USA TODAY International Edition
Slipknot star: ‘ Suck it up,’ wear mask
Corey Taylor knows a thing or two about wearing a mask.
As the frontman of heavy metal band Slipknot for more than two decades, Taylor has performed in a wide array of the group’s signature, frequently terrifying masks. Which is why the outspoken singer gets ticked off when he sees people refuse to wear face coverings to protect themselves and others from coronavirus.
“If I can wear a mask for two, three hours a night, you can wear one for five, 10 minutes in the grocery store. Suck it up,” he says. “It’s tough for me to watch people being stupid and not say something. At the same time, the minute you say something, people accuse you of playing politics when it’s actually just common sense.”
Taylor, for his part, is completely unmasked on his debut solo album “CMFT” ( the title is an explicit acronym for his name), out Friday. The 13- track effort is a stark departure from the kind of songs he made with Slipknot or Stone Sour, the hard rock band he cofounded in 1992.
“I have such a crazy amalgam of music that has influenced me,” says Taylor, 46, citing inspirations as varied as Johnny Cash, Black Flag and Ice Cube for “CMFT.” He chats with USA TODAY about going solo and more.
Question: What do you get out of being a solo artist that you don’t from
Slipknot or Stone Sour?
Corey Taylor: The ability to have more creative control. When it comes to both bands, obviously we work as a collective. With this, it’s a singular vision and one that I wasn’t completely ready to do until now because I was never confident enough. Hearing it back, it’s really made me hungry to do it again. It’s such an upbeat, energetic album. Sometimes being in that Slipknot frame of mind can really weigh you down. Especially if you have demons you need to purge, it’s the best vehicle for it. But that’s not me all the time, I’m not a brooding 20- year- old anymore. I’m a guy heading toward 50 who still just wants to make music and have fun.
Q: Some longtime Slipknot fans have complained about your new sound on social media. Are you at a point in your career where you’re just done caring?
Taylor: I never really did, to be honest. I can remember when ( Slipknot’s 2014 album) “. 5” came out, everybody was like, “Oh, they’ve lost it! That’s it.” And then when “We Are Not Your Kind” came out ( last year), they were like, “This doesn’t sound anything like ‘. 5’! “The mob is almost always wrong, and maybe they should just keep their ( opinions) to themselves. People have been putting expectations on me and us since the first album, so all you can do is make music for yourself and hope people are as into it as you are.
Q: “Home” is a more emotional, stripped- down song than we’ve ever heard from you. What’s the story behind that one?
Taylor: “Home” was the first song that I wrote for my wife ( dancer Alicia Dove, whom he married last fall). I played it for her at our wedding and it’s probably the best description of her ever – just this wonderful person I’ve spent a lifetime trying to find. “Black Eyes Blue” is about her as well. It’s about us in London for the first time together. She’d never been and seeing her so stoked kind of shook me out of a funk I’d been in for a while. That song is about letting go of hang- ups and depression, and just remembering that you can’t take things for granted.
Q: To celebrate the album’s release, you’re live streaming an audienceless show Friday from the Forum arena in Los Angeles called “Forum or Against ’ Em.” How did the concert come together?
Taylor: The name came together as a joke. Me and ( Stone Sour guitarist) Christian Martucci were talking about if we ever headlined the Forum, what would we call the live show? And he said, “Forum or Against ‘ Em,” and we both laughed way too much. As dads, our sense of humor is really ridiculous. So when my manager hit me up about doing a live stream, I said, “Can we do the Forum? Let’s go big! Full production, full pyro.” And it was all because we had a name we were cackling about.