What Happens Backstage - Part 3

PHOTO COURTESY OF 98 KUPD

**I had every intention of posting this part the day after Day 2 of Desert Uprising.  Clearly that didn't happen as I began to suffer from a migraine headache from Sunday until Wednesday.  It seems it has finally broken and I am back on my normal schedule again.  I'll try to be better next time.  Just remind me that I need to eat my 3 meals a day and drink plenty of water to avoid this mishap again.**

Dominic and I made our way down the hallway and walked in to find Corey leaning against a desk and strumming chords on his guitar.  We walked in, shut the door and I stood off catty corner from him while Dom set up his gear.  While Corey was strumming away, I just sat watching him strum crisp chords in G, C, B, etc.  This went on for a good minute or two before I opened up and asked him, “Are you getting your fingers warmed up?”  

“No, these are new strings and I’m just trying to break them in.”

Strumming continued for another minute or so.

During this moment, I couldn’t help but notice the indistinct mood that was encased in this 10x10 room.  A floor lamp dimmed the entire room and the mood was far more mature than when I was joking with Corey two hours prior.  From that point forward, this larger than life celebrity stopped what he was doing, put his guitar down and started having a conversation with me. This was a good twenty-minute conversation that touched on topics like musical collaborations to what the state of rock music is today.

So when did my actual interview with Corey start?  You could say that it NEVER actually started.  What Dominic was able to capture was a conversation between two guys--one guy who was genuinely curious about the other’s thoughts on music.  That’s it.

As Corey and I exchanged our thoughts, I could hear the door open from the back end of the room.  A man, who was clearly someone from Corey’s management, quietly entered the room and didn’t want to interrupt the conversation we were having.  When you see something like this happen, you know it’s about time to wrap things short and let the musician go on his way.  

A few more minutes passed and I thanked Corey for his time and shook his hand.  Dominic shut the camera down and we began to pack up.  As we were getting ready to leave, I could hear Corey say, “I suppose I should write up a set list so I know what the hell I’m doing.”  

By all accounts, I thought this was one of the coolest things to hear.  Why?  I don’t know the real reason other than to assume that Corey did it HIS way and no one else’s.  He didn’t have band members or management telling him what he could and couldn’t play.  He just floated on his own cloud.

Fifteen minutes later, I would be standing on the side of the stage watching him play acoustic versions of Stone Sour and Slipknot songs while watching the entire crowd mouth the words in unison with him.

So you ask, “What is it like to be backstage?”  My answer to you would be:

Like hanging out with your friends any day of the week.  It’s pretty normal by today’s standards.

Keep checking back to the website to see the edited versions of the interviews the staff did last weekend.

--SM