Slipknot's Corey Taylor: "You Don't Have to Be Loaded to Fucking Create" | Revolver

Slipknot's Corey Taylor: "You Don't Have to Be Loaded to Fucking Create"

Singer discusses mission to "kill that myth for people"
corey-taylor-getty-2018-chiaki-nozu-wireimage.jpg, Chiaki Nozu/WireImage/Getty
photograph by Chiaki Nozu/WireImage/Getty

Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has been outspoken about his decade-plus sobriety for many years now, and a new episode of The Marshall Podcast, hosted by Daniel P. Carter, sees the singer open up even more on the topic and, particularly, his desire to "kill that myth" that hard drinking and heavy drug-use are beneficial, if not even necessary, to making good rock & roll.

"I think it's encouraged by the people who are actually embedded in that. They want people to think that it's hard to create without chemicals, and that's some addict language," he said, as reported by Blabbermouth. "I used to do that for me, from a performing standpoint. I used to think that I couldn't perform if I didn't have a Jack and Coke — at least one. And then that became two, and then that became half a bottle ... that's addiction." 

"So I think that's a myth perpetuated by addicts who are looking for people to reinforce their dependency," Taylor continued. "And it's easy — especially when you see the antics and hear the, 'Such a great time.' And there were great times. However, that had nothing to do with making an album. That had nothing to do with writing and performing and using your ability. That was the after-effect. That was the after-party."

As evidence, Taylor pointed to the two times he's been "loaded" while recording in the studio and explained how disappointed he was when he heard his work afterward: "I was, like, 'Oh, this is horrible. Why did I do that?'"

The singer did admit that, while being fucked up in the studio and onstage did not work for him, it might work for others, and added that he's not trying to tell people what to do, only to present an alternative. "It is not the law of the land," he concluded. "You don't have to be loaded to fucking create. You don't have to be loaded to fucking have a good time. I actually think you sound better and play better and you have a better energy when you're not [loaded]. Because then the focus is on you. There are no excuses after that. It's you, and that's the rawness of what we do." Listen to the full Marshall Podcast episode — which also features Halestorm's Lzzy Hale — below.