COREY TAYLOR: 'I've Never Seen A Band Like SLIPKNOT Where Rust Just Does Not Stick To Us For Some Reason'

During a new appearance on the "Zach Sang Show", SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor addressed his previous comment that he and his bandmates are "not necessarily people who would've been friends" if it had not been for the fact that they are playing together in the same group. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I know that, that quote has been taken and run with for a lot of people, but what people don't realize is that there's something so much more than friends. The guys in SLIPKNOT, it's family. That's so much deeper than just a friendship. I'm in bands with people who I'm friends with those people, but we're not close. And that's the real difference. When we get on the road with SLIPKNOT, it takes us a second to kind of knock the rust off of our relationships. The playing always just kicks right in. I've never seen a band like SLIPKNOT where rust just does not stick to us for some reason. I mean, we can walk on stage with literally no rehearsal and we sound like we've been touring for two weeks, three weeks. I mean, it's incredible. But that means that something has to have worked. And that's where the relationships in the band have come. That's what we've really had to work on, is embracing each other for who we are and not who we want each other to be. And that's psychosocial behavior. And that's where that term came from, because that's when we really started to talk about trying to get on another level. We had all spent so much time pushing against each other or pushing away from each other that we forgot all the great shit that we had done together and that we appreciated about one another. And that, to me at least, was where I really tried to change my ways and change the things that I said and my approach to how I, you know, appreciate everybody."

Taylor was also pressed about SLIPKNOT's lineup changes over the years and how many people within the band have to be replaced before SLIPKNOT ceases to be SLIPKNOT. He said: "I think as long as there are certain people in the band. 'Cause right now, I mean we have six original people — or no, five, excuse me. And those five, we've kind of been the core for like the longest time. The people who we lost, obviously we would do anything to have them back. But you kind of get on with it, when it comes down to stuff like that. I think if any more people left, it wouldn't be the same. I know I've said in the past that somebody could replace me if I physically couldn't do it. And I've had the guys in the band kind of push back on that and go, 'Taylor, shut the fuck... What are you talking about?' And I'm, like, 'Hey, listen…' To me, SLIPKNOT is a state of mind. SLIPKNOT is an emotion — it's something in your soul that you have to have. What if there was a kid out there who had that same kind of ferocity and had the same chops, man?"

He continued: "If this band wanted to continue without me and if I couldn't do it, I would do everything I could to help it continue. If I just couldn't give to it the same level that I wanted to… It's the old adage: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. If that were the case, then I would 100 percent help them find a replacement and give them my blessings to go out there. Now I'm still pretty spry — I'm not dead yet. I've probably got another 10 years of touring like this — you know, five to 10. So as long as that's the case, I'll still be here; I'll still be doing it. But if it ever came down to making people choose between me and SLIPKNOT, I would totally push them back out there to get out there."

This past June, SLIPKNOT announced the addition of a new keyboardist, two weeks after Taylor and his bandmates revealed the departure of longtime member Craig Jones.

SLIPKNOT played its first show with its new mystery member on June 7 at the Nova Rock festival in Austria. The concert took place hours after the band announced in a social media post that it had parted ways with Jones.

A short time after SLIPKNOT revealed Jones's exit from the group, the band's original post announcing his departure was deleted and a photo was shared of SLIPKNOT's apparent new member. The same unidentified person appeared onstage behind the keyboards at the Nova Rock show and all subsequent SLIPKNOT tour dates.

No reason was given for Jones's departure from SLIPKNOT.

Jones joined SLIPKNOT in early 1996, shortly after the band had finished the recording of its demo album "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." He was initially brought in to replace Donnie Steele, one of the two original guitarists, though he quickly moved on to the role of sampling and keyboards. Following the departure of drummer Joey Jordison in 2013, Jones was the second-longest-serving member in the band.

SLIPKNOT is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "The End, So Far", which was released last September via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to "We Are Not Your Kind", it is the band's final record with Roadrunner after first signing with the rock and metal label in 1998.