Corey Taylor to New Rock Artists: ‘Do Something That Feels Fresh’

Corey Taylor has shown in the past that he’s not afraid to call it out when he feels that there’s a staleness in rock music. Last fall, he shared his disdain for “safe” and “weak” music dominating the landscape. And in a new interview with Cutter’s Rockcast (as seen below), Taylor is once again sharing his frustration with acts trying to ape what’s been done and present it as their own fresh take on it.

Taylor starts, “I look at some of these bands that sound like this or sound like that or sound like the other guy, and it’s just, like, well, they obviously listened to two albums that have been out for a minute. But the ones that really frustrate me are the ones that they take something that’s been around forever and then just basically rework it and call it new — even though it’s completely derivative.”

He continues, “You know the band they’re ripping off — they’re not even trying to rip off a bunch of bands; they’re ripping off one band. But the younger generation picks them up and says, ‘This is our blah blah blah,’ because they’re tired of old people telling them that the music that came before them was better. And I don’t know who’s right, but I know both are wrong, because we should be encouraging everything.”

Taylor elaborates, “I’m just as bad. I’m the worst old fogey dude shaking his cane ever. And I hate everything. I hate all new rock for the most part. I [hate] the artists who failed in one genre and decided to go rock — and I think he knows who he is. But that’s another story. I’m the worst. And I hate everything. And people are used to that with me, though. But I have also encouraged the younger generation to think past the boundaries of what we listen to. Do something that feels fresh; it may not have to sound fresh, but it’s gotta feel fresh. If it’s dead, then people are gonna treat it as dead, man.”

Last fall, Taylor initially singled out some of the folk rock at the time that had done well. “It’s really safe and fucking weak, and it feels like there’s no attitude. There’s nothing that’s offending people’s sensibilities, and that’s what rock is supposed to do sometimes.”

He then added, “That’s not to say that there are aren’t good fucking bands out there doing it, but it just seems like the types of music that are really getting all the attention are the safe bands, and I hate anything safe.”

Taylor has been promoting his CMFT solo album since last year, but he did reveal this past week that Slipknot has something “massive” brewing, adding that while he can’t discuss it now fans will probably hear about it within the next month. So stay tuned.