Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour)

Today we're joined by a very special guest. I know all of you are going to be so stoked about this. We've got Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor. He's got his second solo record coming out, CMF2 on September 15th. He's got some solo tour dates.

coming to North America and also in Europe that were recently announced. And he's also got the Taylor Foundation, which is supporting veterans and first responders. Thank you for making time for this, man. I really appreciate it. I'm so stoked. All good. So I've heard two songs from the record. We've got Beyond.

and post-traumatic blues. I've really liked both of these songs. I thought they're great. And this is me, you know, to me, this is you at your absolute best as a rock songwriter. This is the Corey Taylor that wrote. through glass and and bother and these songs are just in your face rock hits and i love that man and so i'd like to know what you can tell us about the songs we haven't heard yet and the overall vibe of this record

I mean, we're just scratching the surface on this thing. I mean, you know, these songs are representative of the rock side, but there's also... Songs like breath of fresh smoke which kind of has almost like an Irish country vibe to it Which is an old song now like I used to play that back with JB camey way back in the day um

There's a really dark brooding solo acoustic song called Sorry Me. There's hints of some, almost like some... some uh some gothic with a song called midnight uh i mean it's there's a lot of great there's still like tons of great and like heavy stuff rock stuff

I mean, this album is loaded, and I'm really f***ing stoked for people to hear it. Like, I keep looking at the watch going, f***ing, goddammit, is it September 15th? Yeah, let's do this. So I'm really stoked, man. To me, this... buries the first album yeah so i mean you really bring that in in your face rock and roll from what i've heard so far on this record and

You know, I was just with Chris Novoselic of Nirvana. He says to tell you hello, and we were talking about this idea about... how rock records aren't really made like they used to be and there's all this talk about you know digitized production not so much digitized but you know modern production there's a lot of similarities to it with sampling and things like that yeah and so

You know, what's your thoughts on the way albums are made today and how does that apply to your approach on this new record? I mean, you know, I've been very vocal about how I feel about modern production. You know, it all sounds the same. It all feels the same. It's the same plug-ins. It's the same fake guitar tones. It's the same fake drums. I mean, it's just, there's no life to it. And then they wonder why nobody's listening to rock, you know?

or metal or whatever you know when everything sounds the same why the hell that how do you figure out what to listen to right you know so to me you know it's that's one of the reasons why i've kept the way that i record very traditional you know i mean we get in a room together we record together we jam together we uh you know we we let the music become a thumbprint. Sure. Instead of a dial tone, you know? Like, when you hear our album...

you instantly know it's us. As opposed to, well, I better wait until the singer kicks in because I don't know who the hell this is. And even then, half the time, you don't know who it is. So to me, I'm very proud of the fact that I'm in, you know.

several bands that can record that way. And I've never chintzed on the music, and I've never chintzed on the art, because that's how much it means to me. Yeah, and you know, you could always... that's one of the things i do respect about you is that you could always go through a sort of more formulaic approach to your music you could write a million versions of through glass you could write a million versions of bother but you never have you've always pushed through more right

Like, I heard Beyond, and that's a f***ing heater, man. That is a banger. And I can't really explain how rock music is circulated in the world today. I think people are still figuring it out. But, you know, to me, that is a song that... is just... I think the way music is done now is very different in the way that music is circulated, but it's just such a massive song. And the first time I heard it, it was immediately...

So catchy to me. And you mentioned the differences between the first album and the last one. The first album was very experimental and you were trying all sorts of different genres. Tell me about the evolution of sound on this record and the approach between the two. well i mean the first album i mean the reason why it sounded like that is because

It was really just a collection of songs, man. To me, it was just like, okay, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to record these songs because they were songs that I'd had for years. And I was just like, well, let's just see what happens. Let's record these songs. At least I know I've recorded them. And I can, you know, put them out there. If it sells, it doesn't, whatever. It doesn't matter, you know? So, I mean, I had so much fun.

making that album and then going out and touring on that album when touring opened back up and seeing how all of the songs that I had worked on with Slipknot, with Stone Sour, with this and like all the covers and stuff, how everything really fit together. It emboldened me to take it even further, you know, because obviously I had more songs left over. that i wanted to record but this time it it going out of the road made me focus on how i could shape this album

and really make it something even stronger. So the production on this was three times bigger, three times more vivid. The songs... to me, are three times better. The performances are fucking off the chains, you know? And even though this album is as diverse as the first one, It's very focused and really honed in, man. When I was putting the demos together, I could really see a clear...

picture of how this album could be a journey again. So it wasn't just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. It was, here's the box. This is what we're going to shape it to. And let's put it out there and let people enjoy the ride. Yeah, and I think that these songs have been really, really well received. And I wanted to ask about the approach in the studio. How are you recording the songs? Is this, you know...

Are you writing the songs together as a group? Are these songs that you're working on on the road? Like, how do you write songs? Dude, I'm constantly writing, man, to be honest. Yeah, I mean, half the time I'll write a song in my head, and even if I don't... have a chance to sit down and play it on guitar, I've written it in my head. But then by the time, and then I'll...

i'll go over it and go over it and go over it until i write it i pick a guitar up and then i can just play it i did that was through glass i've done that with pretty much everything you know so for me You know when it comes to stuff like this like this album It's 98% stuff that I've written and then I'll demo it out and then I'll give it to the guys

And then there's that 2%, which is stuff that either Tucci has brought in and I go, I love that song. Or it's a song that he and I have written together, you know? Dead Flies was like that, which is the last track on the album. It was really an amalgam of two songs that we had both been kind of working on, but it was the same key. And I remember...

telling him, I was like, dude, these riffs would match with that riff. Let's try and combine these forces. And when I was able to kind of listen to it from there, I came up with some cool ideas for... fleshing things out, really kind of working on the overall arrangement. And then I came up with a rad intro for it as well. Being able to kind of look at it, stand back and look at it almost like a rough draft and then going in on it, allows me to, A, get them to learn the songs.

