Heavy metal nine-piece Slipknot<\/a> have won over tons of metalheads with their sonic intensity and live sets.<\/p>\n Now the mask-wearing madmen are teaming up with Black Sabbath<\/a> to throw the monster of all metal festivals when Ozzfest Meets Knotfest<\/a> at San Manuel Amphitheater<\/a> in San Bernardino, CA on September 24 & 25.<\/p>\n We got a chance to catch up with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor to discuss all the details \u2013 plus get the inside scoop on the group’s live show, his recent emergency spinal surgery, and his surprising love of soul singers like Prince and Lionel Richie. But, if there’s one thing we learned from talking to him, it’s that there’s a lot going on under Corey Taylor’s mask.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BI3IZCLAupy\/<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> You joined Slipknot a couple years after the band formed. How did you first get involved with the group?<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> For the most part, we all knew each other, because we all grew up in the scene. We played gigs together in different variations: my band would open for Joey (Jordison’s) band, and we would all play with Clown (Crahan’s) band. I had actually moved to Denver for about six months to try my hand at starting a band out there, because I was convinced I was never going to make it big in Des Moines \u2013 ironically. I came back and all the sudden there was this Des Moines supergroup called Slipknot that was happening with all of these people that I knew. I remember going to their first show and being blown away. Stone Sour and Slipknot did some shows together and then one thing led to another. I don’t know if it was just mutual respect, but those guys approached me about joining the band and after some consideration, I decided to take the gig.<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> How were those early days? What was it like playing your first live shows together?<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> It was chaos man. You get those good vibes when you know you’re onto something, just that raw, palpable vibe that you get when you’re in the room and you’re making some crazy stuff happen. But for me it was also a learning experience. I was so used to being the guy in the band that had the ideas, and now I was a part of this brain trust where you could bounce ideas off of people and really flesh stuff out. It was much less the frontman-driven vehicle and more about the collective, which I really found appealing at the time. It was “all for one and one for all,” and we were ready to musketeer across the country.<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> How has the live show evolved during your 17 years in the band?<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> It’s always a reflection of where we are in our lives. Obviously the first five years were pretty brutal, just because we were young and nuts, full of all the crazy stuff that tends to kill people after a while. The next five was a renaissance for us, trying different things and dabbling with different kinds of staging and production. Especially as the band got bigger and bigger. And then the last five, after dealing with the loss of Paul [Gray] and splitting ways with Joe, we had to figure out who we were as a band again \u2013 and the staging reflected that. So, for the first year and a half it was very much fire, pyro, and all that crazy stuff. But then we went for a more technological, visual, electronic vibe. We have a giant video screen and each song that we play has different video content that Clown programmed. We upped our lighting package to keep it as visual as possible. Plus, with this band, you could come to twelve different shows and watch a different band member, and you\u2019d get a different show each time.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BFUKuaRoRvQ\/<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> Crowds feed off the chaotic energy the group brings to the stage. How do you amp yourselves up before shows?<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> The cool thing about this band is that we’ve always thrown our energy in the pot for each other. We get each other ready for the show, we walk around, we talk to each other, we hug, and then we get in a big huddle before the show. That really brings us together and puts us on the same page. As far as when we get on stage, our dedication to what we do has never changed. Even as we’ve gotten older and we’ve broken more and more parts of our bodies [laughs], it’s still second nature to us. We dedicate ourselves to absolutely trying to be the best live band \u2013 and just the best band period \u2013 that we can be.<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened during a live show?<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> Oh, God. You’ve gotta remember, this is a band that used to set each other on fire with lighter fluid [laughs]. Like, it wasn’t anything that you would see on the set of a movie, this was just us being dumb and nuts. We’ve always been a little out of it, we’ve always been a lot crazy, we’ve always been very physical. As the years have gone by, it’s kind of changed. It seems like for every iteration of us, something new happens. But the last couple years has been more about making sure we’re all on the same page and going for it.<\/p>\n Ticketmaster:<\/strong> What does your mask symbolize about you and how has your mask changed over time?<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/015PLJoRjJ\/?hl=en<\/p>\n Corey:<\/strong> When we first started out, the mask was the visual representation of who I was on the inside. Because when it comes to making Slipknot music and art and everything in between \u2013 that mask was the person that had been begging to get out. Over the years it’s changed a lot visually. It comes from a different stand point, and it’s come to represent different phases of my life.<\/p>\n This one that I’m wearing now has two layers, so it’s a mask behind a mask. It signifies the person behind the mask, who’s also behind that mask. It deals with layers and it deals with what we choose to show the world while we’re still dealing with something, even if we might possibly be lying to ourselves. It has to do with levels of honesty, which are completely different from levels of fact.<\/p>\n