COREY TAYLOR: "HOW THE FUCK DID WE GET OUT ALIVE?"
September 2023
Cогеу Taylor is the most diverse singer in rock and roll. Period. End of discussion. As the lead singer of Stone Sour, he became one of modern rock’s most consistent melodic voices. As leader of the horror rock band Slipknot, he donned terrifying masks and screamed his way through a barrage of hard nu metal classics, including “Wait and Bleed,” “Custer” and “Duality.” Collectively, between the two bands, Taylor has sold almost 33 million records, toured the world many times over and has been nominated for 13 Grammys, with a win in 2006. As a solo artist, he has expanded perceptions. For his second solo record, СМЕ, Taylor opened all of his musical veins and bled out a diverse flood of styles with beyond positive results. Taylor can do it all. Except maybe EDM or polka. But he’s even willing to try that. Corey does not believe in restrictions...
HUSTLER: How are you doing?
COREY TAYLOR: Still kicking ass. At this point it’s all I know how to do. Not bad for an old fogy in an industry that says you have to be young to succeed. I say “Fuck you!” to that.
Is there ageism in rock ’n’ roll?
Well, I don’t know about rock ’n’ roll, but there is definitely ageism in the music industry. It is extremely difficult for people to continue past a certain age—unless you are an uber megastar. Even then sometimes it’s tough. The industry will eat you and throw you away. I’ve seen it a million times. It’s the music business’s fault. They tend to run after fads instead of supporting any type of talent. We encourage it as consumers. Too many people think, if it's young, it's good. It's the reason I wrote the Slipknot song “All Out Life.” I know artists who are at the peak of their powers, and they can’t buy a bucket. They can’t get anyone on the phone. What the hell, man? I think it secretly pissed off the record industry that we not only keep our fans; we continue to get new ones. I could go on and on about this shit and piss off a million people.
Let’s go back a ways. Do you remember the first time you ever saw a copy of HUSTLER Magazine?
Oh, Christ. This is going back. And it will give insight into how weird I was growing up. I was a teenager. And I was dragged on this weird vacation with my mom’s ex-boyfriend and my mom’s best friend’s ex-boyfriend. They drove semitrucks. They said, “Hey, let’s get him out of the house and drag him across America for fucking three months.” My whole summer...gone. I spent most of the time in the semitruck in the back bed area, because there was nowhere else to fucking sit. Low and behold, stuffed down the side of the mattress were a bunch of old HUSTLER Magazines. I started reading. Let’s just say it was a nice education. [Laughs.]
Did you get into rock ’n’ roll to meet girls?
The reason I got into rock was because I was good at it. Honestly, my whole draw for making music was to actually make music. I know that is the flip side to why most people get into bands. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I never had an issue meeting girls. I don't know if it was the cheekbones or long hair at the time, but I never had an issue meeting them. And I just loved playing music. It was the first thing that I discovered I was good at, and all I wanted to do was chase that. Make music. And find people to make music with. Meeting girls was a byproduct. Once I was out there making music, combined with how I looked at the time, it was one hundred percent bedlam. It was good to be me when I was young.
What is the strangest gift a fan has given you?
Oh, Jesus. Well, since it’s HUSTLER, I guess I can be honest. We've gotten cow hearts, real cow hearts, in Valentine’s Day candy boxes. I got this really sexually graphic letter when we first started. The whole first side was, “My husband and I really enjoy your music,” but as I read on, it got dark real quick. I flipped it over, and the first line on the back was, “I want you to keep me in a cage.” What the fuck? I don’t know what it was that we [Slipknot] did that brought out this crazy passionate mechanism in certain people. It wasn’t even like we were leaning to that kind of kink. For us, it was scream therapy. But it brought out crazy things in fans.
What was the craziest night you ever had with female fans?
I remember a Halloween backstage with a bunch of girls. I was freshly single at the time, and it became apparent that some shenanigans were going to happen that night. There were some crazy chemicals going on. This girl there was dressed like a nurse. And she was сагrying real hypodermic needles for some weird reason. She was dancing around and gesticulating like crazy. All of a sudden, she stabs herself in the chest with a needle. Luckily, it didn’t hit her heart. She then continued into the party like nothing happened. That kind of sucked the air out of the festivities. It was pretty fucked up. Scared the fuck out of me. The last thing you want is someone not only hurting themselves but accidentally killing themselves because they are coked up or on whatever the hell she was on. I told our security guys, “You got to make sure she’s okay. Have her looked at.” Back then it was a very strange time, and so many fucking weird things happened. I ask myself, How the fuck did we get out of that alive?
