Slipknot has slowly but surely gotten away from their classic 1999 lineup for a variety of reasons. Of course there's the tragic deaths of drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray, though others like keyboardist Craig "133" Jones and percussionist Chris Fehn have left in recent years.
So what would be the breaking point for Slipknot? According to Corey Taylor, it's all about if everyone still wants to do it or not. In an interview with Rock Antenne, Taylor said he'd happily find a replacement for himself in the band if he wanted to stop and everyone else wanted to continue, and that Slipknot only exists with new members if they're all into it.
"If they wanted to continue and I wanted to retire, I would help them find somebody, to be honest. This band has always been bigger than the sum of its own parts. And it was hard moving on without Paul. It was hard moving on when we had to part ways with [Joey]. It's always been hard when the original nine ceases to be the original nine, but at the same time, the ones who are here are here because we love it, and we've always gotten something out of it.
"I've said it since day one — if I didn't want to do Slipknot, I wouldn't do it. And I think I've proved that. The reason I stick around is because I want to do it. There's still something in my heart and my soul that needs it. I don't know if that's good or bad. Obviously, psychotherapy will help me out with that shit. But at the same time, it's… it's once in a lifetime, man."
As for Slipknot touring the future, Taylor thinks his days are numbers. Which aren't that far off from founding percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan's recent comments.
"As long as I can physically do it, and as long as there are people there to see it, man, I'll continue to do it. Now, if the quality starts to fail, then I'll know it's time to hand it in. And I've already thought about it — I've already thought about, maybe I've got another five years left of physically touring like this. I try to take care of myself. I work out when I can. The travel out here [in Europe] is exhausting; the food is horrible; so it makes it hard to do that. But as long as I can keep at it, that's at least what I wanna do. So, yeah, it is what it is."
