Guitarist Josh Rand said a lot of Slipknot fans were speculating what his band Stone Sour would sound like, since lead singer Corey Taylor is Slipknot's masked front man.
"I can see where they were coming from," Rand said during a telephone interview from West Palm Beach, Fla. "But as they soon found out, we are not Slipknot. We've got a more diverse sound. Slipknot is all about aggression. But we're about dynamics."
Aside from Rand and Taylor, Stone Sour includes drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (filling in for Joel Ekman, who broke his hand earlier this month), guitarist Jim Root and bassist Sean Economaki.
Before Slipknot, Rand and Taylor spent time writing songs and playing music. "It was just about me and Corey getting together and doing stuff," said Rand, who cited Megadeth (DeGrasso's former band), Anthrax, Testament, Joe Satriani, Engwie Malmstein and Metallica as his main influences.
"One of my favorite bands is Metallica," he said. "I love the old stuff and the new stuff. I respect that band because it didn't just release 'Master of Puppets' again and again. The band evolved and did some different things and stayed true to what they wanted to do."
He added that, "We're not and will never be a Slipknot side band. We have been friends for a long time, and we just got together to have fun."
Still, Rand said, he doesn't get upset at the comparisons. "I think when the new album came out — especially when the song 'Bother' found itself on the 'Spider-Man' soundtrack — a lot of people were surprised at the music. It's metal, but not in the same lines as Slipknot. It's more melodic. We didn't want to do another Slipknot. Instead, we played music that we wanted to and the stuff that made us feel good."
While Stone Sour may always be mentioned in the same breath as Slipknot, Rand said he's not going to let it bother him. "I think we just want to grow musically as a band and as musicians. I don't want us to make the same album over and over again. It wouldn't be smart."
Rand would like to see more things happen with Stone Sour. "Obviously, we want to be as big as we can. And we also wanted to find a bigger circle of acceptance and gain respect among our peers as well as fans."
In town Tuesday
What: Stone Sour
Where: X-Scape, 115 S. West Temple
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com