Spotify's ongoing conversation series "Spotify Metal Talks" posted an in-depth interview with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor today. During the conversation, Taylor talks about the tumultuous time he had recording Vol. 3: Subliminal Verses, an album he's gone on record is saying was his least favorite of Slipknot's output. And with good reason. Taylor was not in a good place during the recording of the album. He revealed to Spotify his drinking got really bad, to the point that he decided to quit cold turkey:
"I got sober about halfway through the recording process of that [CD]. Well, I quit drinking. I didn't go in a program or anything like that; I just kind of stopped cold turkey. It was about three months into the recording process. And it was hard; like, it was really, really hard. But I knew I had to do it. The last night I drank [in November 2003], I basically found myself hanging off the balcony of the hotel room at the old Hyatt house on Sunset [Boulevard in West Hollywood, California]. I was standing on the balcony, I was just about to fall, and a friend of mine actually grabbed me and pulled me back in. If he hadn't grabbed me, I'd be dead. So the next day, I woke up, on the floor, covered in God knows what — just sick, sweaty, gross… I mean, just miserable. And I just said, 'I can't do this… I can't do this anymore. What the hell is going on with me?' And that's when I really kind of started to take those first faltering steps away from everything. And it was difficult; it was very difficult. First of all, my health was garbage. I gained a lot of weight. My vocals were so shot… I had to basically start over on everything that I had done at the beginning of it. And that's one of the reasons why that album is really hard for me to listen to, because I was trying something different. Because I was, like, 'I'm doing everything else different. I wanna try something different vocally.' And I'm not sure if it worked, to be honest. I mean, it worked for some of the songs, but not for all of 'em. 'Welcome' is one of the songs, I think, it worked kind of well."
He continued: "It was a long time before I could feel comfortable with myself because all I knew was who I was when I was wasted. I didn't know who I was as a sober person. I knew who I wanted to be, but I knew that was, kind of, a long time coming. It was about, basically, repairing bridges and dedicating yourself to being a better person. You can't be a better person until you just start being a better person. And it takes time for people to get used to that, it takes time for people to treat you that way. It took ten years. And, luckily now, I'm kind of starting to feel the good part of that. But I'd done a lot of damage to a lot of people, and I'm still trying to make up for it. But it started with that album."
How the hell did Taylor end up on that balcony?! That certainly sounds like reason enough to quit drinking. Glad to hear Taylor is in a better place with his life now.
You can hear the entire "Metal Talk" below or on Spotify.
[Transcription via Blabbermouth]
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