Backstage at the Zenith in Paris, France, all is laid back despite the presence of a camera crew trying to capture the movements of band members 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8 for an upcoming live DVD, on which Slipknot's London show will be immortalized a few days later. But tonight, the heaviest of metal bands is getting ready to play a second successful night in the French capitol with opening band,American Head Charge, another orchestra-sized act. Frontman Corey Taylor (#8) has just returned from his pilgrimage to Jim Morrison's grave, where he and two bandmates left a Slipknot hat. Corey leads me to a little office, sits behind an executive desk and begins to unmask his thoughts....
NYROCK:
You're not doing the interview with the mask on?
COREY:
No, I never do interviews like that. Only if it was a filmed interview, that's the only time I put the mask on, for stuff like that, but this... it's just more personal like this.
NYROCK:
The masks that you've each chosen, do they reflect a certain angry aspect of each member's personality?
COREY:
Yeah, it's a little more. It's our way of becoming more intimate with the music. It's a way for us to become unconscious of who we are and what we do outside of music. It's a way for us to kind of crawl inside it and be able to use it. There's a little aspect of, I guess, our personality in them, but in a way, it's almost like wearing the music. That's the way it is for us. The music for us is so tangible that you can wrap it around yourself and feel safe. You can get inside it and explore it. You know what I mean?
