How about this to start your day off with some hilarity!
You’re welcome! Don’t forget, Winter Is Coming……
Dudes, there’s gonna be SO MUCH Corey Taylor in your lives, you are gonna wanna say “Uncle!” (If you even know what that means!) First off, he did the above interview with Loudwire where he comments on Head from Korn‘s statement calling Chester and Chris cowards for leaving their children and families behind in the wake of their suicides.
Taylor had this to say…”Calling them ‘cowards’ is a very immature way of looking at it. Obviously, the people who are saying that are hurt, which is why they’re lashing out and saying that. It’s the easy way to look at something like that, because it makes you not have to face what a serious issue it is.”
Taylor pointed out he personally suffers from manic depression, and said, “Which means I rise and fall, I crash and I burn. I’ve got the practice and I’ve got the people to talk to so I can keep myself from really breaking myself against that wall. But it’s tough, man. It’s tough.”
He went on to seemingly reach out to others and said, “Whether it’s a friend or a stranger, there are organizations, there are centers, there are people who are dedicated to listening. Because sometimes that’s all you need, just someone to listen. It’s not gonna change the severity of it, but it’s gonna help you feel a little better.”
We caught up with Corey yesterday after his sound check and before his book signing at Barnes & Noble (remember bookstores?) We will be posting the video interview where Corey mainly talks about his new book, America 51: A Probe Into The Realities Hiding Inside ‘The Greatest Country In The World.’ As someone who read it and who agrees with his political stance, I freaking LOVED this book! It’s a quick read and you should pick it up! Let’s get Corey back on the New York Times Best Seller List, ok?
Meanwhile, this is incredibly foretelling. Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park did an interview with Happy Palace TV and once you see it, you can totally see what was coming next. It’s eerie. And watching Mike’s reactions was telling as well. But did they have to use that music? Damn!
And then there’s this story from Alternative Nation:
Chris Cornell’s mother-in-law Toni Karayiannis shared new details regarding the Chris Cornell memorial statue that will be built at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Karayiannis previously stated that Cornell’s daughters Lily and Toni are working on designing it. She posted: “I’m sorry I thought everyone knew! It’s going to be the most amasing…as amazing he and his fans deserve! Please tell all that they not know it takes 6 months or more actually! But u will be so proud when u see it! It has a lot of detail his boots, his guitar. I think the more detail the more time! But we want the best don’t we?”
She later added a “Thank you” to the fans and said, “You all seem like angels to me who’s lifting dark clouds even though we cry forever for Chris!”
Blabbermouth says that according to The Seattle Times, Chris Cornell‘s widow has hired the artist and sculptor Wayne Toth to create a statue of the Soundgarden frontman to be placed somewhere in Seattle, where the singer was born and nurtured his music career.
“He has already given me a design and the children and I love it,” Vicky said of Toth, who created the statue of Johnny Ramone that stands at his grave at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, where Chris Cornell is buried. This statue will be in addition to the one planned for the LA.
Vicky said that it will take Toth about seven months to create to create the statue, for which Seattle attorney and family friend Mark Johnson is working with the city to find a location.
“He is Seattle’s son,” she said, “and we will be bringing him home and honoring him, I hope, with all of you, your love and support.”
Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell has been posting photos and memorial updates on her husband’s Twitter account.
Blabbermouth also reporting Godsmack frontman Sully Erna said in a new interview that the band will “open a new chapter” in its career by adopting “a new sound, a new stage and a new look” in time for the release its next studio album. The band is currently at work on its seventh studio disc, which the band intends to release in 2018 to coincide with the group’s twentieth anniversary.
Speaking to WFMZ-TV on Wednesday (Aug 9) prior to he group’s appearance at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA, Erna and Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin were asked if there was a specific theme running through the band’s upcoming follow-up to 2014’s 1000hp. “Not so much a theme, but we have made a conscious decision to kind of change the game a bit,” Erna responded. “This show we’re kind of marking as the last of the nostalgic Godsmack shows, and from this point forward, we’re gonna kind of open a new chapter in our career and go for a new sound, a new stage and a new look for the band. We’re gonna change things up enough, maintain the integrity of what we are and what we do. But it feels so far that the writing is going a little bit more down into a commercial, mainstream kind of feel. But, again, without losing the power and the stuff that we built our heritage on.”
Larkin went on to say Godsmack will celebrate its twentieth anniversary “by touring out butts off.” Erna concurred, saying: “Yeah, there’s gonna be a lot of roadwork to do. There’s a lot of countries to hit. It’s a big world out there, and I think we’re gonna try to do at least two laps around the globe before we end this album cycle.”
Erna’s latest comments echo those he made last month in an interview with “Whiplash”, the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie. Speaking about his songwriting is evolving, Erna remarked: “I’m not that young, angry kid that I used to be once. I’m a lot older now, I have a daughter of my own, I’m in a good place in my life. I don’t have a whole lot to really be stressed out about or mad. And so the music has to evolve with that.”
He continued: “So now where things are a little bit brighter and a little bit better, we’re not gonna write about flowers and ice cream, but I certainly think that it’s gonna have a little bit more positive of a message and I definitely think it’s even gonna have a little bit more of a commercial edge to it. Because we’re older now, and we wanna kind of continue to write and play music that we also enjoy and not always have to be in ‘screamo’ mode and chugging away.”
Sully said he wants to focus on composing “really well-written songs,” adding, “I listen to a lot of great songwriters — Elton John, Michael Jackson, whoever it is that has been legendary and iconic. And I try once again to absorb and learn from them so we can put out the best record we can due to the year and the day and age that we’re in.”
The singer said that the hardest part of writing music is “just the challenge of getting up every day and putting in your time… As artists, it’s no wonder that we become manic-depressive, alcohol addicts. We’re always trying to beat our last thing, we’re always wondering if our best days are behind us and if we’ve already done our best work.”
Godsmack‘s last release was a song called “Inside Yourself,” which was made available in Oct 2015 as a free download at the band’s official web site. The new CD will be its first effort for BMG, following a split with the band’s label home since 1998, Republic/Universal.
Meantime, Sully told me a while back he has been refurbishing a centuries-old family home in Italy he plans one day to occupy. And I will be happy to visit!
Another Massachusetts based musician, Mike Mushok of Staind and Saint Asonia, was a part of Aaron Lewis and Friends benefit concert & Golf Tournament in Northampton, MA last weekend. Over that weekend, Mushok spoke with our pal Mike Karolyi over at iRockRadio about the performance and the current status of Staind, which hadn’t played live in three years prior to Friday’s event.
Asked if there had been any talk of Staind doing more stuff in the future, Mushok said : “We talk about it. We’ve been talking about it. It’s just timing needs to be right for it to happen.”
Pressed about whether a Staind comeback would include the release of any new music or if it would only consist of live shows, Mushok said: “See, that’s the biggest question. That’s the thing — there’s definitely different hurdles and things that we need to figure out to get to that point. I’d definitely like to do new music.”
After confirming Staind doesn’t have a record label at the moment, Mushok said: “I don’t think it’s necessary for us to do a ten-song record. It’s just so much work to get a good record done. [And albums] don’t sell at all. You get the same bang for the buck if you put out one or three [songs], or whatever it is — as long as it’s great.”
The guitarist then repeated himself: “So… I don’t know. These things need to kind of be figured out. And we’ll see. Hopefully it happens sooner than later.”
In the meantime, Mushok, along with Adam Gontier, Corey Lowery & Rich Beddoe are working away on the next Saint Asonia album, due possibly later this year. Adam is currently getting ready to tour Russia. (Thanks Blabbermouth)