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Geared Up: STONE SOUR Drummer ROY MAYORGA Talks Drums, Rehearsing, Film Scoring and More

Original Soulfly drummer, Roy Mayorga was also active with Shelter, Nausea, Crisis and ABLOOM before joining Stone Sour in 2006. We spoke with the skins-master about his drums, rehearsing, film scoring and more.

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The original drummer of the metal band Soulfly, Roy Mayorga was also active with Shelter, Nausea, Crisis and ABLOOM before joining Stone Sour in 2006. The New York native had also done classical film scoring in his life before Stone Sour, proving his proficiency as a multi-instrumentalist beyond the drums.

Stone Sour is doing still big business over a decade since Mayorga became a part of the group. The band’s sixth album, Hydrograd, debuted at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart of the United States and received the Loudwire Music Awards “Hard Rock Album Of The Year” honor. In support of Hydrograd, Stone Sour is now in the midst of a North American summer tour of ampihitheaters alongside Ozzy Osbourne.

We had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Mr. Mayorga on behalf of PureGrainAudio, keeping most of the focus on drumming. Mayorga keeps an official website at www.roymayorga.com, while Stone Sour is online at www.stonesour.com.

Roy Mayorga discusses songwriting, cover songs & juggling bands.


What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound in the studio?
Roy Mayorga: In any situation, studio or live, I would usually have my cymbals especially my ride cymbal, kick pedals and my snare drum to help produce my sound. But honestly, in my opinion, I think the sounds truly comes from the individual behind the drums or any instrument.

Does that differ from your tour setup?
Mayorga: My tour set-up is pretty much the same as it is in the studio.

Do you use a click-track when playing live?
Mayorga: I do for certain songs that have tracks. For instance, the songs that have some intros and some keyboard parts. I also use them to count me in on certain songs for reference and then shut it off after a couple bars.

When you are playing live, what is your usual monitor mix like? Do you have the vocals way up?
Mayorga: Obviously the drums are the loudest in my mix, followed by hard left and right guitars. The bass guitar is up with my drums and vocals sit right in the center of the mix at medium volume.

How many drum kits do you currently have?
Mayorga: Three.

Some killer shots of Roy murdering his skins in 2018.

What was your first endorsement as a drummer?
Mayorga: Tama drums, Vic Firth, Evans drumheads and Zildjian.

When you aren’t on the road, how much do you practice? Do you have a rehearsal space?
Mayorga: Yes, I do have a rehearsal space/recording studio and I practice about 4 hours a day.

Beyond traditional touring and recording, you have been a bandleader — like what you did on Late Night With Seth Meyers — and scored films. Was your career goal always to mainly be a drummer in a band?
Mayorga: Yes, my career goal is always to be a drummer. But secondly, I always wanted to be a composer and write music for film. I have an equal passion for piano and vintage synthesizers. All three of those tools I use to write with currently. I’ll be working on an all-instrumental, experimental solo record in the next year.

Work-wise, what do the next few months look like for you? Is it all Stone Sour work?
Mayorga: In the next few months we will be touring the States with Ozzy Osbourne and will have some scattered dates in Europe and Russia to end the year.

When not busy with work, how do you like to spend your free time?
Mayorga: To just be with my family.

Finally, Roy, any last words for the kids?
Mayorga: Live long and prosper.

“Burn One Turn One” is the latest video release from Stone Sour.

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