B, give them carte blanche to kind of create on top of that. You know, as long as the structure's there. And I tell them, I was like, listen, if I don't like something, I will tell you. But take this wherever you want to go with it, you know. And then C, I can take away, I can add, I can really kind of wrap my head around it so by the time we get into the studio, I know exactly what I want to do with it.

Yeah, so I'm really excited from that aspect because I can tell you all seem to be having so much fun. There were all these teasers. Whoever was doing the promo from the studio, those videos were great because it built a lot of anticipation for the record and people had a real inside window into how...

the album production was going in, it just looked like nonstop fun. The vibes look great. We laughed our tits off every day. Like, for real. I mean, it's... Well, first of all, I mean, we, as a group of dudes, we are such... dicks anyway that we the second we get in a room together we're constantly breaking each other's balls you know so it should be exactly so

We were having, from the jump, I mean, it started with rehearsals for crisis. We were in the room together and we take it very seriously. And then once we're done working, it's on. And then we just f*** with each other. all the whole time right so we also have the ability to pick things up really quickly you know so

When we can see that we're kind of falling in the pocket and we're really kind of dialing it in, that's when we start kind of f***ing with each other again. So there were times when we'd be in the recording room and... I can't tell you how many times we had to restart because Elliot would cut a fart in the middle of a tape. And I would just go, oh my God. So we'd have to reset. We're all dying. It's really bad.

So we flew it into one of the songs on the album. And it wasn't even the song that we were recording. It was so funny. It was so loud that it... Is it hidden in the mix? Don't give the song away. It's kind of hidden in the mix.

You're going to have to go and find it. Yeah. Oh, no, you'll find it. There's going to be some... Oh, it's obvious? It's very... Well, it's towards the end of one of the heavier songs. And we added it just as... Yeah. Y'all are going to have to find this song. Yeah. Oh, they'll know exactly.

when they hear it so you know one of the things it is it's so great to sit here and talk to you because you've been so influential you've been so great for an extended period of time there are people that have short runs at this point it's undeniable you've been consistently successful for many years at this point. And there's a lot of big upcoming artists who have been sort of giving Slipknot their flowers, giving them their respect. It's crazy, man. You don't really think about...

When you first start out you don't really think about this stuff, you know, I mean when you when you're new to the game, you're just really Happy that you're in the game, you know and all you're really trying to do is kind of concentrate on what you're doing not staying in your own lane but just trying to spread out your offense you know what i mean just to kind of see what works see what sticks and you know

i i've been very fortunate to have had a lot of stuff that has worked you know like for whatever reason what yeah i mean i'm really appreciative and humbled by it in a lot of ways. So to hear stuff like that, you don't know whether or not people take inspiration from that. You don't know if the fans go from being a fan to being... you know a professional or a peer you know but then you have to remind yourself it's like well man it's there's no difference from that than

you know me and alice cooper hanging out right say you know which it still trips me out that alice cooper knows my name all right yeah that to me is a head there's so many people who i looked up to who now regard me as a peer which in a million years, I don't know. So the newer up-and-comers have seen what we've done.

And have taken inspiration from it. And not just trying to emulate men. They've done their own thing. And that is what's important. Because we never tried to emulate anybody either. So them taking that inspiration from that, you know, kind of, you know, that approach, I mean, it's awesome, you know, and I'm, like I said, I'm very appreciative.

We never thought a million years. We would have that right, you know So to feel it in the newer generation is pretty rad. Yeah, it's just it's it really is and it's it's cool to see and I believe that it's like you never thought it would get to this point and right and it's hard to intentionally get to that level and Slipknot has just become this

this overall culture that's just had stood the test of time and it's larger than life and it's worldwide and it transcends languages. Yeah. That's what's crazy. One of the greatest compliments I was ever paid was by the singer for The Who. And obviously I'd be paraphrasing right now, but he said I was like his favorite singer or whatever.

I have been trying behind the scenes to find a song to do with them. Right. I mean, it's been tricky, though, because a lot of the stuff that they've sent me, honestly... been from more of a like you know this is mongol kind of vibe and i'm like you know i mean i wouldn't be honored to be on it but i also wouldn't want to feel like i was trying to cop somebody's culture right you know what i mean like i'm not gonna

As this pasty half-Irish fuck, I'm not going to go on a song that says this is Mongol and try to say something about it. I would never want to step on anybody's structure like that. But we have really been trying to find something that we can do together because that band is so interesting and so unique.

And I love the fact that they have taken that traditional music that they've grown up with, and they're putting a modern spin on it, which is so rad. There's so many... amazing bands uh bloody wood from india as well who i met i met this i think it was the singer um at rockville actually and they were hanging out with Vendant. So I was like, so Jeremiah put me onto them. Yeah. Yeah. So there you go. So it was, it's, it's been really cool to see.

Just the reach that we've had as a band. I mean, these dicks from Des Moines, Iowa inspired a band from India. I mean, that's crazy. And it's real.

yeah it's very real it's so cool and uh you know that's another thing is there's been this sort of resurgence of nu metal right okay i remember and i'm sure you do too when nu metal was it was never to me But some people you talk to, they kind of wince when you say New Metal because it used to be an insult.

