Interviews: Corey Taylor: ‘I’ve Been Blessed This Year’

As the Stone Sour and Slipknot frontman looks back on his year, one thing's very clear: it's been quite a hectic one...

Posted Tuesday, 28 December 2010 in

Whatever Corey Taylor ends up doing in 2011 this year just past will echo loudly. Slipknot's legacy and potential comeback, Stone Sour's mutation from alt.rock contenders to genuine superstars in their own right... both his bands underwent huge transformations in the 12 months just past, so we caught up with the ever-chatty singer to talk the past, future and family.

What's been your favourite moment of 2010?
“I guess watching the success of the single ‘Say You’ll Haunt Me,’ because that was a song that the record label didn’t even believe in at first. They said it was an album track at best. Then when we recorded it, it became something really fucking special, like ‘Holy Jesus Christ!’ and I was like ‘Yeah, fuck you.’ So it became Number One for like six weeks in one chart, a Number One in another for three weeks, again Number One in something different. It also climbed other charts and that’s fucking fantastic. To me, that shows everything we’ve worked for in Stone Sour, and it’s a great moment.”

Who's been your favourite new band of this year?
“A band I got into a lot over this past year was Mumford And Sons. That band are really fucking different and that’s why I like them so much, and I’m sure people will read this and go ‘Woah they’re not a fucking metal band!’ but seriously, a lot of metal bands they all sound the same. I don’t give a shit about the same; I want something that’s going to touch me. They’re doing really well as well at the moment too, the fuckers.”

Out of all the shows you've played this year, which one will you remember longest?
“Now this is a hard question, because Download 2010 was off the wall. But I also just played a sold out show in front of 13,000 people in Birmingham where we closed the night, and everyone sang so loudly that my in-ear monitor wasn’t working. I couldn’t hear myself, I was like ‘Is it broken?’ I couldn’t hear myself, and that was from the sheer volume of the audience. And the whole run we’ve done with Avenged Sevenfold has been fantastic. I mean Glasgow and Manchester, they were rammed! Somebody threw a shoe at my face [in Manchester], and I caught it in Matrix mode and threw it back. It was fun and I’ve been blessed with a lot of great shows this year.”

What do you think has been your greatest achievement this year?
“Keeping my kids alive for another year is a huge thing. I mean, if you’re going to be a father you worry about that. The book I’ve written [on the Seven Deadly Sins] was completed this year and the album 'Audio Secrecy' was written. That’s such a great album and it was an achievement because in many ways it’s a big departure from anything I’ve done before. A lot of people may not like it, but fuck, it’s what I want to do. I’ve been doing this professionally for 12 years now, my whole life, and there’s no ceiling on it yet. It’s still growing. Stone Sour are getting new fans in all of the time too and that’s my greatest achievement not only capturing the imagination but still putting out quality music and challenging myself in the process to make the best quality music I can. I can take those few more steps towards immortality and so 2010 as a whole year is my achievement.”

But considering how busy you are is it tough to spend so much time away from your kids?
“It’s hard being away from home, but I did that to myself, and at the same time, retroactively it makes me appreciate the time I have at home even more. My kids know that I love them and it’s also important for me to show them through hard work that you can achieve anything you want. I’m able to provide a home for them, set up their college funds, they’re fed, they’re clothed and they have everything that I never had. That to me is priority number one, and all of this is just frosting on the cake. If I wasn’t able to take care of my kids and I want to try and show them and instil in them that it takes a long time to achieve this. But when you achieve it you can have anything you fucking want.”