Stone Sour Live @ Kerrang! Radio

The legend that is Corey Taylor came to Kerrang! Radio this week to hang out, answer questions, perform live and host a world exclusive!

As well as treating us to stunning acoustic renditions of Stone Sour favourites ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Through Glass’ with his bandmate Josh Rand, for the first time on planet earth Corey held an impromptu fan playback of Stone Sour’s epic new album ‘House of Gold & Bones Part 1’ in its entirety.

Quite possibly Stone Sour’s most accomplished work yet, the record is darker, more brutal and lyrically potent than their previous efforts yet still contains the driving melodies we’ve come to love. Really, its release on 22nd October can’t come soon enough!

You can see photos from Corey and Josh’s live performance RIGHT HERE.

Check out the video of the band performing "Through Glass" below:

Corey also found the time to answer some questions where he discussed his love of Gotye, working with Slash, how he finds the right balance between Stone Sour and Slipknot and Josh’s plans to get naked on stage. Read the full interview below.

Corey Taylor Q&A

How do you find the time to successfully juggle Stone Sour and Slipknot? Corey: “I don’t sleep a lot! Honestly, it’s just about focus. When I’m focused on one that’s where I’m at. It doesn’t mean that I can’t do work on my off time which I obviously fing do. It’s just about throwing yourself into it. I know a lot of guys who do different projects and I always think it’s less than it could be because they divide themselves too much. Whereas if you prioritise and handle your time and you just fing throw everything you’ve got in the project, when you’re in that project, I think you have just as much passion and quality in that thing so I just try to focus on one and maintain the other while I’m focused on that one.

“Did you like the album?! You have no idea what’s coming with Part 2 as well, there’s some serious sh*t on that album. Josh does an, erm, well I can’t tell you. I could, but I’m not going to tell you!”

How do you guys keep fit on tour? Corey: “That’s pretty much it, being on tour. Josh works out like a fanatic, I sometimes do depending upon what mood I’m in but when we’re on the road and on stage, it’s a very f**ing active show y’know – between running around like an idiot and sweating balls all the time you tend to lose a few calories and pounds and sht. I mean, I don’t really watch what I eat – I eat the same sh*t I did when I was 20, which was probably bad, I fried things, it tastes so good.

What new bands are you listening to at the moment? Corey: “I tend to go backwards rather than forwards because nine times out of ten a lot of newer music is kind of sh*t – they know who they are and they should be ashamed of themselves! I tell you what and I make no fing bones about it that Gotye song really nailed me, I catch myself singing that ‘now you’re just somebody …’ , it gets into you! I’m like f! I like that, I haven’t listened to the rest of the album but I’d probably like to.

“The new Anthrax, ‘Worship Music’, if you’re into metal that album alone will get you destroyed moshing. Just from the opening line I was f**ing jumping around my house. Other than that I still listen to stuff I grew up with, it was a weird dichotomy in my house – I was listening to hard rock and metal and sht and my mum was a Motown and disco person, so you kind of grow up with that “F*CK YEAH!” and then you want to shake your ass. I think that’s why my taste is so diverse and it has remained so over the years.”

Who are your top five musical influences? Corey: “Good lord, let’s see - Bing Crosby, I’m not joking! Obviously Metallica, y’know, they were so formative. In terms of British inspiration The Who, Iron Maiden, obviously, and Sabbath. Discharge f*** yes, that’s one of those bands that unless you’re in the moment listening to them you kind forget. They’re a very underrated band, they’ve influenced a lot of American hardcore that I was listening to when I was growing up. The Stones, I love The Stones and pretty much every band from the 70’s punk era – everyone from The Damned to The Clash, Crash and The Buzzcocks. You guys (the UK) have kinda monopolised a lot of good music!”

!Are you ever going to work with Slash? “I’ve done some jamming with him. I did some shows with him and the guy’s sick! He makes fing up sound good too! He’s one of those guys that’s like ‘scales?! F scales!’ So he’ll be ghosting in and out of the key and you’re like ‘that shouldn’t work’ and yet it does and it just sounds so sexy. If he ever asked and I was into it then f*** yeah, absolutely.”

