Jim Root

“My approach in 1999 was basically to play what I had, that was all I could do. At the time I was broke. I think I only had one guitar, a flametop green Jackson and I had these DC-10 Mesa Boogie heads. I think I had a cheap Shure wireless.”

“We're closer friends in Stone Sour than I am with the guys in Slipknot and that makes life a lot easier. I'm not trying to take anything away from Slipknot.”

“So many bands play to tracks - what's the point in coming to see them live if they're playing to a CD?”

“I love 'Mad Max' and 'The Road Warrior,' in particular - those movies are very close to my soul, you know what I mean?!”

“I don't seek out knowledge when it comes to guitar playing; I like to let it happen naturally.”

“People need to go back and figure out why it is that Slipknot plays the way it is. That way, maybe, you know, maybe every band doesn't start sounding the same anymore.”

“I use Pro Tools version 9 LE at home and I take that on the road with me.”

“I'm just kind of more, like, I'm gonna take every day as it comes and that's gonna be good enough for me.”

“For Slipknot, I'd say drumming is only 50 or 60 percent of the job. The rest of it is who you are and what your personality is.”

“I've started to look at guitar playing from more than just a standpoint of using certain modes and techniques.”

“My first real real guitar I had was a Charvel, model 1 and that was when I was 15, I think, I got that.”

“I'm just a dumb guitar player, man.”

“Music is like wine, it ages beautifully - and if you spend enough time you can just sit there and listen to it entirely differently.”

“You know, unfortunately I'm only one person. I can't really be in two places at one time and the amount of focus that I need to put into Slipknot makes it really difficult for me to be on tour with Stone Sour.”

“It became apparent to me near the end of the album cycle for 'House Of Gold & Bones' that it had basically run its course. But the band kept pushing for more dates, and I was just, like, 'It's time to stop!'”

“There is a solo on 'Spiders,' albeit a kind of a non-traditional solo, but that's what I love.”

“People that like Slipknot that could care less about Stone Sour, people that like Stone Sour that don't know a lot of Slipknot.”

“Dave Fortman really helped me appreciate Rick Rubin as a producer.”

“I can't be on tour constantly if I really want to be creative.”

“Iowa,' for me, I hated doing that album - it wasn't a good experience for me.”