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#3 Chris Fehn - 1st Custom Percussions
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Christopher Michael Fehn (born February 24, 1972), also known simply as Chris, or by his number #3, is an American musician known as one of the two custom percussionists of Slipknot.
Birth name : Christopher Michael Fehn Also known as : #3, Mr. Picklenose Born February : 24, 1972, Ankeny, Iowa Genre(s) : Alternative metal, nu metal Occupation(s) : Musician Instrument(s) : Custom percussion, backing vocals Years active : 1997–present Label(s) : Roadrunner, Nuclear Blast Associated acts : Slipknot
Personal life and career
Fehn was born in Ankeny, Iowa. Prior to joining Slipknot, he played as a kicker on a college football team. Fehn joined the band around April 1998, replacing percussionist Greg Welts, who was forced out of Slipknot after the band due to personal conflicts with drummer Joey Jordison.
As well as lending his percussion talents to the band, Fehn has also sung backing vocals on a number of songs Slipknot has both recorded and performed live. Outside Slipknot, Fehn is a very keen golfer, and evidences this on the band's 2006 DVD, Voliminal: Inside the Nine, where he is interviewed while playing golf.
Fehn describes himself as a "big fan of the band" and says of Slipknot, "the world needed something like this."
Masks
Fehn uses a Tengu-style mask, which has been seen in many different colors and styles with the nose of the mask always staying at 71⁄2 inches (about 19 cm) long. He is known to own at least five variations of the mask, his best-known being the tanned, leather mask used during the Iowa era. Another well known mask of Fehn's is the red mask used mainly during the Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) World Tour. He briefly used a white mask during the band's Slipknot era, and can be seen wearing it in the album's cover art.
Fehn's mask design is most likely based on those worn by doctors during the Black Plague, where the nose was filled with herbs to 'protect' the doctor from inhaling the fumes of death. Another widely discussed influence is the possibility of the mask being based on that which was adorned by Alex and his "droogs" during the rape scene in the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.
A third idea of the origin of the mask also comes from Commedia dell'arte, an Italian comedy which held its popularity through the 15th and 18th centuries. In particular Chris' mask resembles a version of Pantalone's phallic-nosed mask.
Backstage at Slipknot's second Ozzfest show, Fehn expanded on the mask to a local interviewer, saying, "This mask reflects my comic personality. Plus I chose it for the bondage factor. When you put it on, it takes you to another place. It's very hot, it's very tight, and it hurts – that goes along with the aggression we create." In a more recent interview in London, Fehn claimed that, "The smell gets worse, it smells like puke, sweat, and piss."
Equipment
Fehn uses custom titanium drums that were welded by fellow Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan. His drums have the same set-up as those of Crahan. The only difference between Fehn and Crahan's sets are that Crahan normally has a scissor lift on his set which goes high into the air and rotates, whereas Fehn's also rotates but is able to tilt in numerous directions. Fehn prefers not to use the scissor lift due to his fear of heights, and he uses a different set of drumsticks for a distinguishable sound between the two drummers: Two Anheuser-Busch beer kegs Baseball bat Dunnett-manufactured drums Four Surdo drums 16" x 20", 18" x 22", 20" x 24" and 22" x 24" Marching snare drum Microphone Vater Hammer sticks, or Vic Firth Metal sticks
Interesting about him
Fehn's favorite album is Don't Break the Oath by Mercyful Fate. One of Fehn's masks was featured in the 2008 film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
