Riccardo Ball of New Zealand's Wrecking Ball Media recently conducted an interview with STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On whether he sees himself still playing in STONE SOUR in the next five or ten years: Roy: "Absolutely. I mean, the day I joined the band, I felt I was definitely going to be in here for a while. Here we are eleven years later, four or five albums later, too. Do I foresee that? Absolutely. For however long we can go. I definitely won't be stopping anytime soon to play. I'm always going to play until the end of my days. I plan to keep playing until I can't play anymore." On the common perception that STONE SOUR is vocalist Corey Taylor's band: Roy: "It's a band. It's a gang. It's not just one person. Corey will tell you that too. We're a gang. We're a band and all the decisions come from us. We talk about it, we work it out, we make it happen." On some of STONE SOUR's unconventional ideas, including the two-part "House Of Golden Bones" concept album and band-related comic books: Roy: "That comes from Corey. He's definitely the mastermind behind all that, like the comic books, the concepts, the story. Yeah, that's his baby. We kind of like added to it and enhanced it more." On whether Taylor starts to introduce some of his elaborate ideas while the band is practicing: Roy: "Here's the thing: When we do jam together, he's not singing, he's not coming up with any lyrics on the spot. That's an afterthought. He does it afterwards. We basically get together and we write together. Sometimes it will be me and Tucc [guitarist Christian Martucci] or me, Tucc and Johny [Chow, bass]. Sometimes it will be me and Josh [Rand, guitar]. Once we hash out our ideas and have little rough sketches, then we'll get together and listen to each other's sketches and try to elaborate on them more and shape them into STONE SOUR songs. Then, when that's finished, then Corey will take them and start writing lyrics to it. Then he'll surprise the fuck out of us a month later, like, 'Holy shit!' He's got some insane ideas. I love it.'" On STONE SOUR's evolution from their 2002 self-titled debut to their most recent album, "Hydrograd": Roy: "Well, definitely we're not scared to explore. We are definitely more into exploring other regions of music and we're not afraid to do it. It's definitely stepped up a lot from the first record. The first record is great, too. Although I wasn't involved in it, I love the first album. I like every album that I've been involved in with the band and past members I've played with, but the lineup we have now, I think, is where it should be. It sounds good. It feels good." "Hydrograd" was released on June 30 via Roadrunner Records. The disc was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX and STEEL PANTHER. The band tracked the album live in the studio, cutting a total of eighteen songs from which fifteen made the CD.
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