WHO’S PLAYING WHAT?
How to tell left from right with Jim Root and Mick Thomson
On album and on stage, Slipknot guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson work together as a team, both playing rhythm and lead. So, amid the firestorm of barrelling beats, pummelling percussion, screeching samples, DJ scratching and vocal acrobatics, how can you tell if a guitar part you’re hearing is coming from Root or Thomson? The easiest way is to pay attention to which direction the sound is coming from (this is easily accomplished with headphones). Root’s parts are always in the left part of the stereo mix and Thomson’s are always on the right. The same goes for their live shows. But what if the listener is cranking the band’s tunes on a mono Bluetooth speaker? Well, there are other ways to tell the differences between the two players.
“We’re really different kinds of players, but we complement each other really well,” Mick says. “What isn’t in my wheelhouse is in Jim’s. He’s more of a rock guy and I’m more of a technical metal player. He’s got a great touch and plays legato, and I play some of the more offbeat stuff.”
“I’m a liquid sort of organic guy,” Jim explains. “And Mick is more like, ‘Here I am. I’m gonna lay it down and it’s in your f*cking face and it’s gonna be powerful.’ I like to mix alternate picking with legato and I’m a little bit more fluid than Mick. But Mick understands theory and tries to put it in place a lot more than I do. I’m more of an instinct player. Even if I play something out of key, I don't care because sometimes that sh*t works and creates something you wouldn’t normally get.”
There’s a push-pull dynamic to Slipknot’s guitar parts, of which Mick says: “I tend to rush stuff a little bit. I can be really on top of sh*t and pushing it, and Jim will lay back a little bit more. I have a more staccato, shorter, barky guitar attack and Jim’s got a fatter, raw tone. His playing is a bit looser and mine’s more tight. If we both played the same guitar, I think his chug would be a little bigger and fatter just from the way he holds his pick. And it’s funny ’cause he plays with a lot more gain than I do.”
Mick also says there is kind of telepathy between them. “When you play with somebody for long enough, you develop a seventh sense. Me and Jim know each other well enough that without thinking about it consciously, he automatically adapts to playing along with whatever I’m doing. I guarantee he can anticipate when a note’s gonna come out of me, just as I can with him.”