Corey Taylor (Slipknot and Stone Sour) Interview

Say hello Corey…

Hi, I’m Corey Taylor, vocalist extraordinaire for Slipknot and Stone Sour

It’s been 10 years, what does it feel like…

Well, it certainly feels like ten years in my knees, let’s put it that way. In all honesty it doesn’t, it doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for ten years, it feels like it’s been ten minutes. You know, it’s all good.

What inspires and drives you?

I think the main inspiration that drives this band is just more, more, more, more. More doesn’t have to be a bad thing you know. We just keep pushing the boundaries of everything; musical, visually, artistically, emotionally. It’s always been our goal to overdo it ‘cos not enough bands do it to begin with. So, the main inspiration for this band is to do it all.

Some of you have been involved with side projects. How relevant and important is this for you guys?

I belive that the other projects are actually very important for the creativity of the band. I believe that the other bands alow us to bring things in, and they give us the courage to try different things, which is what this band is all about. Just from a longevity standpoint, it gives our career a chance to breathe and makes people excited for us to come back. So, to me I think the other projects really enhance what we do because it just shows you the potential that can be had when we all come back together as Slipknot.

Some critics, particularly in the early years, accused Slipknot of using the masks, costumes, and numbers as nothing more than a marketing ploy. What’s your answer to this?

Well, to all the critics who have complained, or have been a little too harsh with their judgement of the band in the early years, yeah, sure the masks get attention but, you know what, the music keeps them here. If the music sucked we wouldn’t have as many fans as we do. So, in your face critics! And those pants look like crap on you…

At Downlaod 2009 you told the crowd that headlining at Donington Park was a dream come true, and a career pinnacle for the band. What could Slipknot do to top that?

As far as headlining Download, ah man that was such a dream come true that we’d have to play on Mars man, honestly. We’d have to headline on Mars with Devo or something, that would be the only thing that would make sense. Or just start over completely and for the next album all we do is play clubs - 200 seater clubs. And then work our way back up. You know, headline some tent at Download, like the discotheque, the silent discotheque, which is very weird to me, I’ll never understand that. It’s like watching zombies dancing around with headphones. It’s creepy. But, that’s the only thing that would make sense to me is to start over. Where do you go though? Besides that it’s Hyde Park or Glastonbury… I mean, Download is the top of the mountain.

Photo Ronn Dunnett

You recently hosted the Kerrang! awards. How was that?

Hosting the Kerrang! Awards was such a blast. First of all my suit was amazing. I don’t know if you heard, but my suits are really stunning, and I mean that in the literal sense. Getting to work with Scott was an absolute pleasure. Me and Scott have known each other for a long time and gotten to be really close friends and when we had the opportunity to do this together, we both just jumped at it. We just loved watching the audience getting
more and more bombed, and it was almost like we were the little ringleaders there. Plus we had a lot of fun with with the acceptance films when Slipknot won. It was such a great time man and I will remember that night for a very long time - or at least till the hangover wears off…

Your 10th Anniversary special edition release was available in September. Tell me about the release…

Fans got several different little goodies for the 10th Anniversay Edition of the first album. It was packed with a bunch of stuff man. It had two discs full of music, a handfull of tracks that had not been available before, a little DVD with all footage from ‘99 to 2000, and I was really excited for people to see it you know. It’s a collector’s piece but it’s really for the fans. It was saying thank you. We couldn’t have been here for ten years without them. It’s not very often that we get to show our appreciation like that so hopefully they really dug it, because we loved putting it together.

And the next 10 years…?

I don’t know if we can handle ten more years. I don’t know if I can handle ten more years, and once I get prosthetic legs - I don’t know if I will be able to do it - I need robot legs to be able to do ten more years with Slipknot! I ned to be half-Cyborg, let’s put it that way. I need a laser eye and some kind of rocket launcher that opens up at the back of my neck so my neck would fold back like a Pez dispenser and I’d shoot rockets… Maybe that’s not about Slipknot maybe tthat’s about my own personal hopes and dreams… I think Slipknot could do ten more years, if we do it right, let’s put it that way. We’ve been able to do it thus far, and hopefully the fans will allow us to do it for ten more years.