Stone Sour interview, guitar talk!

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   hi guys,

did a phoner last week with Josh Rand, guitarist of Stone Sour. we spoke a lot about guitars, his set up, recording with Jim Root and of course the new Stone Sour album. hope you like!

AM / LoudTrax.com

INTERVIEW:

STONE SOUR's Audio Secrecy, awesome contest and Josh Rand Interview!
By AM 3. September 2010 23:53

To celebrate the release Stone Sour's Sept. 7 release, of “Audio Secrecy”, LoudTrax.com along with Roadrunner Records are proud to be giving away a beautiful, autographed Fender Strat. We had the great pleasure of catching up with guitarist Josh Rand a few days before the launch of the much awaited album. Here is the text version of our phone interview.

Buy Stone Sour Music and T-shirts HERE. enter Contest starting Sept. 7 HERE!

LoudTrax.com: Audio Secrecy album is out Sept. 7! Tell us about the new album.

Josh Rand: I feel like it’s the most diverse work we’ve done to date. The next level of progression of the group. We actually spent more time on this record than on the previous 2 as far as the writing, rehearsing and recording. We’re really proud of it. It’s a mature Hard Rock record. That would be the “cut and dry statement” for it.

LoudTrax.com: Singer Corey Taylor had issued a statement that said this album would be darker and more melodic than the previous albums. Now that the album is set in stone, does that statement hold true?

Josh Rand: I think it’s more melodic than the other records. I mean Come What(ever) May lyrically is pretty dark. 
When he made that statement, it was at the beginning of the writing process . The album evolved a little bit since then. I don’t think it’s as dark as Come What(ever) May, but I would agree that it’s more melodic than the previous 2 albums.

LoudTrax.com: On the song “The Pessimist”, you incorporated a Hindu scale in the solo. Do you spend a lot of time learning new scales, new techniques and so?

Josh Rand: I do for when I prepare for whatever songs I am going to play the solos on. I just like to step out of the box and not just basically play the same thing. I’m pretty proud of the solo on Hell & Consequences from the Come What(ever) May album. That was a Hungarian Minor scale. It was for myself, to out do myself with what I had previously done.

So I kind of wanted to have the main theme and vibe of the Eastern sounding scales. So the Hindu worked great with the riff underneath. Actually the end of it is probably the most technical and fastest thing I’ve ever played. Hopefully one day the song will surface, cause right now it’s not on the final record, or on the special edition. But it will eventually come out one day or another.

LoudTrax.com: Are there any new techniques or approaches that you incorporated on this latest album?

Well not sure if there are new techniques, I’ve been playing guitar for a while now. I pretty much know all the techniques. The main thing this time around on the songs that I solo on, I wanted to make sure that they were more memorable and sing-able, as opposed to showing how fast my fingers can go.

LoudTrax.com: Which is harder than playing variations of fast scales…

Josh Rand: If you’re into the shredder type stuff, it’s really easy to lost with that. You forget how to be melodic. If you look at, what I consider some of the greatest solos, there is nothing to them from a technical stand point. But, having said that, they are very sing-able and memorable. I always bring up “Detroit Rock City” by KISS, and “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue. Both of them are very singing solos. 

You can even look at Metallica’s Master of Puppets, the solo that James plays. We’ve done tons of shows around the world with them and when he plays that solo, the fans hum the solo! It becomes a tasteful piece of music and not just “shred fest”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love all that shred stuff and that’s the world that I came from. For this album, I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t only about how fast my fingers can go but the solo to help enhance the song.

LoudTrax.com: I read that during the recording, you guys lived in a spook-filled crashpad! Tell us what all that was about!

Josh Rand: We lived in this big mansion! The house is like a million dollar home and we basically rented it out so all of us could live and rehearse in this big huge house. 

I like it cold, so I slept in the basement. I just had a hard time sleeping in that place! It was trippy, bad vibes in that area and bad enough where I was started to feel like I wanted to sleep upstairs.

We didn’t see anything or anything like that, it felt like we were being watched!

LoudTrax.com: Along with Roadrunner Records, we’re giving away an autographed Fender Start to celebrate the release of Audio Secrecy. So, let’s talk guitars!

Tell us about your guitar set up for the recording of the Audio Secrecy album? 

Josh Rand: My guitar set up is pretty cut and dry. I used a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) custom 24 and a PRS 305. My amp is a Hughes and Kettner MK2 Tri Amp. What I use to record is exactly what I use live. Very few effects. I have some MXR, Chrous and Flange. I’m pretty much punk rock as far as set ups go, just plug in and go type of thing.

LoudTrax.com: You and Jim (Root) recorded at the same time?

