Slipknot Frontman Heckles Smartphone Addicts

Posted by RiffYou On November 20, 2014 1 Comment

A lot of musicians have complicated relationships with how the people around them use smartphones. Of course, many get pissed when fans spend most of a given show filming, photographing, or tweeting a performance, instead of watching it.

Well, in a new interview with WRIF radio station, Slipknot frontman, Corey Taylor, expressed his distain for the modern smartphone addicts, noting that he takes great pleasure in seeing bad things happen when faces are way too focused on the tiny screens.

“So many people have their faces glued to their phones and they’re not paying attention,” he said. “I point and laugh anytime I see somebody trip walking down the street, and I’m brutal — I mean, I’m brutal. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, there’s a lot of pointing, and I’m asking people, ‘Did you see that?’ I love it. I think it’s funny.”

During this interview, Taylor was asked about smartphone usage at Slipknot shows. He says that people generally hold phones up “quite a ways back” from the stage, because he’s been known to empty full bottles of water onto those focusing too much on their phones.

“There was this one poor girl, and god bless her, she was a fan, but at the same time, she wasn’t being very covert about it,” recalled Taylor. “So I emptied four bottles into her, and oh my God, it had to have broken her phone. And then she was just bummed for the rest of the night, and I just kept shrugging at her, going, ‘Hey, it’s a live show. Pay attention, or don’t be here.’”

He continued: “People need to unplug and realize that they’re missing their lives, dude. It’s sad. And that may be me just being an old jerk, but I don’t care. I don’t care. Truth is truth; it doesn’t matter what age you’re at.”

Slipknot released their latest album, .5: The Gray Chapter, on October 21 through Roadrunner Records.