When are Stone Sour next playing in he UK? “In November and December with Papa Roach and a band that’s still yet to be announced. I’m trying to get The Blackout. We’re just going to try and make it a massive night… Josh is going to get nude or at least we’ll coax him into his little hotpants, I mean the man cuts a nice figure.”

Have you ever thought of taking Knotfest (the two night festival Slipknot hosted in America this summer) on tour and making it something like Ozzfest? “We’re actually in talks right now to figure something out internationally for Knotfest. It’s still a long way off. This year was an incredible success because it was small, we didn’t try to overstretch our boundaries and stretch ourselves creatively so if we continue to be very practical about it should be nothing to get it over here. I know some people have hit us up about doing it, not only here but France, Germany has asked, once we’ve figured it out you guys will be at least the fourth to know.”

How does it feel to have changed so many lives? “Don’t make me blush! I don’t really think about it, I appreciate it y’know. I would hope that people just enjoy the music – music changed my life, it changed Josh’s life, it’s just something that we hope will continue the journey. We’re just trying to get better and hope people will come with us so thank you for that.”

When was the first time you realised you were a big rock star and was it difficult not to turn into an arsehole?! “Haha. You gotta understand that half the time I forget that people know me, especially in Des Moines, I’ll be walking around and someone will be like ‘can I get a picture?’ and I’ll be like ‘oh yeah’. Honestly, it’s a by-product, it’s not the whole reason I do it. How do I keep myself from being an arsehole?! First of all you’re assuming I’m not! I’m sure Josh could put in a couple of healthy words about me.

“I have my moments just like everybody else does, especially being a singer and a frontman you have to have a fing huge ego to do this and I have one, trust me! But I keep it in check. I’m surrounded by people who keep it in check because they know I dedicate myself to just being a good person and being the best person I can knowing that I have a responsibility not only to myself but to my family, to keep it together y’know. When I was younger I let it off the chain a lot to be honest especially when I was drinking, when I was carousing as they say. But then I kind of woke up and thought it’s not worth it – I’d rather be healthy than unhealthy, I’d rather be happy than exist in just this romanticised version of what this life is. Once I did that I was able to let a lot of s go.

“I still have those moments when I want to go (shouts) ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO THE F*** I AM?!!’ That’s part of this, this is an industry that’s dedicated to propping people up and encouraging a lot of that bad behaviour.”

Are you still overwhelmed by it all? “Oh f yeah. There are still moments. The perfect example is Download 2009 when we headlined, I was just like, I couldn’t believe it. You go from high school and reading about Donington, fing Maiden and Guns N Roses and Metallica and all these bands that have crushed it there and all of a sudden there you are and you’re like ‘UHHHH, WHY AM I HERE?!’. Then you realise, man this was 10 years of hard work and dedicating yourself to being the best. Standing on there, that’s the closest I’ve ever come to crying out of sheer joy in front of 100,000 people. To this day it still surprises me.”

Do you still get nervous? “Puking up depends on how much coffee I’ve had! I’ve wretched a couple of times. If you ever see me on stage pull the mic away where I’m supposed to be singing it’s because I’m gagging. I don’t get nervous any more, I get anxious. I’m luckily one of those singers that can’t wait to get on stage – I’m not going to make the audience wait three fing hours those people are fing dicks.”

Axl Rose? “I didn’t say that!”

Out of all the Stone Sour albums, which one is your favourite? “This one, definitely. It just seems like the culmination of everything we’ve been trying to do. I’m very proud of the first three albums, there were some really good songs, but these two albums actually (‘House of Gold & Bones Part 1 & 2’) feel like the culmination of knowing who we are and having the confidence to write the kind of music we’ve dedicated ourselves to and the fact that we’re still trying different things. These are very dark albums, there’s a lot of heavy stuff and melodic stuff and styles we’ve never tried before and it made for some very interesting sounds. The fact that we were able to rise to the challenge of making something so big and grand as with the story and the albums and the artwork and the packaging, working on all the little things that go into this whole experience. The fact that we were able to take that and go above and beyond, I’m very proud of that.”