Slipknot revealed in 2021 that they would be leaving Roadrunner Records after over 20 years with the label, officially fulfilling their contract with the release of their 2022 album, The End, So Far. In a new interview with Rock Feed Podcast, band frontman Corey Taylor opened up about the group’s future, sharing that “it is kind of exciting again” to be able to “do whatever we want.”
“Now, we don’t have to run our ideas by anybody,” he said. “We don’t have to try and force it through this corporate filter, which they were always trying to do, and we just kept telling them to f— off. We were going to do what we wanted to do. So now we can almost do carte blanche. There’s a handful of things that we’re talking about doing right now, but the cool thing is there’s no timeline.”
“We don’t have to have a timeline,” he added as far as releasing music on a certain schedule. “We could put something out if we want to [and] We can go in and write a bunch of s— together and then maybe pick the four or five best songs from it and just release that, see what happens.”
Opens Up On The Future Of Slipknot
Taylor shared that he and his bandmates are “trying to get through these next shows and do our thing so we can catch our breath, kind of see what’s next.”
“I know that some of the guys are chomping at the bit to write, which is cool,” he said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve all been really excited to get in the same room again and throw f—ing ideas out, really kind of go old school with it. So that’s where we’re at. We can still feel that passion plopping up again. So that’s going to be exciting.
The 49-year-old also opened up about why the band decided to leave the label, explaining that things just weren’t the same as they were when Slipknot began releasing albums with Roadrunner in 1999.
“Roadrunner had gone from the pinnacle of being the number one metal and rock label, really, to stand up with the big boys, it went from that to being a hallway in Warner Brothers, and it was embarrassing,” Taylor opined. “The people who we were working with, the majority of the people we were working with, they didn’t care.”
Corey Taylor On Possible Retirement
In addition to the future of Slipknot, Taylor discussed his own plans going forward, sharing that he still has “a handful of things that I want to do.”
“I’m being proactive to do them,” he said. “But once I run out of ideas, I’ll just be like, all right, it’s time to find my favorite chair and gain some weight. That’ll be what I do.”
When asked about an official retirement, Taylor referred back to a comment he had made estimating that he physically has around “five years left” but does “go out of my way to really try to take care of myself.”
“I’m Almost In Constant Pain”
Despite his good habits, decades as the frontman of a heavy metal band have taken a toll on Taylor, who admitted that “it’s hard for me.”
“People don’t realize this, but when I walk, I’m almost in constant pain,” he revealed. “It’s the knees. It’s my feet. I have a broken toe on this foot. I have gout across my feet. It gets up into my joints and s—. It’s tough. I’m not as nimble as I used to be. I’m not 35 anymore. It’s hard. But there are ways to do shows that don’t require being that crazy.”
He added that constantly touring “doesn’t lend itself to being healthy,” explaining that while on the road, “you’re kind of at the mercy of what’s there for you.” “So you’re going to eat like s—. You’re going to sleep like s—. You’re going to feel like s—, and nine times out of 10 you’re going to play like s—. We don’t want that. So it’s tough.”
The singer ultimately noted that “when it’s time for me to stop, I’ll work from home, but I’ll still be working.”
“Maybe do the odd show here and there,” he said. “But I won’t be depressed because I’ll have my whole f—ing family to hang out with.”
Additionally, Corey Taylor recently released his second solo album, CMF2, which features 13 tracks. The singer is currently embarking on his headlining 2023 world tour, which kicked off on August 25 in Denver, Colorado. The trek continues through December 3, where the CMF2 World Tour wraps up in Brisbane, Australia.
For more information on Corey Taylor’s latest release and his upcoming tour, visit his official website HERE.