Right. And now it's this huge compliment. Right. And like 10 years ago, it would have been a diss. Oh, I never saw it as a diss. It was verboten. Yeah, no, it was like saying 80s glam rock. Right. You know? You know, the funny thing is, is that it's so weird for us because we were kind of a child of two houses. We were lumped in with nu metal, but we were also lumped in.

with the first wave of uh new american metal yeah so we were kind of but we always kind of we always kind of looked at ourselves as our own genre yeah it's like as much as we you know borrowed stuff from new metal we were also so much more frenetic and faster and heavier and we also wore our hardcore you know influences on our sleeve very blatantly

So we didn't really fit with that, you know, but then again, we didn't fit with the new wave of American heavy metal as well, you know, because we were sludgier, we were... a little more uh dissonant in a lot of ways we leaned into a lot of like the the ninths and the gnarlies and all that shit. So we really, like I said, I mean, we were kind of, you know, if we were on skis, our legs would have been going a little further, further apart until the shark bit us in the dick, you know? So.

We always just kind of ran our own path, but we also embraced both. We were never ashamed to be said this or that. It's been cool to see...

some of these other bands get their due again. You know, obviously, I mean, the band you're wearing right there, I mean, they, to me, people forget. just how influential that band is and was. And I can remember, I saw them open for Megadeth back in 95, 94, 95. And this is when I was living in Denver. And they came out. I'd never seen anything like it. And the audience was so ready for that, dude. I'd never been in an audience like that before, you know. A handful of times I felt it.

you know after that but you felt like i'm i'm witnessing something i'm a part of something this movement is different you know so the fact that they're getting their due again I'm so stoked for them. As their friend, too. I've always been so supportive. Still one of my favorite bands. I love the fact that they're being appreciated, again, for just how f***ing...

monumental they are. Yeah, and I would say too, I don't know if you saw this, but Adidas is now, I mean, this is how big it's been. A major company like Adidas is doing the corn tracksuit. Right. That's huge. And that's, I mean, people have to remember. I think they tried to make that deal with them years ago. And Adidas said no. So they went to Puma. Right. And Puma f***ing blew up. Yeah. So, you know.

360, man. Everything comes back around. 100%. And it is so great because that is exactly the era for me. That was that. I grew up on...

Y'all, obviously, I grew up on Korn, I grew up on your Deftones, your PODs. Dude, there were so many great f***ing dudes out there, man. People forget about Spine Shank. They forget about Fear Factory. Shout out Johnny Santos. Oh, f*** yeah, dude. I mean... there were so many great bands coming up at that time and they were all kind of doing their own thing there was a unified vibe they were all doing their own thing and that's it was it was exciting

fear factory el nino i mean you can go the list oh absolutely and it was just such a special time in music and i was grateful to you know to grow up with that music and just looking back like

For me, the first show I ever went to from Slipknot, and this is a little bit later in the game, but it was Subliminal Versus Tour. Okay. And I went to that, and it was, I think the lineup was like, All That Remains, Lamb of God, and then Y'all.

No, it wasn't all that remains. It was Shadows Fall. Okay, Shadows Fall. Yeah, so that was, it was towards the end. Yeah. That was a great f***ing tour. Yeah. We had a lot of fun with those guys. It was amazing. That whole tour, it was just... I had never experienced the band in person, and I didn't get the band before I saw you.

And then I went to the show, and I think you were saying that you had like 103 degree temperature or something. I was 6L, yeah. And it was one of the best shows to this day I've ever seen. Was that the one in Madison? It was in Virginia. Okay. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. You were very sick.

Not the Norma, but I know exactly what it is. Yeah, no, it was... Yeah, that was a gnarly, gnarly tour. Yeah, it was amazing. And that whole movement of Nu Metal, just to me, was something that has just stood the test of time. Now self-titled.

next year you're going to have this 25 year anniversary and uh i know that i there was some rumblings you said that there were conversations about something happening right next year and i just want to say whatever it is when i posted about that people went nuts yeah in a good way yeah uh that is an album that i think people would love to see honored and it means a lot to a lot of people i'm sure it means a lot to y'all when you made that record now almost 25 years ago

What was the vibe like then? What was your mindset like going into making a record like that? You know, it was kind of the perfect storm because nobody knew who we were. Nobody had any expectations. We didn't really. I mean, we wanted to make an amazing album. That was, I mean, full stop. That was it. Worried about taking over the world. We didn't think anybody would give a shit, to be honest. From day one, our whole mentality was, let's just be a band that, at the most...

We could sell 250,000, 300,000 copies. And then we can tour, dude. We can make a living touring. We were more focused on being an underground band. than being anything else. We didn't know that the world was waiting for something like us. I mean, full disclosure, dude. So when it exploded, we weren't ready for it. But... it also taught us something was to go into the studio with absolutely no expectations

Go in and make the album that you want to make, which is one of the reasons why Iowa sounded the way it did. Yeah. Which is one of the reasons why volume three sounds the way it does. We just said no bullshit. No. don't worry about what anybody's going to say outside these walls because they've been trying to write us off for a very long time. You were supposed to break up after Iowa. Yeah. Well, I mean, we had talked about breaking up after the first album. Yeah.

And I, to this day, I was like, dude, that's the most punk rock fucking thing. That would be so amazing. And then just sell like, you know, fucking quad platinum. Yeah. Right? And then, and then go. And then nobody would know because we have the masks on. Because I hadn't done Stone Sour yet. Nobody had seen any of us, right? So it was, it would have been beautiful, you know? I remember when the bother video came out. Right.

Everyone was like, that's the guy from Slipknot en masse. It was like something. There were huge perils of WWE to it. Where Slipknot came out. And I don't know if anyone's ever made this comparison before, but I'm just saying there was this, you all were larger than life. not literally characters but these personalities that you looked at and i'm like i want an action figure of that right and you know the look the jumpsuit

the dreads that you had or whatever. The whole look of the band was just, they're banging on kegs. I want to talk about that Ozfest where you first went out. And there's these videos which have accumulated millions of views on the internet of people just going back and going. These guys were out of their fucking minds. What was that tour like? I know there's a lot of craziness on those OzFest tours. The first OzFest tour, and I have a very unique perspective from it because I couldn't talk.

