Corey Taylor: "You Don't Have To Be Loaded To Be Creative"

If anyone knows about busting rock'n'roll myths, it's Corey Taylor. Having launched a career as an author, actor, and publisher by fronting a band of mask-wearing psychopaths who make music that sounds like chewing gravel, the singer is well aware that the rules set in place by society are made to be broken. But in a recent interview, Corey confronted one of the more pernicious fallacies in rock music: that drugs and alcohol are good for music.

"I think it's encouraged by the people who are actually embedded in that," Corey said while speaking to the Marshall Podcast. "They want people to think that it's hard to create without chemicals. And that's addict language, because I used to do that for me from a performing standpoint.

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"I was convinced that I couldn't perform if I didn't have a Jack and Coke -- at least one," recalled the vocalist. "And then that became two. And then that became half a bottle. That's addiction. So I think that's a myth perpetuated by addicts who are looking for people to reinforce their dependency.

"I have only been loaded in the studio twice, and I didn't like it one bit, 'cause I couldn't control anything," he continued. "And then listening back to shit, I was, like, 'Oh, this is horrible. Why did I do that?' So, I've really tried to kind of kill that myth for people."

That said, Corey makes a point of saying that he's not here to judge people -- if drugs or booze work for you, so be it, they're just not required.

"It is not the law of the land. You don't have to be loaded to fucking create. You don't have to be loaded to fucking have a good time. I actually think you sound better and play better and you have a better energy when you're not. Because then the focus is on you. There are no excuses after that. It's you, and that's the rawness of what we do."

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