Jim Root asserts that Corey Taylor is in complete command of Slipknot’s newest musical compositions
As part of a recent chat with Andertons Music Company, Jim Root disclosed that Corey Taylor is the one who decides on the new songs that Slipknot will release. When asked about his playing with Mick Thomson, the guitarist first stated that it is dependent on the song and how it is made, regardless of whether it is his invention or a band effort. “But if I’m at home, and the only reason I’m talking about this is because it’s what I’m most familiar with, I always write thinking about what not just Mick is going to be doing, but what Clown or [percussionist Michael] Pfaff or any of the other guys are going to be doing, and I always think about leaving space,” he continued. “I always think about leaving space.”
Continuing, Root stated, “The only question that remains is, what is Corey going to do?” Therefore, if I compose a song that is four or five minutes long and I have it structured in such a way that there is an introduction, then there is a verse line, then there is a pre-chorus, then there is a chorus, then there is a middle eight section, then there is a breakdown, and then it all repeats or whatever, I might give it to him, and he might want to sing a chorus over what I thought was a verse, or he might take this little pre-chorus section and want it to be the verse.
Therefore, in order to avoid becoming attached to the way things are in my thoughts, I need to be really liberated with what I write. So, in order to determine whether or not it is…, I will first submit it to Corey. Moreover, there are occasions when he will simply write over what I have given him, and we will not make any adjustments. On other occasions, it is the process of evolution. The rocker went on to explain that when it comes to guitar parts, he always makes sure to record a left and right guitar track.
“And even in the studio, Mick and I will do hard left and right tracks,” he continued. “And even in the studio, we will do it.” On the other hand, there are songs where, if it happens to be a song that I made at home, he might want to say something along the lines of, “That rhythm is really cool, but I have this idea and I’m going to play this.”
“And it is wonderful because it brings an entirely new facet to the song that I would not have thought of, which is wonderful at the same time. “When you become so attached to something and you are so in your head with it, you are unable to look at it objectively. However, when you give it to somebody like Mick, he hears it from a completely different standpoint and even a different style of playing, and he does something that would not even occur to me,” Root shared this information.
“And then all of a sudden that’s the thing that takes the song and lifts it to where it needs to be,” he said as he came to the end of his remarks.