SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR: 'We Continue Reaching For The Stars And Striving To Be The Best Band We Can Be'

In a brand new interview with RushOnRock.com, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor was asked if anyone in the band had a vision at SLIPKNOT's inception 20 years ago what could be achieved with the group's live show two decades later.

"It's weird," Corey responded. "I never thought this would happen. This was all pretty low on my radar. We always kind of viewed ourselves as a club band. The most we hoped for was to be one of those bands that sells 200,000 copies of an album and can afford to go out on the road. We wanted to play bigger clubs and see what happened. I'll be honest — that was the extent of us reaching for the stars."

He continued: "When we played the clubs, it was a different kind of energy, and we thrived on that energy. At times, it was like playing a jail cell, but it was a very interactive experience. It was just a different show back then. But the day our show crossed the state lines was the day it got out of our control. Nobody was more surprised than we were."

Taylor added: "I keep going back to our [London] Astoria show in 1999 on the World Domination Tour, which was one of the highlights of my life. That still feels like an unbelievable experience for me now. It was so insane and not in a bad way. It was so positive and the crowd was so into it. It was like seeing the RAMONES for the first time or seeing METALLICA for the first time. I've talked to so many people who said they were there that the Astoria must have had a 50,000 capacity back then! I have so many fond memories of that night. It will always have a special place in my heart. But I can also remember the band playing in front of 15 people in a club in Kansas, and back then I don't think anyone had any idea how far SLIPKNOT could go."

Asked if there is a danger that SLIPKNOT's music comes secondary to the show, Taylor said: "It's definitely the music first. That's one of the reasons that we've been able to continue at this level for so long. I think you only have to look at the reaction to the new album to realize that our music is still relevant and is what makes us the band we are. The chips were definitely down when we went into the studio to record '.5: The Gray Chapter', and we didn't know which way the wind was going to blow for us. When we saw that people were digging the new music and the reaction was so positive, we could continue with what we were planning. The music was coming together so well. Me and Clown [percussion] were so excited."

He continued: "The music always has to be the catalyst, however big the band or the show. Bands that don't concentrate on the music plateau. They have that moment and they don't even keep reaching for the stars anymore. Maybe that's the difference between us and a lot of other bands. We continue reaching for the stars and striving to be the best band we can be. We try to put on the best show, because that still really matters to us — but only after we have the music. It's not a paycheck to us. It's real life. Even if we started to rest on our laurels where the entertainment was concerned, the music would always have to be at peak performance. Otherwise there'd be no point."

SLIPKNOT has unveiled the details of a massive summer headlining tour dubbed "Summer's Last Stand". The trek kicks off on July 24 in West Palm Beach, Florida, wrapping up six weeks later on September 5 in Dallas, Texas. Joining SLIPKNOT on the road trip will be LAMB OF GOD, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and MOTIONLESS IN WHITE.

The summer jaunt follows a brief spring run that SLIPKNOT will launch on April 25 at the Fort Rock festival in Fort Myers, Florida, ending on May 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The band is supporting its latest album, ".5: The Gray Chapter", which came out in October.

The latest single released from "The Gray Chapter" is called "Custer".