I had fried my voice literally about a month before we went out on the boat. That's terrifying. I ate too soon before a rehearsal and then went to rehearsal.

I had acid reflux really bad. I fried my vocal cords to the point where they put me on oral steroids. I had to gargle with this crazy shit. And... i uh yeah and so and so i couldn't talk all i could i could sing for a half hour a day and they said you just you have to do absolute pure vocal rest all the for at least two months and i was just like oh so i carried a pad of paper oh and i for real i mean i took it very seriously sure i quit smoking i didn't drink the entire time

I hadn't really done drugs, so all I did was really just drink coffee and water. I ate once we were done and everything, but yeah, I didn't talk. So I walked around with a f***ing pad of paper. All of us. So I'd waved my whole life for the big tour. And here it is. And the great big mouth can't make a f***ing noise. And I was just like...

Of course. Of course this happens. Of course this happens. Right. I just remember us being so nuts and so excited to be there that nothing got it say it was one of the few times in the beginning where we all really were still on the same page you know because there were times after that sure that we started to pull apart for whatever reason right so now in that me in that beginning man i mean we were a unit dude we and nobody with us

And we didn't fuck with anybody who didn't have it coming. So we, we set up our own shit. We broke down our own shit. It was, you know, we were going on sometimes at. 10 30 in the morning but because word had gotten out about us I mean there were people lined up trying to get in And there were a handful of times, and so much credit to Sharon Osbourne because she got it. Sure. There were so many times where we were meant to go on and there was still a line.

gone they hadn't even opened doors yet and she made them open doors and get as many people in as possible and she pushed our stage time back

So we wouldn't go on in front of an empty crowd because she knew. Yeah, I mean, it's very, very cool, man. The Osmore family has been so good to us. You know, obviously, you know, with Sid and Kelly.

I mean, it almost was meant to be, you know? It's crazy in a weird way. Yeah, they just had their first shout. Congrats to them. That's huge. But, you know, the Osborne family took us in. They gave us the biggest boost of our... and career because I mean we were we were Jack's favorite band yeah that's the whole reason we got on he posted a picture on stage recently

Oh, really? Of him and Sid. Nice. And he's this little kid, I guess, and he posted some sort of a photo. I could be wrong, but... It was probably a Polaroid, because we were carrying Polaroid cameras. I have a whole litany of...

pictures from the stage. I would take Polaroids from the stage of every audience. You've never posted them? I still got it somewhere. I can only imagine the archives you're sitting on. I wrote a journal of that whole time. And someday I'll...

I'll do something with it. There needs to be some sort of a Slipknot documentary or something in my opinion. I mean, it's funny you say that because we've been talking about it. You would sell the shit out of it on DSPs and all that. But there's so... It would almost have... have to be a series. Because there's so much. And I wouldn't want to be a part of anything that didn't at least honor the legacy of Paul and Joe.

And also, but also honor the legacy of where we all came from, how it all came about, dude. I mean, it was, it was lightning in a bottle. And I don't know. I don't know if you could recreate that today because of what the world represents now. But if it could happen once, why couldn't it happen again? I do. I just think that that is a you have such an amazing history and you've overcome so much adversity through your career and that the band just has that.

Amazing history. And again, I imagine there's some really cool archive stuff that people haven't seen. Oh, dude. Clown has years of footage. Wow. I mean, it's criminal how much footage you get. He is, you know, to his credit, man, he was so out of his time, was always documenting, kept everything. Right. And he just knew. I mean, there's a reason why.

he's the brainchild behind this band is because he just he has an understanding for so much crazy that yeah he's his might is brilliant he really is and he you know people forget too this was something that i only found out a few years ago i just didn't make the connection but he was somehow involved in mudvane's ld50 yeah which was a dope record he's an executive producer on it he actually helped discover them as well he's the one i believe he's the one that put them

in touch with Garth. That's amazing. And I can remember he introduced us to them. They hadn't even signed yet, but we were playing in Illinois, in Peoria. And they came down to the show. Wow. That was where I met Chad. And I met all those dudes, Matt, Ryan. It was really cool.

It's been really cool to kind of look back on that as well. The fact that they're back and they're doing their thing. I'm so happy they're back. Yeah, it's very cool. So I can remember. I remember all that shit. It's crazy. And again, it's like you lived through a movie. We knew Dave Williams. Through Drowning Pool? Way more, way before Drowning Pool. Right. He was a maggot from Texas who just came to every fucking show.

and was working on getting his band signed. So we knew him way before anybody else did. I didn't know that. I was slated to hang out with him. Two days after he passed away because they were doing a radio show that Stone Sour was actually on. Right.

Yeah, that was a bad day. It was horrible. He was one of the sweetest people on the f***ing planet. And his music, fortunately, is still very much separate. That first album is so f***ing it is like tear away and stuff really yeah people forget man you can go back and listen to that album and you put that album out now and it's still yeah it's still like like resonates with people yeah it really does and it's cool because

You know, we talk about Korn, but a lot of those bands are getting second looks too. And I just, I hope that maybe it will, we spend some time looking back and celebrating the past, but we also apply it into today's world as well. I think there are signs of... some positive activity happening in rock, but I think it's not so much in the new metal wave coming back. I think what you're seeing, and I'm a big fan of country music, you're seeing this sort of...

For the last 15 years or so, I think that what was once constituted Southern rock is now country. Yeah, I'd agree with that. So when people say, like, there's not a lot happening in rock, it's like, well, it depends on how you classify it. Right. And so when you look at artists like... A guy I really love and he's a really nice guy and his music is great is Hardy and he is doing a...

