Paul Gray (American musician)

Paul Gray

Paul Dedrick Gray (Moar liek Paul DEADrick, amirite?) (April 8, 1972 – May 24, 2010), also known by his number #2, or "The Pig", was an American musician best known as the bassist of the Grammy Award winning rock band Slipknot.

Personal life and career

Gray was born in Los Angeles, California. Later his family relocated to Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth, Gray performed in bands such as Anal Blast, Vexx, Body Pit, and Inveigh Catharsi.

Outside Slipknot, Gray has filled in as bassist for Unida during their 2003 tour, appeared on Drop Dead, Gorgeous' Worse Than a Fairy Tale, done a brief tour with Reggie and the Full Effect and appeared on the Roadrunner United project, performing bass on "The Enemy" and "Baptized in the Redemption" from the project's album The All-Star Sessions.

In June 2003, Gray crashed his car into another vehicle. After police were called to the scene and searched his car, Gray was arrested for possession of cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and failure to obey a traffic signal. Turmoil was caused within Slipknot's fanbase when Gray's mugshot from the incident surfaced, as at this time, with the exception of Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root, unobstructed photographs of most members of the band's faces were exceptionally rare.

At the time of his death, he was one of the 3 of Slipknot's founding line-up remaining in the band, and the only one who had maintained his original role in the band due to Clown's switch from main drums to custom percussion during the early days. He was one of the two members not born in Iowa (the other is Jim Root, who was born in Las Vegas).

Death

On May 24, 2010, The Des Moines Register reported that Gray had been found dead at a room in the Town Plaza hotel in Urbandale, Iowa. He is survived by his wife Brenna. He and his wife were expecting their first child at the time of his death. His autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, May 25th, as cause of death is unknown.

Masks

Gray performing in 2005 wearing his mask which features metal bars around the mouth area.

Gray used to wear tape around his head for his mask. Later, he switched to a Halloween styled Pig mask which he used for the self-titled era, and it represented his indulgent personality. He was then criticized by members of Mushroomhead, another band who use masks, costumes, and pseudonyms to differentiate themselves from other bands, who said Paul stole the idea from their bassist who also wears a pig mask. During the touring cycle for Iowa, he used a black mask with dark eye and nose holes, with a small slit near his mouth, and it bore a striking resemblance to the Man in the Iron Mask. During the Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) touring cycle, his mask took on a more facial shape and contained small angled metal bars inside a larger mouth area. It was decorated with a bullet hole and small cracks.

Gray had two masks that he used for the All Hope Is Gone era. The first one is a gray leather mask, almost identical to the one used during the Vol.3 era, except the bars are now vertically lined, and it is indented with small cracks. His second mask is almost identical to his previous one, except that white paint has been smudged down the mask in a line from the eyeholes, and it is adorned with more visible stitches on the face.

Playing style

Gray commonly used a pick on later releases, but he can be heard using the slapping technique in the songs "Do Nothing/Bitchslap" and "Confessions", on Slipknot's demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. He also had a fingerstyle technique, as seen in the DVD of The Making of All Hope Is Gone.

Tunings

Gray was also noted for using altered tunings on his bass, including some which would be considered extremely odd. A comprehensive list of these tunings:

• B-E-A-D: Gently, Left Behind, I Am Hated, The Shape, Metabolic, No Life, Eeyore, Diluted, Me Inside, Liberate, Tattered and Torn, Spit It Out, Eyeless, Only One, Opium of the People, Circle, Welcome, Vermilion, Pulse of the Maggots, Before I Forget, Vermillion Part 2, The Nameless, The Virus of Life, Danger, Keep Away, Scream, Three Nil, The Blister Exists
• B-E-D-G: Disasterpiece
• A-D-G-C: Everything Ends
• B-F#-B-E: Duality, Skin Ticket, Iowa, Surfacing, Purity, (sic), Wait and Bleed, Do Nothing/Bitchslap
• A-E-A-D: New Abortion, The Heretic Anthem, My Plague, People = Shit, Psychosocial
• B-A-D-G: Killers Are Quiet
• C-G-C-F: Slipknot
• D-E-A-D: Some Feel

Discography

Main article: Slipknot discography

With Slipknot 1999: Slipknot 2001: Iowa 2004: Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) 2005: 9.0 Live 2008: All Hope Is Gone Other appearances 2005: The All-Star Sessions (Roadrunner United) 2007: Worse Than a Fairy Tale (Drop Dead, Gorgeous) 2008: "Last Stop: Crappy Town" (Reggie And The Full Effect) 2009: "Annual Assault" (Roadrunner Records)

Filmography

• 1999: Welcome to Our Neighborhood
• 2002: Disasterpieces
• 2002: Rollerball
• 2006: Voliminal: Inside the Nine
• 2008: Nine: The Making of "All Hope Is Gone"
• 2008: Behind The Player: Paul Gray
• 2009: Of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams

Equipment

Bass guitars

• Ibanez PGB1L Paul Gray Signature left-handed Bass Guitar (A custom version of the ATK bass, with factory tuning BEAD)
• Ibanez ATK
• Fender Precision Bass
• Fender Jazz Bass
• Warwick Thumb Bolt-On left-handed (Formerly Used)
• Warwick Neck-Thru Dicks RW5L left-handed (Formerly Used)
• Warwick Streamer Stage 2 (Formerly Used)

Amplifiers

• Peavey GPS 2600 Power Amp
• Peavey Pro 1600 watt Bass Amp Head
• Peavey Pro 810 Bass Enclosure

Effects

• Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI
• Dunlop Bass Crybaby 105Q

Other

• Dunlop Nylon Standard No. 442 picks
• Ernie Ball Power Slinky string sets

External links

• Official Slipknot website