corey
Corey Taylor. AKA the frontman of one of the scariest bands ever. Slipknot
It’s hard to explain to people and young kids these days, but pre and early internet you just didn’t know things. Like, did Marilyn Manson really get a rib removed? Is the Blair Witch Project real? These were just questions that had no answer for a while.
The band Slipknot fed off that fear and understanding. These guys wore masks on stage so scary no one dared to call them stupid for doing so. Like seriously, have a look at some past Slipknot looks, they’re fucking terrifying. They used this to their advantage to become one of the biggest heavy metal bands ever. Their lead singer, the one responsible for such lyrics such as “I want to slit your throat and fuck the wound” is Corey Taylor.
I met Corey on the top floor of New Broadcast house where he has just finished pre recording a takeover show for the Radio 1 rock show. I watched him for an hour on though the glass, record segments, drop tracks and generally have a great time. When his hour was up he came out and shook my hand. During this hour I had taken this time to befriend his PR who was veery down to earth and generally a nice person. She had agreed that they could spare 5 minutes after his show for some portraits. That’s PR code for 15 minutes just so you know.
So after his show I took Corey to the most glamorous part of BBC radio, the white hallway that only the cleaners use, which for some reason has table football in there. I wanted him to open up to me a little bit, so I asked him open questions about band stuff, what it’s like being on tour, what is is like to hear you lyrics back to you etc…he happily sat there and explained what its like the be the frontman to a world famous rock band while I shot images of him doing so.
We even spoke about my time in my old friend Jack’s Vauxhall Corsa where he plays nothing but Slipknot, aside from one band. Soulfly. And their track “Back to the Primitive” which Corey agreed was a song worthy of playing loud. I think this helped him be more receptive to me as a human, rather than just someone there to take his picture.
I then took this moment to unleash my creative vision. He wears masks on stage, I see him as the man with many faces, I wanted to try an in camera effect of his face moving. He laughed and agreed to give it a go. We did 5 tries and I think we nailed it on the 4th. It’s a bit on the nose, but this was one of the first time I managed to execute on a creative idea which came from a persona, rather than something physical.
I hope he had a good time. I certainly did hanging out with an actual music legend. If you haven’t heard it, please just listen to the song “Eyeless” by Slipknot. The line “Motherfuckerrrrr”, at 3:27 is a line that goes down in metal history.
Thanks Corey, lets hang out again soon.