That dude is on a wave, and he's a great dude, and I know he loves Slipknot. Yeah, he and I talk. He's super cool. Hardy rules, man. He's a great guy, and he's kind of... We want him to be as much in rock as possible, just like Jelly Roll as well. Right. And, you know, I'm loving to see that kind of activity. Another person that also said that they were such a fan of your work and would love to work with you was also Demi Lovato, too. Yeah. She's a...

massive artist as she was talking about. It's just so cool to see how many people from all different types of backgrounds have had an impact from Slipknot. One of the things I wanted to ask is

This record deal with Roadrunner has ended. You had a great, amazing run with Roadrunner. And now you all are, to the best of my knowledge, sort of free agents. Yeah. And I feel like the sky is the limit for Slipknot now where you could do anything you want really at this point, I suppose. And I wonder how does that change the band? What are you seeing? There's been a few months now that have passed. Is there any signs of what...

You all have ideas about what you want to do, whether it materializes or not. Yeah, no, I mean, it's definitely something that we're talking about, you know. The relationship with Roadrunner towards the end.

wasn't even close to the way it was when it first started. A lot of that had to do with the Great Call of 2012 when they fired basically everybody we knew. And then just... kept proceeding to fire everybody who who loved working with us it's one of the reasons why we and our management company 5b had to start creating departments that

could fill in the blanks for what roadrunner no longer was roadrunner had gone from the pinnacle of being the number one metal and rock label really to to stand up with the big boys yeah it went from that to being a hallway in warner brothers and it was embarrassing um The people we were working with, the majority of the people we were working with, they didn't care. The guy who ran it certainly didn't give a shit. He was not too long ago let go.

So good riddance to him. We, you know, at a time when we should have been there. breadwinner and this band that they should have been really looking after. They were ashamed of us. Wow. And they just kept trying to push all of these other bands around us in spite of us in a lot of weird ways, man. You know? And nothing against those bands at all. Sure, totally. They, you know, whatever. Yeah, I get what you're saying.

They allocate the budgets, the labels. Right. It's nothing against the budget. But at the same time, you're talking about a label who was really only still around because of the work that we were doing. Yes. And a lot of the shit that we were selling. Right. And a lot of the shit. I mean, it was... They came into prominence with Slipknot. Well, we were the first band to get platinum for them. Right. And we were the first band to give them a number one. Well...

I can't say that because Nickelback did it, I believe. Sure. But then we came back later. But we consistently sold millions and millions and millions. So for them to basically… I mean, we were always… the bastard kid to them. Yeah. You know? And so, well, to kind of circle back to what your question was. Sure. Now that we're not on that label, now that we're... We own our own destiny. Yes. And we can do whatever we want. It's kind of exciting again because...

Now, we don't have to run our ideas by anybody. We don't have to try and force it through this corporate filter, which they were always trying to do, and we just kept telling them to f*** off. We were going to f***ing do what we wanted. so now we can almost do carte blanche you know and there's a handful of things that we're talking about doing right now um but the cool thing is is there's no timeline you don't have to have a timeline

You know, we could put something out if we want to. We can go in and write a bunch of shit together. And then, you know, maybe pick the four or five best songs from it and just release that. See what happens, you know. We don't really know. Right now, we're just trying to kind of get through these next shows and do our things so we can catch our breath, kind of see what's next. But I know...

I know that some of the guys are chomping at the bit to write, which is cool. It's been a long time since we've all been really excited to kind of get in the same room again and throw. and ideas that really kind of go old school with it. So that's where we're at. We're still, you know, we can still feel that passion kind of. yeah like plopping up again so that's that's going to be exciting yeah i want to talk about the difference in the business model in

the way that you have music being released. So now everything is sort of reliant on streaming. Albums are not as prevalent as they once were. What is your... take or preference on you see some bands one of the bands that i see that has a lot of success dropping singles is falling in reverse right anytime y'all have done this too anytime slipknot does it it always breaks the internet right and

I want to say we were the first heavy metal band to actually do it with All Out Life. Right. Because everybody told us it was a bad idea. Right. And then all of a sudden, we just changed the f***ing games. Right. It's like, well, f*** all these pop motherf***ers. If they can do it, we can do it too. Sure. Continue your question. No, no, no. I'm just saying, what's your thought on it? If you had a choice, what would your preference be? Do you think there's upsides to either one?

I mean, creatively, it means that you can kind of do carte blanche. My problem now, as it always has been, is the fact the artist is still not paid fairly. And that's... The good thing about physical copy is that you have to compensate the artist's work they do. And most of that money goes back to recouping. a lot of the costs that made you know but streaming doesn't do that sure um unless you negotiate your contract at a certain way right it's

You know, it's doing deals with devils that a lot of people maybe don't even understand. You know, it's the old adage where fans, if they feel like they've been done dirty... they yell at you it's like well i pay your salary it's like no you don't because you try to get everything for free and you get it from the streaming system and the streamers don't pay the artists they pay the label

The label then doesn't have to pay us. And that's one of the reasons why I want that legislation to go through is because then. Maybe younger bands can have a fighting chance to stick around. Maybe a younger band will have time to develop and become something that maybe they couldn't do before. Maybe bands can... have their music make money for them instead of having to spend 350 days on the road so they completely lose their home life. That's the problem.

Streaming, for better or for fucking worse, is driving the little guy out of business. And people can sit there and go, well, it's easy for you to say. Well, that's why I'm saying it. I'm not making shit streaming. You have to stream billions to make hundreds. You know how f***ing sad that is? Yeah, that's insane. It's insane. And it f***s over people who f***ing put their blood, sweat, and tears into this, you know? And I get that.

I'm making myself a target. We talked about this before. I'm making myself a target by saying something about it. But if somebody doesn't stand up and say it in my position, then it never gets said. Because all of the people who are making money right now aren't going to say it. So who's going to stand up and say something for the guy who's not making anything? Because their music's being stolen from them.

