Unauthorized SLIPKNOT Documentary 'Unmasks' Band's Alleged Attempts To 'Destroy' Local Scene

March 1, 2006

MTV.com recently spoke to filmmaker Chad Calek about his latest "documentary," "A Clown Short of Destiny", which follows the controversial rise of SLIPKNOT from the cornfields of Des Moines, Iowa, to the horn-throwin' crowds of Ozzfest. But it also chronicles the 'KNOT's alleged "attempts to disgrace their hometown hard-rock scene and the effect that had on dozens of local bands," according to MTV.com.

"The story isn't about SLIPKNOT's music," Calek explained to MTV.com. "I love it. I think they're one of the greatest metal-rock bands that ever lived. I own all of their records. And when SLIPKNOT exploded, they didn't owe anybody anything. ... But there's a difference between not supporting [a music scene] and trying to destroy [one]. That's the line you see them cross in this film."

According to Calek, that's not his opinion but rather the attitude of the community interviewed in the documentary, who've been crying foul over SLIPKNOT's alleged disassociation with Des Moines ever since the masked metallers signed with New York's Roadrunner Records.

"A Clown Short of Destiny" wasn't conceived as a SLIPKNOT movie, Calek said. When the band formed 10 years ago, Calek was in his own Des Moines group, 35 INCH MUDDER. Both acts came up at around the same time, becoming the city's two biggest draws. They were also friends. The director, who has shot music videos for bands like BLEEDING THROUGH and manages acts like INDEX CASE, started shooting the film so he could document his own band's evolution.

"We were like a heavy, screamo, rap-metal thing," Calek said. "We thought it would be funny to document a band like this in the middle of nowhere. We were literally just filming live shows and other bands in the scene. SLIPKNOT was one of them."

At around the same time, the music industry started looking for the next Seattle — and many believed Des Moines, with some 50 emerging hard-rock bands, might be the next money-making metropolis. Calek recalls American Records executive George Drakoulias as having once said the only thing "stopping Des Moines from becoming the next Seattle is direct flights."

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