Josh "Gnar" Brainard

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995 by vocalist and percussionist Anders Colsefni, guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh "Gnar" Brainard, bassist Paul Gray, drummer Joey Jordison and percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan. Since its inception in 1995, the band has gone through multiple lineup changes, many of which occurred before the release of its debut album in 1999.

In 1996, during the mixing stage of the band's first demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., Slipknot saw its first lineup change when Steele left the band and was replaced by Craig "133" Jones. Shortly after, Jordison suggested the group would need a full-time sampler and Jones fit the position as "he liked doing that anyway", so Mick Thomson was brought in to fill the open position on guitar. After the release of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., the band members were working on new material which required more vocal melody, with which Colsefni struggled. In 1997, Corey Taylor was recruited from local band Stone Sour. As a result, Colsefni was moved to backing vocals and percussion, although he left soon after.

Wanting to retain their percussive edge, the band added Greg "Cuddles" Welts as Colsefni's replacement. Towards the end of 1997, each member chose a number as his alias. Slipknot later considered including a DJ in their lineup; after difficulty finding one, Sid Wilson was enlisted to bring the lineup to nine members. In 1998, Welts was asked to leave the band and was replaced by Brandon Darner, who in turn was replaced just a few months later by Chris Fehn. The final early change in the lineup came in the latter stages of the recording of the band's debut album Slipknot in 1999, when during a break in recording Brainard decided to leave the band, to be replaced by Jim Root.

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