As one of metal’s most dependable workaholics and Renaissance men, it was only a matter of time before Corey Taylor would begin working on his fifth book. One of the subjects the Slipknot / Stone Sour frontman will tackle in the new project is the link between addiction and social media — an issue Taylor himself has struggled with.

While guesting on the Let There Be Talk podcast, Corey offered his take, eventually getting into his own struggles with putting down the phone.

“There’s a flare in addiction right now and it’s one of the things I’m working on in my new book. There’s a correlation between that and social media — all of the shit that’s been triggered because of social media, the same kind of dopamine trigger. It’s compulsion, gratification, compulsion, gratification. It’s just a constant cycle,” Taylor explains.

“I was [addicted to social media]. I had just gotten separated and I kind of went down a crazy wormhole, because I was really depressed, I was really fucking unhappy. I had just been through hell. Before, you’re a single guy, you go out, you play the scene, you do whatever. Now, you’ve got all this crazy shit at your fingertips. For an addict, it was fucking nuts.”

Corey continues, “Instagram, Twitter… it took me a while to get out of it. For about three months solid, that’s all I did, ignoring my fucking duties and shit. The only time I would really fucking get away from it was when I was with my kids. Then the compulsion would come right back and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ It took me so long to settle that compulsion down … If I could get rid of it all, period, I would.”

The musician also spoke about Slipknot’s early days and the attempts for the Nine to remain sober, which eventually dwindled.

“Our first run, we were very adamant that we weren’t going to be the cliche, so we really really tried to stay as clean as possible,” Corey says. “Then it slowly but surely really started to get it. Most of us are natural addicts anyway. I’m a fucking addict from Hell. I had quit coke and speed when I was 16, so I didn’t have a problem turning that down, but the booze was really where it got me. I had never been a pill guy, never smoked weed, but alcohol to me was the only thing that was getting my brain to shut off. That’s where it starts when you’re on the road.”

“I miss the calm-down, but I really was like, ‘It’s time.’ I’m not getting any pleasure out of this. I get no happiness, it’s not doing anything for me and it’s really hurting me and it’s really taking me away from doing what I want to fucking do. It’s the same reason I quit smoking. Besides quitting drinking, it was the best decision I ever made.”

Corey Taylor’s most recent book, America 51, was released in 2017 and tackled the United States’ divisive political landscape, along with our 2016 presidential election.

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