Josh Rand: We tracked at the same time. Nick Raskulinecz (producer) had mentioned that he always wanted to do that. He figured if he had to do it with a tandem guitar duo it would have to be us. I really liked it because instead of doing it by yourself and lining up to a click, it kind of gave it that live vibe. So you’re trying to capture a moment instead of making it perfect. We were up for the challenge of the 2 of us playing all the rhythms at the same time. Not many bands’ 2 guitar players can do that.

continue reading here: http://blog.loudtrax.com/post/STONE-SOURs-Audio-Secrecy-awesome-contest-and-Josh-Rand-Interview!.aspx

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LOUDTRAX Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 08 2009 Location: MONTREAL Status: Offline Points: 102	Topic: Stone Sour interview, guitar talk! Posted: September 08 2010 at 14:09
	hi guys, did a phoner last week with Josh Rand, guitarist of Stone Sour. we spoke a lot about guitars, his set up, recording with Jim Root and of course the new Stone Sour album. hope you like! AM / LoudTrax.com INTERVIEW: STONE SOUR's Audio Secrecy, awesome contest and Josh Rand Interview! By AM 3. September 2010 23:53 To celebrate the release Stone Sour's Sept. 7 release, of “Audio Secrecy”, LoudTrax.com along with Roadrunner Records are proud to be giving away a beautiful, autographed Fender Strat. We had the great pleasure of catching up with guitarist Josh Rand a few days before the launch of the much awaited album. Here is the text version of our phone interview. Buy Stone Sour Music and T-shirts HERE. enter Contest starting Sept. 7 HERE! LoudTrax.com: Audio Secrecy album is out Sept. 7! Tell us about the new album. Josh Rand: I feel like it’s the most diverse work we’ve done to date. The next level of progression of the group. We actually spent more time on this record than on the previous 2 as far as the writing, rehearsing and recording. We’re really proud of it. It’s a mature Hard Rock record. That would be the “cut and dry statement” for it. LoudTrax.com: Singer Corey Taylor had issued a statement that said this album would be darker and more melodic than the previous albums. Now that the album is set in stone, does that statement hold true? Josh Rand: I think it’s more melodic than the other records. I mean Come What(ever) May lyrically is pretty dark. When he made that statement, it was at the beginning of the writing process . The album evolved a little bit since then. I don’t think it’s as dark as Come What(ever) May, but I would agree that it’s more melodic than the previous 2 albums. LoudTrax.com: On the song “The Pessimist”, you incorporated a Hindu scale in the solo. Do you spend a lot of time learning new scales, new techniques and so? Josh Rand: I do for when I prepare for whatever songs I am going to play the solos on. I just like to step out of the box and not just basically play the same thing. I’m pretty proud of the solo on Hell & Consequences from the Come What(ever) May album. That was a Hungarian Minor scale. It was for myself, to out do myself with what I had previously done. So I kind of wanted to have the main theme and vibe of the Eastern sounding scales. So the Hindu worked great with the riff underneath. Actually the end of it is probably the most technical and fastest thing I’ve ever played. Hopefully one day the song will surface, cause right now it’s not on the final record, or on the special edition. But it will eventually come out one day or another. LoudTrax.com: Are there any new techniques or approaches that you incorporated on this latest album? Well not sure if there are new techniques, I’ve been playing guitar for a while now. I pretty much know all the techniques. The main thing this time around on the songs that I solo on, I wanted to make sure that they were more memorable and sing-able, as opposed to showing how fast my fingers can go. LoudTrax.com: Which is harder than playing variations of fast scales… Josh Rand: If you’re into the shredder type stuff, it’s really easy to lost with that. You forget how to be melodic. If you look at, what I consider some of the greatest solos, there is nothing to them from a technical stand point. But, having said that, they are very sing-able and memorable. I always bring up “Detroit Rock City” by KISS, and “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue. Both of them are very singing solos. You can even look at Metallica’s Master of Puppets, the solo that James plays. We’ve done tons of shows around the world with them and when he plays that solo, the fans hum the solo! It becomes a tasteful piece of music and not just “shred fest”. Don’t get me wrong, I love all that shred stuff and that’s the world that I came from. For this album, I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t only about how fast my fingers can go but the solo to help enhance the song. LoudTrax.com: I read that during the recording, you guys lived in a spook-filled crashpad! Tell us what all that was about! Josh Rand: We lived in this big mansion! The house is like a million dollar home and we basically rented it out so all of us could live and rehearse in this big huge house. I like it cold, so I slept in the basement. I just had a hard time sleeping in that place! It was trippy, bad vibes in that area and bad enough where I was started to feel like I wanted to sleep upstairs. We didn’t see anything or anything like that, it felt like we were being watched! LoudTrax.com: Along with Roadrunner Records, we’re giving away an autographed Fender Start to celebrate the release of Audio Secrecy. So, let’s talk guitars! Tell us about your guitar set up for the recording of the Audio Secrecy album? Josh Rand: My guitar set up is pretty cut and dry. I used a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) custom 24 and a PRS 305. My amp is a Hughes and Kettner MK2 Tri Amp. What I use to record is exactly what I use live. Very few effects. I have some MXR, Chrous and Flange. I’m pretty much punk rock as far as set ups go, just plug in and go type of thing. LoudTrax.com: You and Jim (Root) recorded at the same time? Josh Rand: We tracked at the same time. Nick Raskulinecz (producer) had mentioned that he always wanted to do that. He figured if he had to do it with a tandem guitar duo it would have to be us. I really liked it because instead of doing it by yourself and lining up to a click, it kind of gave it that live vibe. So you’re trying to capture a moment instead of making it perfect. We were up for the challenge of the 2 of us playing all the rhythms at the same time. Not many bands’ 2 guitar players can do that. continue reading here: http://blog.loudtrax.com/post/STONE-SOURs-Audio-Secrecy-awesome-contest-and-Josh-Rand-Interview!.aspx
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