Recommended Aussie Tunes:Psycroptic | The new single "A Fragile Existence" | Listen

Interviews : “I’ve dumped my heart and soul into Stone Sour” – An interview with Josh Rand (Stone Sour)

By on November 14, 2018

Josh Rand – Stone Sour

Stone Sour is best known as the band featuring the vocal talents of Corey Taylor (Slipknot). Up until recently the outfit also featured Slipknot guitarist Jim Root leading many to believe the band was a side-project or something that happened only when the Slipknot members felt the need to create hard rock rather than grinding nu-metal.

The reality is that Stone Sour is a significant contributor to the modern hard rock scene in its own right, and guitarist Josh Rand is the outfits figurehead and guiding hand.  Yes, Taylor is a genuine heavy metal superstar and the band is all the better for his presence up front, but without Rand’s vision and determination would Stone Sour even be around?

Looking forward to the three December dates in Australia during the Good Things festival, Rand talks about the shows, the bands dynamic and his thoughts on opportunities outside the Stone Sour machine.

“When we got word about this new festival and the opportunity to come back down to Australia, we were over the moon. I mean the reality is usually we only get to come down there once an album cycle, we love it down there and then to basically, what looks like the end of our record cycle, to be down there it is awesome and to co-headline it, we’re beyond stoked”

Rand’s comments allude to the demise of Soundwave and the gradual re-mapping of the hard’n’heavy festival landscape in Australia. Soundwave might be consigned to yesteryear however with Download and Good Things fans have had two world-class events to look forward to in 2018.

With Stone Sour’s history of sharing band members, does Rand see himself exploring other opportunities?

“To be quite honest… it’s like I’ve dumped my heart and soul into Stone Sour. I know most people because of the unique situation that we’re in where, you know, Cory’s in both bands at one time and Jim was also. I don’t think everybody, essentially, if you’re not a huge fan and know the band well, knows the contribution that I put in. Stone Sour never stops for me I guess is the easiest. Corey will go back to Slipknot next year. I’ll be the person that’s pushing possibly a new thing for record store day and still doing the merch and you know, all that stuff. It never stops. I’ll be involved in our social media outlets and all of that and it’s always been that way.

Cory’s going to go back to Slipknot next year and a few opportunities have come forth for a couple of the other guys to do other things. But for me, I don’t see that happening. Stone Sour is like my baby and if it did, it would be definitely something completely different than Stone Sour. What I mean by that is maybe I play guitar with a pop artist or something like Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme, Rihanna)”

For those that have yet to check out Rand’s video’s online, he is a fine guitarist with the technical chops and expertise to follow Bettencourt’s lead and perform with a pop superstar. If Taylor Swift’s people were to reach out to him with an opportunity, would he take it?

“At the end of the day, I’m a musician. That’s how I view myself. I don’t view myself as a rock star or any of that crap. So, to me that would just be another avenue that I haven’t travelled that I would get to travel. It would be crazy not to take that opportunity and especially the opportunity to write stuff that’s different than what I’m known for writing. It would be a challenge and I would be curious to have that creative world being able to be open and to pursue it”.

GOOD THINGS FESTIVAL LINE UP:

The Offspring (Performing ‘Smash’ In Full)
Stone Sour
All Time Low | Dropkick Murphys
Bullet For My Valentine | The Used
BABYMETAL | The Smith Street Band
Dashboard Confessional (Performing songs from ‘The Places You
Have Come To Fear The Most’ + Fan Favourites)
Mayday Parade | La Dispute
Northlane | The Wonder Years
Waterparks | Tonight Alive | Scarlxrd | Emmure
Palaye Royale | Make Them Suffer | Waax
Boston Manor | Void Of Vision | Ecca Vandal

DATES AND VENUES:
Friday 7 December – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Saturday 8 December – Parramatta Park, Sydney
Sunday 9 December – Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane

Tickets: www.oztix.com

About

Andrew is a musician who has spent many years performing on the stages of the pubs and clubs of Queensland. A devotee of the broad church that is rock, punk, funk, jazz and of course all genres of metal... he now shares his enthusiasm via a burgeoning pursuit of music journalism. Follow him on twitter @andymckaysmith