I do. I could not agree more with you on that. I've never understood the revenue model for these streaming services and how it sort of came after Napster. It's because it's unchecked territory. They could set up their own, really their own fucking ticket. And they knew that it would work because of NAPS. They knew that the DSP would work.

because they saw that people were flocking to do it in the first place. But what they didn't realize was that it's almost a Ponzi scheme. One person pays a little bit. to get all of this stuff, but then that little bit has to f***ing pay all these other people. So what they did was they said, well, f*** it, we'll just pay the label then. And then we'll let the label be the bad guys. But the second...

All of those DSPs appealed the legislation that was rightfully passed to make sure that artists actually get paid for their art. Which shit happened. they spun that shit right back on themselves. Because if it were fair, it would be based in a lot of ways along the same lines as... Radio compensation. Right. Publishing. Right now it doesn't have anything to do with that. Or brand deals. Why is it when you license your music to a television show or something like that?

It's probably a very lucrative deal, whereas, or video games or whatever. It used to be. I want it now. But now, not anymore. Right. Because they're like, we'll get it from you either way. Right. We don't have to pay. Right. All we have to really do is talk to these people. But since we're going to be fair, we're going to talk to you. We'll give you 25 bucks, the equivalent. Crazy. There's a reason why we have to stay on the road as much as we do.

It's because we don't make any money unless we stay on the road. Because the chips are stacked against us. I believe in that 100%. I could not agree with you more on that because it is crazy how that whole system works. Yeah, and we could go on about that for hours. I mean, that's just it. We won't bore anybody with the bullshit that goes on behind the scenes. It's the same with merch cuts. I think anyone who looks at it, it's like smaller bands, especially, you know, you look at these.

up-and-coming bands and they're paying venues to sell the stuff that they manufacture right and it's like you well and what a lot of people don't realize is the venues make them they make them hand their shit over A lot of venues, and you can quote me on this, those bastards, a lot of venues won't even let you sell anything until you give them a percentage of something that they had never...

thing to f***ing do with the first f***ing place. They didn't share in the risk of creating the product. Nothing. Right. It doesn't make any sense. Exactly. It does not make sense to me. It's, I mean, at that point, you might as well sign a 360.

deal right because at least you're gonna have some money to pay some bills for a second right because they're just all that everybody has their hands in your pocket where it's getting to a point where you're seeing the costs and everything increasing and it's becoming hard for these up and coming brands to tour and it's it's heartbreaking to see that because this entire rock music

Cannot thrive without bands being able to afford to go out on the road and so we have no next generation Excuse me as I'm on my soapbox But there will be no next generation if a band can't afford to tour and it's getting really difficult. Zach, where you're hearing costs of tour buses, costs of vans. Until people say something about it, it's not going to change. The fact that, listen, we...

As the artist, we love the fact the fans support us as much as they do. However, your support isn't getting to us. It's getting to them. And that's the problem. Until people stand up and realize that the system has been rigged against us again, it's not going to change. Right. That's the problem. And so... The other thing I want to ask is, these are some more fun questions that are more so...

just reflective who are some of the favorite musicians i want to ask you some stuff that maybe you haven't been asked before just that reflecting on your career who are some of the coolest musicians that you've ever gotten to meet that you're like holy i can't believe i met them oh man i mean I've been pretty fortunate, dude, especially this many years in my career, to have met a lot of cats. We talked about Alice Cooper. That was so f***ing rad. Mike Patton.

Obviously, Dave Vanian I met from The Damned, which blew me the f**k away. He was one of the sweetest f**king people on the planet. Obviously, the Osbournes, you know, getting to meet. I remember the day I met Ozzy, man. He came running up to the table, and we were all kind of sitting with Sharon and Jack and Kelly at catering.

And he was running up to talk to Sharon about something. And Sharon stopped. He goes, Ozzy, these are that band that I was telling you about, the nine-member band, Slipknot. And Ozzy, without even missing a beat, he goes, He goes, he goes, non-members, I want to be number 10. And I just went. It was rad. I've never heard that before. Yeah, it was very, very cool. It was me.

Joey, I think Fane was sitting there. A clown might have been, but we were all just getting, because we'd played, you know, so I'm sitting there with my notebook, you know, I'm having lunch, and then all of a sudden, you know. He said he wants to meet number 10. Fucking crazy, dude. I've been very fortunate to meet a lot of my heroes, for lack of a better term, man. And I'm also very fortunate to be able to call them.

acquaintances and friends you know obviously duff is one of my good friends in this he was shouting you out lately too dude you know i mean it's you know he's one of the to me he's one of the most special songwriters rock stars that he's been through hell and back he's the dude who i look to because when he wants to change something about himself he just does it yeah he doesn't get on a

uh soapbox and give you a dissertation on why he's doing it he just does it you know and to me that is the quintessential example of a strong person. I won't even say man. Right. Just a strong person. Sure. And that's something that I try to emulate, man. You know, when there are things going on in my life... I don't go out and just blather about it in the press. I just fucking do it, you know? There's things that have happened in my life that nobody fucking knows about. Right.

You're not on social media like that now. No, because I got off of social media. I have a close friend. Run it for me. I make sure that I post stuff. But I don't need those endorphins anymore. And I realized that by getting off of social media, I spend so much more time with my family. I'm f***ing present. Hell yeah. There's so many wormholes and rabbit holes that you can f***ing find yourself burying yourself in that, you know, it really should be f***ing.

Well, it comes down to people's personal choices. But I've seen what it can do to people when people are too stuck. Right. You know, I mean, at that point, their hand is just replaced by a fucking selfie. It's addictive. It's it. You know, it's very addictive. And they knew it was. Yes.

And they let it f***ing happen anyway. When you grow up and you watch, like, cartoons, you know, when you're growing up, they would depict this television where it was that circular. Right. That's it. Now. You literally have that now. And now... It used to be you'd just go into the room where the addiction was. Now it's everywhere you go. Yeah. I mean, I remember being a kid. I've always been very much into tech, and I just remember thinking, I'll have a TV on my watch.

