Jim Root Says Slipknot are Working on New Music Already + He’s Planning a Solo Record
With the entire world in lockdown because of the you-know-what, it’s only natural that bands are working on writing new material, even those that released albums in the recent past. Tool drummer Danny Carey said he hopes to start jamming with the guys soon even though their 13-years-in-the-making new album came out last year, and Lars Ulrich said the same about Metallica (for whom it’s been considerably longer — 2016 — but still). So why the hell would Slipknot be any different?
In a new chat with Loudwire, guitarist Jim Root revealed that the band has already begun discussing new music, and that he’s been using the recent downtime to begin working on a solo project. Root quit Stone Sour back in 2014, and by his own admission doesn’t have any familial strings tying him down, so he’s got nothing but time… although it must be tough to compare yourself to Corey Taylor, a perennial work horse.
Here’s the quote:
“Now that we have this bananas insane pandemic thing going on I’ve been trying to force myself to write. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about doing a solo project. I think now I have a little bit of extra time to dedicate to that, so I’ve been writing some stuff that maybe wouldn’t slide in with the Slipknot world. But like I said I’ve got kind of a bit of a writer’s block thing going on right now. I would like to [start a solo project] just because I need to stay busy. You know, I didn’t start a family, I never got married, I didn’t do any of that stuff. I know Corey wants to do a solo project that’s outside of Stone Sour; he’s mentioned that.
“Unless I’m writing for Slipknot I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. There’s a lot of different philosophies and ideas and things we’re throwing around with Slipknot for another record, things like that. It’s easy for me to write Slipknot arrangements and ideas. They come kinda naturally to me just because I spent so much time with Paul [former Slipknot bassist Paul Gray? -Ed.]. As much as I’ve written on the last two records I don’t have to think about that too much.
“For a solo project, I’m gonna overthink that until I’m insane and it may never ever come out. What direction do I go? Do I even think about a direction? Do I just let it naturally come out? Do I use things that I’ve written intended for Slipknot that maybe Slipknot didn’t gravitate towards? Or maybe Slipknot was just like ‘That’s not really very Slipknot,’ not that there’s any rules on what is or is not Slipknot. A good song’s a good song whether it’s for this or that or the other thing. Like Don Henley said for that Eagles thing, he stepped back and took a drink of his beer and introspectively said ‘shit don’t flow.’ So if I make some shit that doesn’t flow maybe that’ll be my side project.
“Obviously, Slipknot is my priority and it’s what I’m always gonna have as a priority and that’s gonna be the main thing that I always focus on as long as I can or as long that we’re viable or as long as we want to continue to do that. What I do as a solo project, what direction do I take, I want to get all that out. With all the arrangements I’ve written for the last couple of Slipknot records, I don’t know that I need another outlet, but I’m going to try. Set a goal, maybe see if I can achieve it. We’ve got time on our hands now.”
As for what a Jim Root solo project might sound like, that’s anyone’s guess. Hard rock? Country? Polka? Everything’s fair game, but I’d reckon it probably won’t be metal. That would likely piss off a certain segment of the band’s fans, but I, for one, would relish it — what’s inside Root’s brain outside of Slipknot? Color me interested.
