There have been numerous cases throughout the history of the music industry where artists have been accused of stealing the works of others. Corey Taylor of Slipknot recently addressed this topic in an interview with 94.3 The Shark radio station, expressing his insights on how he avoids making music that sounds too similar to current works. He stated: “When it comes to that stuff, I have a very long memory.” Obviously, I avoid anything that sounds identical in any case. Because none of that is of interest to me. So I really go above and beyond to make sure that everything I do sounds and feels different. And if it starts to sound too similar, I rein it in and break it down and reorganize it from the ground up.” Taylor proceeded, recalling his personal experiences with the subject:
“I’ve started whole other songs and then gone back to the drawing board.” Because I don’t want someone to come in and say, “I stole this [and] I stole that,” because I’ve had conflicts with individuals who have attempted to tell me that I’ve done it before. ‘You’re an idiot,’ I said. I’m going to mix these two tunes together. You show me where these tunes are similar on the doll. And if you don’t, man, you kiss my a**.’ And it’s quite rewarding.” Corey Taylor has previously addressed the subject of artists stealing from others. In an earlier interview with Cutter’s Rockcast two years ago, he stated:
“However, the ones that really irritate me are the ones that take something that’s been around for a long time and then basically rework it and call it new – even though it’s completely derivative.” You know who they’re ripping off – they’re not even ripping off a number of bands; they’re ripping off one.” Taylor’s second solo album, ‘CMF2,’ is due out on September 15. To promote his next album, the rocker has scheduled a 28-city tour that will begin on August 25 at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium and conclude on October 5 in Los Angeles at The Wiltern. The complete interview is available below.