Justin Donnelly of Australia’s The Metal Forge recently conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT/STONE SOUR guitarist Jim Root. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On the expectations for the new STONE SOUR album, “Come What(ever) May”:

“The album is pretty close to us, and we’re all a little bit concerned about it being a departure from what people may know us as with our debut. I wouldn’t say that I’m really nervous about the album, because we’ve been hearing a lot of good things from outside sources from those who have already heard it, such as yourself. I think it’s more a case that we don’t want to jinx it. We don’t want to expect too much out of this album. We’re just going to see how it goes. We don’t want to put any expectations on it. If it does as well as our debut did then that’s all we can really hope for. You do something, and you hope that it shows you growing as both a musician and as a songwriter. If you spend too much time worrying what the rest of the world thinks about it, then you’ll eventually drive yourselves nuts. So at the end of the day, we’re happy with it. If we have a gold album in the U.S. (Which is the same level of sales that the band’s debut enjoyed), and we’re able to tour the world on it, then that will be a success in my book.”

On the new album’s diversity:

“I guess that diversity just kind of happened as a result of the way that we write. All of us are kind of separated by force in a way with STONE SOUR. Taylor and I have to do the SLIPKNOT thing, while the other guys tend to do their own things away from us as well. So with all of us writing for the band, having different influences, different styles in writing and having different approaches in the way we write, all that stuff put together ends up giving us the results that we have when we do an album. Without speaking for the others in the band, it’s that real diversity on this album that I’m personally kind of worried about. You never know how people are going to take or accept that. At the end of the day, I think that’s what sort of defines us as a band, the fact that we’re all able to have our own voice in the end. I think that’s what also makes this thing work. We’re all open to each other’s ideas, and none of us ever shoot down anyone’s idea. If anyone has an idea, we’ll work on it no matter what. We’ll then funnel all the ideas down to which ones we like the best, and which ones we have the most time to work on. You hear about a lot of bands that split because of musical differences or things like that. I think our musical difference in a way is what kind of defines us and keeps us together.”

On the departure of drummer Joel Ekman:

“Ekman was having some problems at home at the time. His son was terminally ill, and he just passed away not too long ago. So between that and the kind of pressure that we were experiencing in the studio meant that we decided to end our relationship as band mates at that point. The split was amicable, but at the same time not if you know what I mean. Every time you do something like that, it’s hard. There are a lot of emotions involved. It was definitely very tough, but at the same time, he’s got some things in his life that are far more important than going out and playing rock star. I think everything kind of happens for a reason, and in this case it introduced us to Mayorga. Mayorga came in to help Ekman out when he was having some troubles in the studio, and everything had a real vibe and was happening so well. After Mayorga helped us out, he left to go out on tour with SEPULTURA, while we finished doing the album. Ekman went home, and we basically left without a drummer for a while. We were kind of scared because we didn’t know what the future of the band was going to be. It’s not like you can go out and tour without a drummer! (Laughs) We didn’t want to have this constant revolving door of drummers from this point on. This band has been pretty much a kind of family unit since we started, and we wanted to keep it that way. It’s like a brotherhood. We got along with Mayorga so well in that short time we worked with him, so we kind of took a chance and asked him while he was out on tour with SEPULTURA, ‘Hey? Do you want to be a part of this? You recorded on the album, so you’re a part of it that way. Let’s just take it a step further.’ He took a few days to think about it. In that time, we were sweating our asses off wondering what the hell he was going to say! (Laughs) He came back and said that he was in. He’s a little monster behind the kit, and we’re so glad to have him as a member of the band! (Laughs)”

Read the entire interview at www.themetalforge.com. SOURCE:BLABBERMOUTH