Corey Taylor says that none of the speculation about the identity of SLIPKNOT's newest member — the percussionist nicknamed "Tortilla Man" (pictured above) — thus far has been correct. Tortilla Man joined SLIPKNOT three months ago, when he was first featured in the video for comeback single "Unsainted". Since then, there has been much speculation about his name, with some SLIPKNOT fans getting quite obsessed with trying to work out the real identity of the band's latest recruit. During an appearance on yesterday's (Thursday, August 22) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Taylor was asked if he and his bandmates are enjoying all the hoopla surrounding SLIPKNOT's latest addition. "It's great," the SLIPKNOT singer said. "I did an interview with Rock Feed news like a week ago or so, and I said that it was Tito Puente [American musician, songwriter and record producer, who died in 2000]. And people who had never heard of Tito Puente were, like, 'Oh my God! He totally revealed who [it is].' I'm, like, 'Are you kidding?' It is amazing the level of ridiculousness that not only permeates this band but permeates the fandom of this band. I'm just sitting back going, 'I'll feed you guys whatever.' I mean, it's beautiful. Just laying those little clues and people lose their minds. It's awesome." Pressed about whether he has seen any speculation online about the identity of Tortilla Man and whether any of the guesses have been correct, Taylor said: "I've seen a couple of things, and none of 'em have been right so far. I'm loving it, dude." Asked how long he and his bandmates are planning to keep Tortilla Man's identity a secret, Taylor said: "For us, it's more about just keeping the spirit alive. 'New guy' doesn't care. Even if somebody gets it right, we're not gonna confirm it. It's one of those things. For us, it's more about getting the band out there. Because, to be honest, the one thing that kind of reminded us that the band is more important is that even after the album came out, people were still into the band no matter who was in it. So, to us, it's a reminder that the band is more important than worrying about conjencture about who 'Tortilla Guy' is. So we just basically politely answer those questions, but never fully commit to any correct answers. [Laughs]" After SLIPKNOT guitarist Jim Root gave a recent interview to "The Art And Span Show" in which he described the mystery man as "a world-class pianist" and "a great percussionist" who is "schooled in music," a Reddit user theorized that the band's latest addition is the multi-instrumentalist Michael Pfaff, who played keyboards with SLIPKNOT's Shawn "Clown" Crahan in the band DIRTY LITTLE RABBITS. Crahan recently refused to reveal the identity of the band's mysterious new ninth member in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, saying it was "nobody's fucking business." SLIPKNOT's previous percussionist, Chris Fehn, sued the band in March, claiming he hadn't been properly compensated for his years of touring and recording with the group. Fehn, a member since 1998, was officially dismissed from the band earlier this year. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1, Taylor said Tortilla Man had won the respect of bands and fans. "He's doing great and is a great dude," he said. "He's killing it, man." Asked how anyone becomes an official member of SLIPKNOT, Taylor said: "First of all, you've got to wear the tortilla on your face. And the audience has to figure out who you are. With Tortilla Man, it's kinda cool. It's brought this whole new energy to everybody as well, so it's a lot of fun to watch him as well." SLIPKNOT's sixth studio album, "We Are Not Your Kind", arrived on August 9. The band kicked off its North American headlining tour on July 26 in Mountain View, California.
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