Musically within Slipknot, Wilson contributes scratching and background noises. When numbers were being assigned to each band member, he insisted on being the number zero since it epitomized filth.^[1] He is also known to stage dive in Slipknot's early years, and in 2008, he broke both his heels when he jumped ten feet from the stage.

Outside Slipknot, Wilson has made a following in Japan as a jungle musician, under the pseudonym DJ Starscream, and is currently signed to the Japanese record label N2O Records.^[2] He collaborated with The Mad Capsule Markets vocalist Hiroshi Kyono on a song called "HAKAI (Deathtroy)" released on The Songs for Death Note the movie～the Last name Tribute～, a tribute album dedicated to the live action movie for the second Death Note film.^[3] A remix of the track also appeared on the Wagdug Futuristic Unity mini-album Nu Riot and 2008 album Hakai.^[4]

As of August 2010, he is touring with his solo band SID. He is the lead vocalist of the band.^[5] Wilson went on tour with his solo band, his last tour date was on September 5, 2010 at a music venue called Another Hole In The Wall, located in Steger, Illinois. He stated, "This is the best stop on the tour, I loved the crowd reaction. It really made me feel like I got back to my roots." He also said that he will be touring with his solo project for a year or two. The debut album "SID" was released on September 13, 2011 for digital download. In 2013 he was a support act for Vamps at their shows in Los Angeles and New York.^[6]

Mask

During his time with Slipknot, Sid's mask has been, for the most part, based on gas masks. During the tours for Slipknot and Iowa, Sid wore various different types of gas masks, including ones that had been customised to resemble skulls. During the Subliminal Verses World Tour, Sid grew his hair long and began to wear various masks that simply resembled skulls, shying away from the gas-mask concept. In promotional photos for All Hope is Gone and the tour for the album, Sid changed his mask again, this time, to resemble a robot, dedicated also for his love of the Transformers franchise. He once again cut his hair short, this time into a Fauxhawk style, and dyed it red. The eyebrows of the mask are able to be controlled by Sid, allowing him to make various expressions.

After the death of bassist Paul Gray in 2010, and during the subsequent Memorial World Tour, Sid, in keeping with the rest of the band, reverted back to his old mask and red jump suit, worn during the self-titled album tour, as a tribute to Gray.

In 2013 Sid announced a new mask which he debuted over the weekend at Ozzfest Japan in Tokyo. The mask was made by Ukrainian design studio Bob Basset.^[7] This and the subsequent masks made by Basset are all made of leather and have a style reminiscent of Sid's earlier gas masks. The latest version, which Sid can be seen wearing in the music video for Slipknot's single "The Devil in I" from their 2014 album .5: The Gray Chapter, features circular eye holes similar to those from his Iowa era mask, however these ones are covered by metal grills that resemble spatulas. The mask also has a removable metal cup that can be placed over the mouth. Under the mouth piece Sid wears sharp golden teeth.

Equipment

Slipknot Self Titled Era

• Technics 1200 Turntables
• Vestax PMC 05 Mixer
• Vestax PMC 06 Mixer

Iowa Era

• Vestax PDX 2000 Turntables
• Vestax PMC 07 Samurai Mixer
• Vestax PMC 07 ISP Mixer
• Korg Kaoss Pad 2

Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses Era

• Vestax PDX 2000 BLK Turntables
• Vestax PMC 07 Samurai Mixer
• Korg Kaoss Pad 2
• Shure M447 Needles

All Hope Is Gone Era

• Technics 1210m5g Turntables
• Shure M447 Needles
• Ecler HAK 360 Mixer
• Mackie D.2 Mixer
• Korg Kaoss Pad 2/3/ and Mini KP
• Mackie SRM 450 Monitors
• Akai MPK 261
• Korg Tr-88

.5 The Gray Chapter Era

• Vestax PDX 3000 Turntables
• Vestax PMC 05 IV (Red)
• Akai MPK 261
• Akai MPD
• Technics 1210 M5G Turntables
• Casio Trackformer PD-X1
• Digitech Whammy FX Pedal

Discography

With Slipknot

Filmography

• 1999: Welcome to Our Neighborhood
• 2002: Disasterpieces
• 2006: Voliminal: Inside the Nine
• 2008: Nine: The Making of "All Hope Is Gone"
• 2009: Of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams
• 2010: (sic)nesses
• 2011: Goat
• 2016: Blood Bath

References

External links

• Sid Wilson (Official)
• Slipknot (Official)
• The Miami Vice Sound Crack (Official)