SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor stopped by the 100.7 WMMS FM studios in Cleveland on Wednesday (March 9) and responded to questions from afternoon DJ, Maxwell, regarding the SLIPKNOT vs. MUSHROOMHEAD "feud" which has been raging, on and off, for the past several years. (MUSHROOMHEAD have made the claim that SLIPKNOT "copied" their masks-and-jumpsuits look a short time prior to getting signed to Roadrunner Records and releasing their self-titled debut album.) Asked to comment on the long-running war of words between the two bands, Taylor said, "Let me break it down for ya: a) We had never heard of MUSHROOMHEAD until we were in the studio in 1998 recording the [first SLIPKNOT] album. It wasn't even an issue until that band started doing whatever they did, you know. We were signed in jumpsuits, we'd been wearing jumpsuits — have we not? — for two years prior to being signed.
Q: How about masks?
Corey: "Absolutely. Dude, I can show you video from '95, man — it's that serious."
Q: Haven't they (MUSHROOMHEAD) been around since then?
Corey: "That's the thing. We both started at the same time — neither one of us knowing anything about each other. But then all of a sudden, we get signed to Roadrunner, and this whole legend — and I'm not blaming the band; I don't blame the band — but when their fans do the things that they have done to us… The first time we came here [to Ohio], a little pocket of their fans took it upon themselves to show their distaste. Paul [Gray, SLIPKNOT bassist] got hit in the face with a 9-volt battery. But you know what? We played the show, we didn't acknowledge them the whole time, and afterwards, we went out in the crowd and we were like, 'Anything else you wanna say to our face?' And it was just that simple. We threw down, our drum tech went to jail, and yeah, it was pretty serious. Ever since then, because we stood our ground, because we believe in what we did, and do, nobody's messed with us since. And if they do, well, you know what? Go home. Cry about it. Cry about it in your Cheerios. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of this. We've tried everything that we could to squash this between ourselves and MUSHROOMHEAD. I've even come out and said I wish them nothing but luck. I don't care. It's not that big a deal to me. You get two sides going on — our kids are screaming at their kids, and we're kind of stuck in the background, like 'Ahh… Alright.' You can't believe everything that you read on the Internet. If you do, you are a moron, and you're gonna get hit by a truck. So sort it out."
Audio of Corey Taylor's interview with WMMS is available for download at this location.
SLIPKNOT performed at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center Wednesday night as part of "The Subliminal Verses Tour". After the show, members of both MUSHROOMHEAD (including ex-frontman J Mann and current singer Waylon) and SLIPKNOT were seen together at nearby nightclub Peabody's.
For a more detailed look at the SLIPKNOT vs. MUSHROOMHEAD "feud", read this April 2000 article from the Cleveland Scene.
(Thanks: Jesse / WMMS)
