I always remember this date because it is George Harrison‘s birthday. If you don’t know who George Harrison is, then we can’t be friends.
Say it ain’t so! The Pulse Of Radio starts out today with this report! Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor was asked on the Someone Who Isn’t Me podcast if he thought he will ever get “tired of touring.” Taylor replied, “Honestly, if you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said no. But . . . I’m just kind of starting to. I’m 42; I’m not young anymore. And as willing as my will is, I’m just beat up, man. I mean, I might as well be 60 in Slipknot years, for Christ’s sake.” (Listen to the full interview with Taylor here.)
Taylor added, “I don’t know if I would retire. I might step away from Slipknot at some point, just because the way the music is, and that sense of energy, I don’t know if I could be able to do that into my fifties. And I would never want the band to feel like I was holding them back, because I just couldn’t physically do it. So that means I wouldn’t completely quit music; I would probably just step away from Slipknot.”
WHAT????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Taylor also discussed how the band might progress musically in the coming years, saying, “At some point, we’ll have to evolve again. ‘Cause we’ve evolved with every album . . . I think, in the future, we’ll make it less about the angst and the insanity and more about the creativity.”
Slipknot has rarely canceled gigs and has done shows with members missing, which Taylor told us a while back was a point of pride for him: “I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve only canceled four shows in my entire career, and it was only because I was just physically unable to do it. If you’re able to do it, at least get up there, you know. At least do your best. I mean, the fans appreciate that beyond anything else. I think that’s why we’re still here, because we’ve never let that stuff stop us.”
The last time I saw Slipknot, Corey had hurt his neck and back. You can’t go out there day in and day out, headbanging, jumping around and doing all that they do. You know how often Sid Wilson has injured himself. Jim Root also suffers from back pain. Munky from Korn has suffered that same pain for years. And it doesn’t go away! I once asked Angus Young of AC/DC if all that head bobbing he’s done over the years has bothered his back and neck. It’s one of the reasons he holds his guitar up so high on his chest. Hey, granted, they aren’t lifting bales, but they are experiencing workplace injury daily. We just aren’t noticing.
In the meantime, don’t fret! Slipknot has hinted its next studio effort could be a double concept album.
Magic Shop studio console
Ah, another story about my fav, Dave Grohl. The Foo Fighters frontman attempted unsuccessfully to keep a legendary New York City recording studio open, according to the New York Times. Grohl offered to financially back the founder of the Magic Shop, located in the trendy downtown Manhattan district of SoHo, in an attempt to buy the studio property from the building landlord after a year-long rent dispute. But the bid was rejected by the building’s co-op board and the studio will now close on Mar 16th.
In addition to Foo Fighters, the studio — which had been open for 28 years — was used by artists such as Lou Reed, Norah Jones and David Bowie, who recorded his last two albums there. Founder Steve Rosenthal said in a statement, “As the city becomes more of a corporate and condo island, some of us wish for a better balance between money and art, between progress and preservation, and we hope that one day we will see a reversal of the destruction of conscience and community we are witnessing.” And that is so true. For example, take what they did to Roseland Ballroom over on W. 52nd Street. That place was around 95 years old when they closed in in Apr 2014 in are turning it into condos. It was NYC’s premiere music hall for all kinds of bands and held around 3200 people. It was comfortable, had great sound. I’d seen everyone from AC/DC to Queens of the Stone Age there and I miss that place in the heart of midtown Manhattan. NYC has a lack of really good large venues like this. It’s sad.
The Magic Shop was featured on the Foo Fighters album and documentary Sonic Highways, with the band recording the disc’s closing track, “I Am A River,” there. The recording session in New York was the basis of the show’s final episode.
Grohl told us a while back that his love for studios like the Magic Shop and the now defunct Sound City — which he made a documentary about — is all about keeping the human element in making music: “The most important thing is that there’s a human element to what you’re doing. With digital technology, it became a lot easier to manipulate these performances. I think what that does is it really takes a lot of personality out of music, you know. Like John Lennon didn’t really sing perfectly in key and John Bonham didn’t really play perfectly in time, but they just — it felt great.”
BTW: Dave has been confirmed to appear at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, according to EW.com. Grohl will give a “special performance” on the show, although further details are not yet available. We’ll have to wait and see Sunday night.
THIS AND THAT:
Congratulations in order! Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, the last member of the band to remain unmarried, has reportedly tied the knot at least. According to theMissoulian, Ament and his longtime partner Pandora Andre-Beatty finally tied the knot on Feb 16th in a private ceremony. Ament, who is from Montana originally, has a home in the Missoula area in addition to his residence in Seattle. According to Alternative Nation, this is the only posting about the marriage online.
Finally today, here is the segment of the Swedish Grammi Awards where Ghost is awarded the Grammi for the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album for Meliora. Watch it and if you speak Swedish, you will appreciate it more! They perform “He Is.” Pretty cool stuff! But geez, could that presenter have washed his hair for the event or what?
Coming soon: hardDrive Live Tour announcement!
Happy 34th today to Bert McCracken of The Used!