And you've got worse than that, where I think we'll look back on phones one day and go, it wasn't a great idea. But we're going to say that about AI anyway. Yeah, I think AI is also a little startling. There's good parts of AI, maybe in some fields, but when you get into the creative aspect, I don't know. Well, now you've just given people one more reason not to fucking trust anything. Yeah.

What are we trying to prove, right? What's the point of it? What is the point? Yeah, it's great. Everybody's using it as a toy right now. But what happens when somebody programs AI to create... the most realistic video of the Russian f***ing prime minister f***ing declaring war on a country. And then all of a sudden, that country takes it f***ing serious. And then they f***ing... And then one thing leads to another.

And now we're exchanging fire. Yeah. And it's just a domino effect across the world. What happens when that f***ing happens? You know what I'm saying? It's people don't f***. They don't think anymore. They just do. Everybody thinks they're the f***ing Heath Ledger Joker. They just do things. Guess what? You don't always have to f***ing do things, you asshat. Figure it the f*** out, you mook.

No, yeah, I mean, the AI stuff is not... It's scary when you mess with, like, ChatGBT, or another one I've been messing with is Midjourney, and it's shocking how... It can draw an extremely accurate image and things and it's not good. I think there's more drawbacks. It needs to be dealt with.

You know, you've done so much in your life, you've gotten to do a lot of really cool shit. Is there anything on your bucket list you haven't done that you're like, man, I gotta do, whether it's in music or out? Like skydiving? I've done that. I don't recommend it. I did not enjoy it. Really? Yeah, it's the reason I'm not going to do it again. Was it scary? I had the third worst landing.

that you could ever f***ing possibly have. Oh, my goodness. Obviously, the first is you die. Second is you break every f***ing bone in your body. Right. The third was what I had, which was... I ruptured my eardrum. This is while I was on tour, by the way. Oh, my goodness. Ruptured my eardrum, gave myself a concussion, sprained my thumb. My thumb came all the way back and hit my arm like that. This giant knot on the top of my head.

um and i was spun around in such a way that my neck should have probably been broken um yeah it was it was no fun it was all because we got about we got about 100 feet off the ground And this crosswind caught us. Right. And mind you, I'm hanging off the front of a six-foot man. Like a baby Bjorn. You know? So I'm attached to this dude. Like we're f***ing, you know, conjoined twins.

And it grabs us, and it just went, boom, like that. And it f***ed me up. We were in New Zealand, so I'm on tour. And I come up, and I mean, it was crazy, dude. And I couldn't hear out of this ear for... Yeah, at least two months while it healed. Jeez, man. Yeah, I mean, it was fucking gnarly. And like I said, I had a concussion, so I don't remember a lot of it. But it was, yeah, it was gnarly. My thumb swelled up about the size of my wrist.

And so I walked around. So, yeah, I'd skydiving forever. I would probably bungee jump again before I went skydiving, to be honest, which I didn't enjoy either. But I was just crazy enough. that i was like i'm gonna do it i did a crane which was the biggest crane i'd ever seen in my life and

Scared the ever living out of me. What do you do is like a hobby like what when you're away from music like what's the Random thing that you're like, you know, I read man. I read a lot I write um I hang out with my kids, you know? I mean, when you have kids, hobbies are kind of few and far between, you know what I mean? Like, there's still shit that I would love to watch that I haven't got to catch up on, you know?

But other than that, I'm lucky enough that some of my hobbies kind of bleed into the stuff that I actually want to do professionally. You asked me what I want to do. Yeah. I have a series of novels that I want to write. Hell yeah. Which I'm still toying with, and I keep tiptoeing and starting and restarting the first chapter, but I know...

The the stories that I want to tell I just need time to do it tonight something I don't allow myself because I'm a crazy person I Want to score a movie which I'm actually on the verge of doing oh that would be sick because you and you're so much into horror oh yeah absolutely yeah and i actually was just in a movie not too long ago and i'm actually that's the movie i'm actually getting a an opportunity to score so

I'm pretty stoked about that. I'll probably release the score through Decibel Cooper. So I have a built-in reason to really make sure that I do it really, really good. But I've already got like four... to five pieces written in my head that I just need to get the final cut to so I can kind of map, like, just really put it together. It'd probably take me two days to do it. Because I work really fast. I know exactly what I want to hear.

I know exactly the pieces that I want to do because I know the movie because I was in it. So I had that head start on it. How much are you worried about? I don't know how much you can share on it, but how much of the movie are you... This is like a film or a documentary? That's a film. Yeah, so I'm acting again. That's awesome, man. I don't know if that's a good thing. I don't know if anybody's seen my other movies, but it's not like I'm Olivier over here.

I'm not trying to win any Oscars. No, you're chasing what you want to win. Yeah, man. It's one of those things that... If I'm afforded the opportunity to do it, I'm going to do it. Because I just love to try and do shit. If the time permits, I can fly in and out. I did it really quick.

And I did it around their schedule so I could do it, you know, around my schedule and I could come home and be a dad. Sure. So, yeah. So, I mean, there's still a handful of things that I want to do. Right. And that I'm looking to try and do. I'm being proactive to do them. But once I run out of ideas, I'll just be like, all right, it's time to find my favorite chair and gain some weight. That'll be what I do. You really think this is the selfish slipknot?

diehard fan in me. You really think that you will retire at some point in the near future? You deserve it. I mean, you've done it all. I mean, I've already said that physically I maybe have five years left, but at the same time... I go out of my way to really try to take care of myself. Now, I have a lot of miles on me. It's hard for me. People don't realize this, but when I walk, I'm almost in constant pain.

