Corey Taylor performed with Slipknot on Jimmy Kimmel Live wearing a brand new mask and performing “Unsainted” and “All Out Life” from their upcoming album We Are Not Your Kind set to be released August 9th with a tour to follow.

Interview by Raquel Figlo

An intimate experience with Corey Taylor and Friends will take place at this Sunday’s show at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove, CA in what Corey describes Sunday’s show with the Cherry Bombs as a big party. “I play a bunch of songs that I love and I do it with people that I love, who I have been playing with for a really long time. That is why it made so much sense to do it with Alicia and the Cherry Bombs. I want to give everybody a big Rock N’ Roll party experience!”

On Corey’s recent surgery:

“I have come to learn to trust and rely on Motrin 800…. put it that way. It is something I should have done a while ago, but life gets in the way, you never get the time to get these things fixed. It was coming to the point either do it now or never, the swelling has gone down, but the soreness is still there. I have actually got a lot of my movement back, so that is good. I have been getting some physical therapy, but I am convinced that the doctor is a sadist because he really wants me to make noises that only Alicia makes me make (laughs).

On How Corey and Alicia met

Alicia: “We met 5 years ago, briefly. We kept running into each other at shows. At the time I was a cheerleader for the Atlanta Falcons. We have mutual friends. It wasn’t until I formed Cherry Bombs, when I was at a Slipknot show that we started talking. We knew of each other, and Corey really liked what I was doing with the Cherry Bombs, so he hit me up and was like, “I am doing this tour with Steel Panther would you like to be a part of this tour?” I was like ,”absolutely.” In creating that tour together we just clicked and hit it off and bonded so fast. By the end of the tour, he asked me out on a date.”

On what makes the Cherry Bombs unique:

Alicia: “After cheerleading for the Atlanta Falcons. I wanted to create something with out pom poms in my hands and dance to music I liked, which is rock and metal. I wasn’t done performing yet. Now I am not the first to come up with this type of show, but I wanted it to be a little more aggressive than just burlesque. I wanted it to be in your face, big stunts, and huge acts. I got paired up with a circus act here in Atlanta at the time and they brought this element of more than a dance show. We went from this tiny group of five that couldn’t get booked anywhere to being in demand left and right. It has been a wild ride for sure.

On feeling most empowered as a female?

Alicia: “I feel empowered in different ways. I feel empowered being on stage, doing the thing I love with the people that I love. Second, just being surrounded by like minded people who are go-getters that go after their dreams and goals. Being a female in a boys world, AKA the rock world, we really don’t take shit from anybody. We come in and load our stuff by ourselves and set it up. All acts do this, we don’t want any exceptions. It is cool to walk away from a gig and boys are like, hey you can hang. It is like not shit!

On Alicia’s fitness routine:

“I eat everything. When I am being good, I follow a Paleo Diet with high protein, low carb, no dairy, and no grains. I eat only lean meats and vegetables with lots of water.

If I am cutting down on fat, I will run a 5k in the morning and then I will hit the gym and lift super heavy weights. At night I will do another 5k, it’s a little intense.

About the upcoming Slipknot album,We Are Not Your Kind:

Corey: “It is really dark, the music falls in between Iowa and Vol. 3. It is experimental, but heavy as hell. It’s aggressive, but has tons of melodies. I think people are really going to dig it.

The crazy thing I have noticed over the last couple years I have seen a shift in the way people look at me. I thought having an opinion was something that was cool, and now I’m becoming a meme. I feel everyone is starting to turn on me, so I am using that to my advantage. I am like, alright you want a villain, I will give you a fucking villain. That is kind of where I am in my life, not giving a shit. I am basically saying, you don’t have to like me, but you are going to love me anyway.

On working with special effects legend Tom Savini on Slipknot’s new masks?

Corey: “That was the coolest thing ever. He had us over to his house. It was the coolest sci-fi horror museum ever! My mask got molded at his school outside of Pittsburgh. I worked with his associates Jason Baker, the fan in me is still freaking out.”

What fans can expect to see on the upcoming tour:

Corey: “We are trying to find new territory we have never done before, not just set wise but visually from a live stand point. We are constantly trying to see what can be explored artistically. This is where Clown is the best in the business, his mind is like a beehive of art. He is constantly trying to find ways to out do everyone, it is pretty inspiring. It’s encouraging to see how invested people are in the music and everything that surrounds it. It reminds you why you love music in the first place.

We are constantly evolving. This band is always trying to find new territory than doing something we have already done, which is tough to do when you are trying to give people a sense of familiarity. It’s like trying to keep plates spinning at all times. I think we are pretty adept at it and this album is our stepping out with the new guys and they have gone above and beyond.

On Corey and Alicia’s favorite part of. working with each other?

Corey: “My favorite part working with Alicia, she is inspiring to me. She does so many thing on her own. She not only runs the Cherry Bombs, she choreographs for it, creates for it, she does everything and she is also apart of it. I can’t do that, I have trouble doing math problems and tying my shoes at the same time. She inspires me to do more, to pay attention to the details and to just be better. She is always pushing herself to be better. The added bonus is that we get to curl up together at the end of the night.”

Alicia: “I inspire him to do more…. says the guy in three bands. Some people ask me what is happiness and I answer, happiness is doing the thing you love with the person that you love. That is what it is like doing these shows with him, it is pure bliss, from start to end. I get to go to work with my best friend. I get to go to work with the one person that lights up my day, it is so much fun and it’s worth it. He is always in my corner, and Corey makes it feel like everything is going to be okay no matter what.

This man is an artist and his artistry has no end, he can come up with things that come out of his head that makes your jaw drop. He writes incredible things, being around his energy is the best thing in the world and everyone wants to be around him.”

To purchase tickets to Sunday’s show click Link and use promo code RAQOC for $5 off your ticket.

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/corey-taylor-the-cherry-bombs-garden-amphitheatre-tickets/9396405

Interview by Raquel Figlo