COREY TAYLOR Admits There Has Been 'Contention' Within STONE SOUR, But Insists He Is Still 'Friends' With All Other Members

Corey Taylor says that he is open to doing more recording and touring with STONE SOUR in the future.

One week after announcing in an interview that STONE SOUR had "run its course," the SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman elaborated on the latter band's current status, insisting that he hasn't completely closed the door on future STONE SOUR activity.

Taylor, who will release his debut solo album in October, addressed his recent STONE SOUR comments during an appearance on Wednesday (August 12) on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation Virtual Invasion". Asked if there is "a future" for STONE SOUR or if it's "kind of up in the air," Corey replied: "It's kind of up in the air. I'm certainly not mad at STONE SOUR. [My solo album] is just something that has my attention; this is what I wanna do for a while.

"There's been some contention here and there, in the past — nothing that I'm gonna get into too much detail about — but it was just time for me to step away and do this for a while," he continued. "It was time for me to kind of do something different, and do it in a way that doesn't have the connotations of either band, to be honest.

"I'm still friends with everybody in STONE SOUR. Everybody in STONE SOUR is doing their own thing, and if the opportunity arose, I would absolutely do something with STONE SOUR. But for right now, this is really where my energy's at; this is where my focus is.

"I'll never say never, because, obviously, the best way to make God laugh is to announce your plans out loud," he added. "But this is what my focus is right now."

Corey's latest comments echo those he made in June, when he told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk": "Yeah, [STONE SOUR is] kind of [on] the backburner right now. We all kind of felt that we did exactly what we wanted to do on [2017's] 'Hydrograd' [album] and we're just giving it a minute. I talked to the guys in the band about the solo thing and what I wanted to do, and they were all totally onboard with it. Everybody else has kind of got things going on, so they're all cool. Josh [Rand, guitar] is actually working on a solo thing of his own, which is great. So, yeah, I think STONE SOUR is kind of on hiatus right now, which is fine. If someday we wanna get back together and do some stuff, it'll be bigger than it was. But for right now, we're all kind of focused on kind of doing our own thing. But you never say never in this business."

Rand recently said that he has "no idea" when STONE SOUR will release a new studio album. Asked in an interview with Guitar World if the band has started working yet on a follow-up to "Hydrograd", Rand replied: "To be honest, the band is on hiatus right now with no timetable on a return. It's a mixture of needing a break, plus Corey wants to do a solo album, so I don't know when there will be new STONE SOUR music."

Rand confirmed to the "Behind The Vinyl" podcast that he is working on a new solo project. Rand explained, "As of right now, I have 12 songs musically done. Right now I'm looking at vocalists — different vocalists."

Regarding the musical direction of his new solo material, Rand said, "It definitely is different than what I think most people would expect. I decided if I was gonna do anything that I wanted it not to sound like STONE SOUR 'cause it's going to, to some degree." Rand added that much of the music is "piano-based."

STONE SOUR has been off the road and out of sight since completing the touring cycle for "Hydrograd". Taylor has been working with SLIPKNOT since then, recording and touring behind that group's sixth effort, "We Are Not Your Kind", although all plans are on hold right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rand has been promoting STONE SOUR's new live album, "Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno", which came out in December.

Taylor's recorded his solo album, "CMFT", with his solo band consisting of Jason Christopher on bass, Dustin Schoenhofer on drums, and Zach Throne and Christian Martucci (STONE SOUR) on guitar.