ArtistDirect recently conducted an interview with Corey Taylor (#8 of Slipknot). Below you can res a few excerpts from the chat.

Do you have a favorite memory of hanging out with Paul Gray on the first Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in 2008?

#8: We all had fun on that first tour. I can remember me and Paul really being stoked about it because it was the first big headlining run we’d done in a long time. In a way, Mayhem was replacing OZZfest. It was cool for us to transcend the festival we’d started out on and headline the new brand like that. I can recall Paul and I having some good times backstage too. We were excited about the set, what we were going to play, and the new music. It was really cool.

Wasn’t it the audience’s first live exposure to All Hope Is Gone?

#8: Yeah, it was. In fact, during the first show we played in Seattle where Sid Wilson broke his feet, we actually played “All Hope Is Gone”. It was the only time we’ve played it live. It was cool. The first show is always the one where you’re trying to find the rhythm of what you’re going to do live. For some reason, “All Hope Is Gone” didn’t feel right in the set at the time. We took it out, but you never know…

Is it special for this tour to be Slipknot‘s first back in the U.S. in three years?

#8: The last time we played the U.S. was Halloween of 2009. We’ve always had a really good time touring the festival circuit in North America. It’s a great opportunity to get in front of a bunch of crazy people and just destroy. We were the first to headline Mayhem. Being able to headline it this time with bands like Slayer, Anthrax, and Motörhead as well as younger bands like As I Lay Dying feels good. It’s great to be able to re-establish ourselves like that.

Read more at ArtistDirect.