Of course! Come on! Are you kidding me? I had girls begging me to do that. And I will say, my wife loves it. [Laughs.]
What was the first album you bought with your own money?
It was the $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited by Metallica. I remember walking five miles to the Crossroads Mall in Waterloo, lowa. The closest record store was in that mall. I started walking with my Walkman tape player, mile after mile. Walked five miles to buy a record, which shows you how badly I wanted it. I bought the album on cassette tape. Listened to it the whole walk home. Wore that tape down. It was one of the coolest fucking records I ever heard. Still my favorite to this day.
Is there an artist you love that fans might be shocked to hear about?
Honestly, I don’t know, because I’m so fucking open about everything. I don't give a shit what anybody thinks. I love what I love. I’m a very vocal fan of ABBA. Vocal fan of all the thrash bands I grew up listening to. Anthrax. I don’t think anyone who is my fan would be surprised by what I like. Maybe “Weird Al” Yankovic?
As a songwriter, how do you decide what songs are solo and what are for your bands?
There are definitely times when I’m working on a specific project but start writing а song for another band. I tend to go with my gut. A song like “Snuff,” which people to this day are convinced was a leftover Stone Sour song—that was not the case. I wrote that song specifically for Slipknot. I just knew in my heart that the song would come to life with Slipknot. Here’s the secret: It all comes down to who I hear playing on it. When I write a song, I write it very bare bones. I have certain parts I hear in my head: how to play it, how to sing it. But I also have a giant percentage of it I leave open for other people’s interpretation. When I write something, I hear it back in my head and go, “I can hear it.” It really comes down to who I can hear playing on those songs. That dictates where that song will go and where that song will live.
Your second solo album coming out, it’s very diverse. Did you want to show all sides of Corey Taylor?
Absolutely. It’s diverse, but actually more focused. My first solo album was really an explosion of songs I had written over the years that I could have used anywhere. We saw the reaction to that first album and how people dug it. That made me realize I could take things further. This album, as focused as it is, has diversity—has songs that sound like Slipknot, songs like Stone Sour, songs like the first solo album. It even has an acoustic song that реоple love when I do it live. It has all the elements people want from a Corey Taylor solo album. The difference between this album and the last solo album is, this one is focused on the fact that, “This is where we are going.” As opposed to the first solo album, which was, “This is where we've been.”
Is there a style of music you won't try?
There are certainly things I have attempted and haven't gone well. I say, “Why not try and go for everything?” People who pigeonhole themselves end up painting themselves into a corner. When you are painted into a corner, where the fuck are you going to go? Fuck that! I’m going to walk through the paint and walk out knowing I’ve tried every little thing. There are things I know I'm better at than others music-wise, and I tend to stay іп that area. But at the same time I have pop sensibilities that I try to apply to those different styles. I may not be overtly pop, but I know a hook when I hear it. I put those hints of pop in there and make sure they get stuck in people’s heads.
So we may get an EDM polka collabo with you and Weird Al?
[Laughs.] I always wanted to do a thrash polka album. That polka beat could do serious damage with a thrash riff over the top of it. Get an accordion going. If I go out, I’m going to go out playing thrash polka. That’s my exit strategy.
Where was the new solo record, CMF2, recorded?
We recorded it in Las Vegas, where I live. At the Hideout, which is Kevin Churko’s studio. Same studio we recorded the first solo album, essentially the same team.
Is living in Vegas good for you creatively?
Yeah, man. Because I don't go near the fucking Strip. Nothing against anybody down there partying. Go for it. You've earned that shit. But I can't do it anymore. Away from the Strip, this town is rad. The people are amazing. My daughter goes to a great school, where she has thrived in every way. It’s a great place to live.
Will there be a full tour behind this album release?
We are going out August through October, doing a big six-week run with Wargasm. We will have Oxymorons on some dates as well. It’s going to be really cool. And it’s just the beginning. I'm wrapping stuff with Slipknot as well. I’m hopping back and forth between Slipknot and the solo tour. We are already getting offers to take this solo tour all over the world: Europe, Japan, Australia, South America. The buzz is starting to happen, and I’m looking forward to touring.
