Rockezine.com interview with Stone Sour on Mar 07, 2007

with Roy Mayorga on Mar 07, 2007

Last week Stone Sour was in the Netherlands to play a show in the Melkweg (Amsterdam, Netherlands). So your rockezine.com reporter travelled to Amsterdam to have a very nice chat with Roy Mayorga who also played drums in Soulfly and Sepultura.
		How is the tour going? So far it’s great.
		How long do you stay in Europe ? Today is the last day. Tomorrow we’re going to Dubai to play the Dessert Rock festival and then we go to England to complete the tour there. After that we go to the States, Japan, Australia, the whole fucking world.
		Which country do you love the most to play? I really do love Europe. I think of coming to Europe, I‘m coming here to Europe other then with Stone Sour for 18 years now and I love playing here. It’s like my second home.
		How old are you? I will be 37 next month. I’m just getting used to say that I’m 37, hahahahaha.
		How are the reactions from the audience? They’re awesome every night.
		Is there a difference between a Soulfly, Sepultura or a Stone Sour tour? Uhm, this tour feels like the first Soulfly I did in 1998. We’re playing the same venues, sometimes bigger venues. The crowd is a little different; it appears to be a little bit more equal between men and women, not only dudes. That’s the first thing I’ve noticed.
		More groupies? There are groupies butt I don’t pay attention to that shit. They’re there, I guess.
		Do you have a woman at home? Yes, off course I do.
		Don’t you miss her? I miss her everyday, I talk to her on the phone everyday but that’s not good enough sometimes. I’ve been away from her for a good year now, I was on tour with Sepultura before Stone Sour and she was used to having me at home for the past two years while I wasn’t with Soulfly. She understands that is part of my life and she has a career too, so it works out.
		What was the best tour you ever did? This tour is definitely the best I’ve done. Another successful tour was the first tour with Soulfly and the Sepultura tour opening up with In Flames was amazing. That tour was basically my training back into touring constantly before Stone Sour. Sepultura is a great band and it has been great playing with them.
		What’s the best part of touring? Doing what I dreamed of doing my whole life which is playing on stage on my drums and meeting new people every day.
		What’s the worst part of it? Being away from home a long time and missing your wife. I don’t have kids yet, but when I do it’s going to be a lot worse, I think. When I crossed that bridge I’ll let you know how it goes.
		You joined Stone Sour in the beginning of 2006, how did you hook up with those guys? They called me. I knew Jim and Corey already and when they called I was preparing for, once again, for a Sepultura tour. So while I was preparing to practice with Sepultura Stone Sour called me and told that their drummer had quitted and they needed someone to drum on their record. I went in there and played drums on their album. I played five/six songs a day, I did four twelve-hour-days and learned them in the studio. After this they offered me a place in the band, not just a hired band member but a full member.
		You joined the band during the recording sessions, did you had some influence in the song writing? No the songs were already written. I did change some things because of my drumming; I made them change a little bit.
		Is the song writing from Stone Sour a band process? It is now. We all write separately and then we show our ideas to each other what we’ve got and the rest adds some things. Eventually we’ll work it out together.
he’s the fucking lyric writing master		Corey is the only lyric writer? Yeah, he’s the fucking lyric writing master.
		You recorded in the Dave Grohl studio, how was it? That was fucking amazing. That studio was modelled after a studio in Sweden where Abba and Led Zeppelin recorded. I can’t remember the name of that studio. Grohl studio is made for drums and it was great recording in his studio. Everything was great; I recommend this studio for anyone who wants to record some rock and roll. This is the place to go.
		It must be very expensive. It costs a little bit, but you get the best results. You get what you paid for.
		Why do you play drums? Honestly it’s an instinctual thing. I didn’t choose to play drums, they chose me. One day I was drumming on some stuff in my mom’s room, she got me snare drum and it went from there. After that I saw some drummers on TV and then I really knew that’s the thing I wanted to do the rest of my life.
		What’s the best part of drumming? It takes out al your aggression, when you’re pissed about something. Honestly this is really a good exercise to keep a good state of mind and spirit. I really get in touch with myself; I’m in my own world and you can even get in my world.
		I name some albums and you may react to them, ok? Ok. Korn – See You On The Other Side Great album. We’ve just toured with them on the Family Values. I watch them play every night. They’re coming with a new album with Terry Bozzio playing drums and they are going to have a whole new fan base, mostly drummers in the audience. Soulfly – Soulfly I played on it. Definitely one of my favourite things to be part of and I’ll never forget that. I had a lot of fun with Max. I hooked up with Max after he heard of my band for some reason. He had a t-shirt from my band, we met each other, talked together and when he quitted Sepultura he called me and that’s how I joined Soulfly. Johnny Cash – Everything I love Johnny Cash, he’s amazing. Lamb Of God – Sacrament Uhm, I’m not really familiar with Lamb Of God. I heard some of their stuff but I don’t have anything, seen them live a couple of times and they are amazing. Stone Sour – Stone Sour Well its fun playing. I play it more then I listen to it, it’s a good record. Killswitch Engage – End Of A Heartache It’s awesome. Slayer – Reign In Blood Fucking awesome. This album made me get a second base drum. Before I used a single base drum, before this I was: “fuck metal”. I was a punk rocker and when I heard this album I was: “wow man!!”. It was metal with a punk rock attitude.
		You told me that you don’t listen to metal a lot, what music do you listen in your spare time? I listen to older metal and a lot of classic music. Wagner, Pendorecki, Bartok. I’m a composer, I play piano. I make music for movies when I’m not touring. I’m working on one right now called Shutter it’s directed by a guy called Ben Dickson. He has two of the main actors of the old version from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And a lot of independent movies you never heard of.
		Were did you find your influence to make music or play drumming. I find inspiration everywhere, when you smell anything that can be an inspiration. For drumming I listen to old drummers who inspired me. As far as for composing I listen to a lot of different music and styles. I listen to everything!
Anyone who got that idea in their head, get it out!		Can you buy a hummer from this job? No. Yeah I can buy a hummer but why should I buy a hummer. I’d rather buy a house or some musical equipment. I’m out there working hard. It may look like I’m a rich rock star but I’m not! Anyone who got that idea in their head, get it out! If we were we wouldn’t be playing here, then we would be playing in a big arena.
Fuck off, you can’t say that to me dude		I’ve two things and you need to choose one. Beatles or Stones You suck, how can you put those bands two together. I love both bands. I can’t choose between those. Beer or water I love both of those things too. Morning or Evening Evening. Soulfly or Sepultura Fuck off, you can’t say that to me dude. I love them both. Pizza or pasta I had to choose? Pizza. Tour or studio Well that’s something I had been thinking about the last couple of months. So I split this question up into two. What I love about the studio is that what I put on tape is there forever. A live show is in somebody’s head forever and everything can happen at a live show. You’re exchanging energy with the crowd, I speak to the crowd with my drums.
		Is there something I can wake you up for at night? Maybe a pancake? If you gave me a pancake after four hours a sleep, I’ll kill you. But you can wake me up for a message from my wife.
		Thanks for this interview. Ok, it was my pleasure.
Pictures taken from www.stonesour.com (Jeroen Habets)