My biggest influences were 1980s punk and metal. Metallica were my biggest influence because they were good at everything - riffs, energy - but with such an ear for melody, it was hard not to get pulled into it and become a fanatic.
There's nothing wrong with the screaming style of singing, and I'll be the first to admit that it conveys an emotion. But I'm getting older, and I can't scream and shout about the same things anymore. The songs I'm writing with Stone Sour call for a lighter, different approach.
I've had to really teach myself that when you're not feeling it, you shouldn't write anything down because you're going to end up coming back and re-writing it later. Whereas, if you write when you're feeling something, when you're really in the streak, then that's when you're going to get your best stuff.
Everyone knows Spiderman is my favorite superhero of all time. My favorite supervillain? George W. Bush.
Slipknot is the darkness; Stone Sour is the light. Slipknot is chaos; Stone Sour is structure.
As much as I love Slipknot, I don't want that to carry over into what I do for Stone Sour. I want both bands to stand on their own.
