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Slipknot’s Tortilla Man confirms identity: It was pretty hard to keep it a secret

Michael Pfaff – aka Tortilla Man – has officially confirmed that he’s the percussionist in Slipknot, and has been answering fans’ (many) questions…

Slipknot’s Tortilla Man confirms identity: It was pretty hard to keep it a secret
Words:
Emily Carter
Photo:
Paul Harries

Okay… so we kind of all knew it already anyway, but Slipknot have officially confirmed the identity of Tortilla Man.

Right ahead of the band's huge Knotfest Roadshow tour, Michael Pfaff (who used to play with Shawn 'Clown' Crahan in Dirty Little Rabbits) officially announced that he was the ’Knot's percussionist, and promptly headed over to Reddit to answer Maggots’ pressing questions.

When asked about the internet trying to track him down as Tortilla Man, Michael shared that "it was the best" watching it all unfold, praising, "The theories, the detectives. Amazing."

Unsurprisingly, though, the musician said it was "pretty hard" to keep his identity secret when he joined in 2019. "These days everybody is on the internet and has a phone," he explained. "You could tell a person at the grocery store and the next thing you know it's on the internet. I flew to LA twice before my wife even knew."

When asked, "Why did you or the band decide to keep you anonymous all this time?" he responded: "I guess it's part of our thing. It was like wearing a mask. Everybody would want to shout from the rooftops that 'I'm in Slipknot'… but how bad do you want it? Bad enough to not tell anybody? Yes."

Speaking of that mask (although not mentioning its similarity to a tortilla), he teased that the full story of its creation will come out one day, but essentially it's a mould of Michael's face "flipped inside-out".

He's also a longtime fan of the band, which is pretty damn awesome, sharing: "I literally remember being in the restroom in 1998 and seeing an article about the band in the Des Moines Register. I am an Iowan, so I knew what was up."

Hell yeah!

Catch Slipknot (and Tortilla Man, of course) with In This Moment and Wage War on leg one of the Knotfest Roadshow:

March

18 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center
19 Wichita, KS INTRUST Bank Arena
22 Memphis, TN FedExForum
Tulsa, OK BOK Center
25 North Little Rock, AR Simmons Bank Arena
26 Durant, OK Choctaw Grand Theater
29 Birmingham, AL Legacy Arena at the BJCC
30 N. Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum

April

1 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Complex
2 Reading, PA Santander Arena
4 Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
6 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
7 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
9 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
11 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre
12 Regina, SK Brandt Centre
14 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
15 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
17 Vancouver, BC Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena

And leg two with Cypress Hill and Ho99o9:

May

18 University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center
20 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
21 Providence, RI Dunkin' Donuts Center
22 Manchester, NH SNHU Arena
24 Albany, NY MVP Arena
26 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
28 Québec, QC Videotron Centre
29 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
30 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage

June

1 Cincinnati, OH Heritage Bank Center
2 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
4 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
5 Moline, IL TaxSlayer Center
7 Bonner Springs, KS Azura Amphitheater
9 Colorado Springs, CO The Broadmoor World Arena
11 Nampa, ID Ford Idaho Center
13 Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
14 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
17 Las Vegas, NV MGM Garden Arena
18 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre

Read this: Slipknot: Every song on Iowa, ranked from worst to best

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