I didn't know that. Yeah. I know you've had some knee issues. I've had the knee. It's the knees. It's my feet. I have a broken toe on this foot. I have gout across my feet. Oh, man. It gets up into my joints and shit. Yeah, it's tough. I'm not as nimble as I used to be. I'm not 35 anymore. It's hard. But... There are ways to do shows that don't require being that crazy. And crazy travel.

Well, that's the problem. The travel doesn't lend itself to being healthy. Right. Because at that point, it's not like being home. You've got all your stuff. You're kind of at the mercy of what's there for you. Sure. So you're going to eat like shit. You're going to sleep like shit. You're going to feel like shit. And nine times out of ten, you're going to play like shit. We don't want that. So it's tough. Even a guy at my level.

It's not always, you know, laid out catering and, you know, the best food for the best people. Sometimes it's a soggy sandwich at 1230 in the... And you're looking at it going, if I put this in my body, I'm going to throw up. It's not glamorous. It's not. That's what people. People don't get that. Traveling is rough. You know why they think that is because that's all they see on Instagram, on TikTok.

on this and that and you're seeing the commercials it's a grind yeah it's it's something man there have been times we've gotten off stage we've gone right to the airport flown out We don't sleep until 7 the next day. And now we're just all f***ed up, man. And our crew gets it even worse. Right. Because they have to f***ing go in, make sure everything's good, and then they can go f***ing take a nap.

So it's not gravy all the time, man. It's tough. It's hard fucking work. Even at our level, it's hard work. Well, I don't want to hold you too much. I just got a couple more questions here, and this is the best conversation I could have asked for. Only because I don't know when to shut up, dude. No, dude, this has been freaking kick-ass. I am 11 out of 10 stoked about this, dude.

This is so great. So just a couple more fun ones. Would you be interested in doing something in pro wrestling again? If they came calling and it all made sense, would you, whether it's a manager? You know, the funny thing is, is I, you know. A few years ago, I was talking to H about it, and he was just like, would you want to do anything? I was like, man, listen, I wouldn't want to do anything. that A, I couldn't put over, and B, didn't look real.

When me and Corbin had our thing, I at least was still pretty physical. I sold it as well as I could. He was genius. We had a lot of fun. It was so cool. I don't know. There's no way I could work a match because of my knees. I mean, I just physically can't do it. You could kind of promo, though. Well, yeah. I mean, I could be a manager. I could do something like that.

But again, it's the time. Right. You're so busy. When you have any of those companies, AEW, WWE, NXT, fucking Ring of Honor, any of those companies.

That's a commitment, you know, that I would have to take time away from certain shit or I'd have to do it in the time that I afford my family. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? You don't want to give that up. And at this point in my life. that time is becoming even more precious to me. And you're right for that. Yeah, I mean, it still bums me out that there are huge pieces of Griffin's life that I...

I'll never get to see because I was working. Now he understands it now because if he's doing it, but that doesn't change the fact, you know. So it's so learning that it's made me turn around and look at my daughter's life now and go, no, no. Right. I need to make sure that I'm there for her. You deserve that, man. You give it so much of yourself. If I don't make the time, nobody's going to make it for me. You know what I'm saying? Because everybody else...

has got their own wants and needs that they need. If I don't make it a priority, nobody else is going to. So that's what I've learned. in this life is if you don't make something a priority, nobody else is going to f***ing make it for you. You're right about that, 100%. So, yeah. I mean, it's... At the end of the day, when it's time for me to... to stop I'll work from home but I'll still be working maybe do the odd show here and there oh yeah but I'll

I won't be depressed because I'll have my whole family to hang out with. So would I do something with WD? It all depends. I've been lucky enough they've had me on their shows and whatnot. That's been fun. Just you know just doing color stuff But other than that man, I wouldn't be able to make the commitment and I would not I'm not the guy who would show up

and get paid to do something that I couldn't do. Right. Yeah, I just want a Corey Taylor, WrestleMania run, heat, heel, manager. Oh, and I would have all the heat. You'd kill it, dude. I'd have all the heat, dude. I'd have X-Pac key. Yeah, dude. I would go so deep. Yes. I would go so deep with the shit because I wouldn't care. Hell yeah. You know?

But then again, they'd probably be like, okay, we're spending more in security than you're actually making right now. We're going to have to let you go. Hell yeah. Okay, so that's sound you hear right now. It's a downpour. It is pouring. It has been dumping here for hours. I'm going to walk a mile to my car with these cameras. I'm not.

And it's going to be great. It's fine. We're going to give him a plastic bag to wear on his head. It's been worth it. Okay, two more questions for you. You sent two questions four questions ago. All right. What's one of the proudest moments from your entire career? Oh, fuck, dude. I don't know. I don't know, to be honest, man. The first time we headlined download, and then headlining download a month ago. It's crazy pouring, like hurricane pouring.

I mean, I'll be honest, dude. Just the fact that we're still here. Yes. You know, there's a culmination. There's so many little moments that when you look at them... will never compare to the fact that we're still here. This type of shelf life doesn't exist for bands like us. It doesn't exist for guys like me. You know what I mean? I'm very fortunate that I've had success with pretty much everything that I've done.

That comes down to the acceptance of the fans, the fact that I've been able to stay at it at this level. My proudest moment hasn't happened yet. It just keeps getting... better and better for me and I'm I'm I'm just happy to be here well on that note I want to thank you so much for doing this dude you you came on the channel

before anybody did when it was very new. I got to watch Slipknot from the side of the stage. I will never forget that. I grew up truly loving your band. I love you guys just as much now as ever. I'm grateful you guys are still doing this because it's had a huge impact on my life. So thank you for the entertainment. That new record, I'm genuinely stoked about that. I know you're bringing the rock and roll. September 15th.

everybody we got a ride for this record he came on this channel he didn't have to do it and we're grateful for that so Corey thank you dude very welcome