“WE ASKED THE FUCKER TO WHISTLE!”

Johannes explains why Corey Taylor did an unusual guest spot on A Secret Door

HOW DID COREY TAYLOR END UP IN THE STUDIO?

“He came to visit with his wife, who was also a fan of Avatar, and we have opened for Slipknot before. And a million years ago, we opened for Stone Sour as well. Aside from that, he’s also worked with Jay [Ruston, producer] a lot and they have become good friends, so it was a, ‘Hey man, we’re gonna be in town, mind if we swing by and say hi? And actually I can lay something down on something if they’re interested.’”

WHY DID YOU ASK HIM TO WHISTLE ON A SECRET DOOR?

“We are huge South Park fans, and in season one, George Clooney plays a dog and Jay Leno was a cat. So what do you do if you bring in this titan, this voice of our generation? We were 14 when the first Slipknot album came out, and I covered Duality in school, and Jonas Jarlsby [guitars] and John [Alfredsson, drums] covered (sic). Well, you ask that fucker to whistle. And he loved it. And he did a much better job than I did on the demo – he’s a better whistler. So it was also done for good reason.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE RECORDING WITH HIM?

“We giggled all the way to the sound booth, but then once you stand there, you get serious. You can’t help yourself. That is also music. And in itself there’s nothing funny about it. It’s a part of a song. So… it became very serious in that moment, and then it’s funny afterwards how serious it is. It was just a nice time. A cup of coffee, chit-chat, listen to some songs, and hang out a bit and scream a bit in the song booth together. He’s a really nice man.”