Sid Wilson


Sidney George Wilson, also known as TheDJ, DJ Starscream, #0, is an American DJ, keyboardist, rapper and pianist, best known as the turntablist of the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Slipknot. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg, who were born in 1984 and 1990 respectively, joined the band.

Biography

Sid Wilson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. His parents are both from England. 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, sound effects, horrorlike noises as well as background noises/effects. When numbers were being assigned to each band member, he insisted on being the number zero since it epitomized filth. 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. He collaborated with The Mad Capsule Markets vocalist Hiroshi Kyono on a song called "HAKAI " 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. A remix of the track also appeared on the Wagdug Futuristic Unity mini-album Nu Riot and 2008 album Hakai.
As of August 2010, he is touring with his solo band SID. He is the lead vocalist of the band. 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.

Mask

During his time with Slipknot, Wilson's mask has been, for the most part, based on gas masks. During the tour for Iowa, he wore gas masks that had been customised to resemble skulls. During the Subliminal Verses World Tour, Wilson 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, Wilson changed his mask once again, this time, to resemble a robot, dedicated also for his love of the Transformers franchise. Later, 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 animatronically controlled, allowing him to make various expressions.
After the death of bassist Paul Gray in 2010, and during the subsequent Memorial World Tour, Wilson, in keeping with the rest of the band, reverted to his old mask and red jump suit, worn during the self-titled album tour, as a tribute to Gray.
In 2013 Wilson 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. This and the subsequent masks made by Basset are all made of leather and have a style reminiscent of his earlier gas masks. The music video for Slipknot's single "The Devil in I" from their 2014 album , features a mask with circular eye holes similar to those from his Iowa era mask, however these are covered by metal grills that resemble spatulas. The mask also has a removable metal plate that can be placed over the mouth, in which he has a sharp golden grill. Wilson's mask was drastically changed once again for the release of Slipknot's sixth album We Are Not Your Kind, becoming an animatronic death mask of his own face, covered partly by a large black hood and robe. This mask drew significant attention, though mostly positive, for being a drastic leap from the designs of any previous Slipknot masks and for being reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine AKA Darth Sidious or a slasher villain.

Discography

With Slipknot