Newsbites: Taylor’s heatstroke blackout

Overheat: Corey Taylor

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor doesn’t remember the details of his onstage collapse in Texas last week. He says: “It was really, really, really hot. I kind of had a heatstroke blackout. I finished the show but I don’t remember the last two songs. I woke up backstage – apparently I collapsed onstage. It scared the crap out of me; it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, we were masks and coveralls in 110-degree heat. It’s awesome.’” [Live 105]

Soundgarden have 15 tracks written in their earliest days which have remained unheard since then, says singer Chris Cornell. He explains: “It was the first 15 we wrote. We just got together in our room and started writing songs, and did it very quickly. We would sit around and discuss what that sounds like, and over time we’d be critical about some of the things we were writing, and excited about the new stuff we were bringing into the band.” [Pulse of Radio]

Rolling Stones icon Keith Richards admits he’s guilty of forgetting some of the band’s tracks – even as he starts to perform them. “When you kick off a song you say, ‘I can’t remember how the middle bit goes,’” he reports. “But the fingers remember even if you don’t, I don’t practice as much as I should, probably. But now we’re putting the act together again I’m getting the chops back together.” [Absolute Radio]

The Who won’t join the latest craze of using holograms when they tour their Quadrophenia rock opera in the US later this year. Singer Roger Daltrey explains: “We thought about it, but everyone’s doing it right now. I wanted to do it a few years ago before it got popular. We were very good on gimmicks in the seventies, but I think we can leave that alone.”

Flea is about to release a charity EP called Helen Burns, consisting of mainly instrumental material inspired by the Bronte sisters. The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist says: “It’s not RHCP music or even close to it – it’s a triply freakout. The record is based on the character of Helen Burns from Jayne Eyre. I love Charlotte Bronte and the sisters. It’s obscure, arty, mostly instrumental music, except when Patti Smith sings.”

Slayer guitarist Kerry King managed to write some material during the band’s recent European tour because he doesn’t tend to leave his hotels so often during visits to the old world. He explains: “I don’t go out that often – there are still a number of currencies over there and you get dicked every time you change money. If I don’t have any local money I’ll probably sit in my room.” King says one new song is entitled Chasing Death, adding: “As you get older your friends start dropping; you’re having that new sensation. My guitar tech died earlier this year and he was just 35. Those are the touch ones. It’s talking about stuff like that. Chasing Death isn’t directly related to any of my friends dying. It’s like people who drink too much – they don’t help themselves out so they’re chasing death.” [ArtistDirect]

Korn mainman Jonathan Davis don’t think the band will revisit their controversial experimentation with dubstep as they begin work on their next album. He says: “We’re getting ready to start writing. Our motto is to keep ever-evolving. I’m sure there will still be some electronic influence in there, but I don’t think it’ll be like the last one. We’ll try to do something new, because that’s how we work.” [Billboard]