Since it's a solo band tour, will you just play songs from the new album and the first solo album?
No. We play everything. We do a bunch of solo stuff, some Slipknot, some Stone Sour, a bunch of covers in there. We try to make it a party, a rad celebration of everything I’ve ever done. And my band is so good, they can play whatever I throw at them. They’re just that fucking good. They are also dudes I've known for 20 years, so we go out there, have a good time and bust each other’s balls while doing it.
Who is in the band?
Zach Throne and Christian Martucci handle guitar duties. Dustin Schoenhofer plays drums, and Eliot Lorango is the bass player.
When touring, what is the one thing you always take with you?
A lock for the refrigerator if there is sugar in there. I'm so bad on the road. I eat like a 12-year-old. And I'm surrounded by my bandmates trying to get me to eat that garbage food, egging me on. I have to maintain a certain shape onstage.
Stone Sour has been on hiatus since 2020. Do you guys keep in touch, and will there ever be more music from that band?
That's a sleeping dog. l'II let that lie. I still talk to some of those guys, but I have no plans to go back to it. It’s for personal reasons.
What’s the future of Slipknot?
Slipknot has a European run, then a couple shows we are doing in the States. Then we've got some dates in Latin and South America at the end of October and beginning of November, and that will be the end of the year for us. We've got stuff planned for next year—2024 is the 25th anniversary of the first Slipknot album. As far as working on new music, we are just starting baby steps of piecing songs together. I know Jim [Root] has been writing some stuff with Jay [Weinberg] and V-Man [Alessandro Venturella]. They want me to come down апd listen to tracks and start working with them. It’s just the start of the process. Baby steps towards what’s next. We don’t have a label now, so the sky is the limit for us. It’s a whole new chapter of possibilities that we are really excited about.
Where do you keep all your past Slipknot costumes and masks? And have you ever considered assembling a museum exhibit?
We have a traveling Slipknot museum that we bring with us on the Knotfest road shows. It is fully portable. We put it up in the mezzanine so people can check stuff out. We have separate display trailers in different parts of the world. It’s really cool. We've been able to celebrate the history of where we've been, and the fans really dig it. The rest of the stuff is in our warehouse, which is in an undisclosed location. Every couple of years we send a sad soul there to do inventory.
Why a sad soul?
There is a lot of crap that they have to go through and inventory. Not just the outfits, but all the production gear: amps, rigs. staging. That person has to go in and make sure no one has been fucking with it.
You’ve been vocal about your struggles over the years. How’s your mental health?
I'm good. The pandemic wasn't even an issue for me, because I was with the best person in the world: my wife. [Corey Taylor’s wife is Alicia Dove Taylor of the dance troupe Cherry Bombs.] We had some great time together. She and I got closer. We did a lot of cool shit. When things started to open up, it kind of sucked, because it meant we had to go back to work. I'm okay. I’m in between depressive bouts. It's crazy, because I can feel it when it starts to come on. I have physical depression.
What does that feel like?
It's very much a deadening. I go from manic and bouncing off the walls to so down, you have to check my pulse to make sure I’m still there. It’s tough. I’ve dealt with it over the years. I try not to use medication because it alters the way I think and the way I create. It all comes down to balance and making sure the people who care about me understand it. My wife gets it. She understands what I go through. I let her know when it’s coming on, and she’s incredibly supportive. No one in the world has ever had my back like she does. I’m very lucky. Right now I’m concentrating on doing what I love and being with the people I love, trying to make sure I spend enough time with my kids and have a good time playing music.
What do you think is the greatest misconception about you?
Probably that I’m а prick. I can't even say that, because I am а prick sometimes, when I have to be. It would be that people think I’m more selfish than I am in real life —let's put it that way. Being a singer, I get а bad rap, because a lot of singers are fucking pricks. What they don't see with me behind the scenes is somebody who is constantly making sure all my bands are okay. Someone who is completely devoted to his family. Someone devoted to the crew that works for them and makes sure they are taken care of. Somebody who works tirelessly. If am a prick sometimes, it’s because I expect everybody to work just as hard as I do. And that’s not too much to ask. There are times when I get a little snarky: “Step it up. If you want to fucking be here, then be here. You had better be prepared to work.” Certain people think I am more selfish than I am. Luckily, those are people who don’t know me in real life.
(Interview by Keith Valcourt)
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