The L.I.F.E. Project: Stepping Into The Spotlight
It’s easy to forget, but the massive rock juggernaut that is STONE SOUR only has two remaining original members: lead vocalist Corey Taylor, and rhythm guitarist Josh Rand. Behind the presence of one of the greatest frontmen to grace the stage of hard rock and metal, Rand has been a seminal force in keeping the band on the skyward trajectory they’ve been on since their inception. That is, until Taylor announced the band’s indefinite hiatus last August. Being a main force in a band that has essentially been his entire musical career, Rand‘s world was, understandably, shaken at first upon the start of the hiatus.
“I needed time to process it,” Rand explains. “I was completely burned out by the end of the Hydrograd tour, and I needed to make some changes within my personal life. I had been struggling, and most everyone knows I missed the tour from drinking. I was the only one who hadn’t yet stepped outside of STONE SOUR, because for me it never stops. I’m the guy who handles a lot of the behind the scenes workings for the band. But to be honest, the hiatus was very welcome for me. I was feeling a lot of burnout.”
Perhaps then, it’s fitting that from the (at least temporary) ashes of STONE SOUR rises a group named THE L.I.F.E. PROJECT, Rand‘s new band with PARALANDRA vocalist Casandra Carson. The project sees Rand stepping totally to the forefront on its new self-titled EP, handling just about every aspect of production and crafting the music by himself. The five track EP showcases just how powerful a songwriter Rand is, with some of the catchiest hooks of his entire career and guitar lines that deliver heavyweight punches with every song. But the addition of Carson is perhaps the biggest surprise. Her voice is absolutely soaring and roaring, with a snarl befitting, frankly, the best rock vocalists out there. The Lzzy Hale comparisons are sure to come thick and fast, but that would only be scratching the surface, as Carson brings a whole new dimension and warmth to her vocals as well. And having a woman front the project was always the plan, according to Rand.
“I knew there would inevitably be comparisons to STONE SOUR if I had a male vocalist, but I also felt that with a female vocalist I could go down different avenues I couldn’t before. Some of the songs on this EP would never be a STONE SOUR song, and I made this decision before I really even started working.”
Rand explained that for this new project, he began to mess around with MIDI piano and keyboard to begin his composing, and the draw towards composing on a piano rather than a guitar came from an eschewing of his adolescent influences from years ago in favour of some unexpected listening habits. “About five years ago, I took a break from listening to everything I grew up listening to. I started actually listening to adult contemporary music, which really influenced me to write with piano and compose a number of songs on piano, but about a year and a half ago I came full circle and got back to writing guitar riffs, which is what I do best. It just felt like coming home.”
The EP is a total encapsulation of what hard rock is and should be. Melody is the inherent focus, and the grandiosity of it all is what draws so many in the first place. These songs certainly have more grandiosity than STONE SOUR, with Purgatory slinking in bluesy swamps before rising and falling again like rapids to a waterfall, and Worthwhile shimmering with piano tones that sound lifted right from a Eurodance track and lush synths that would have any rock radio station salivating, all the while Carson‘s voice dances effortlessly across Rand‘s soundscapes. It’s pure earworm, front to back, and building it was a conscious exercise in stressing perhaps the most important aspect of hard rock: the one that helps pull listeners into heavy music in the first place.
“The hook, first and foremost,” says Rand. “That was the most important aspect. The vocal hook, the vocals, the vocal melody, those are all at the forefront. And as far as the music goes, it was all about what moved me. Whether it made me want to throw my fist in the air or whatever it is, and I’ve had those visceral reactions. That’s what I’m thinking about when I think what makes a great song. It’s about what feels right to me.” He then chuckles and adds, “I also have to make sure I’m not repeating myself from any point in my history in STONE SOUR, and I have to ask myself ‘I haven’t written this any other time, have I?’”
The other obvious takeaway from this EP is the massive production, which aside from mixing by Josh Wilbur, Rand handled himself. And there were very clear intentions on this front as well in both the discovery of tone and the overall production of each and every instrument. “The one thing going into it that I knew I didn’t want was for it to sound like everybody else,” Rand explains. “A lot of new music that comes out has the same production and it drives me nuts, unlike the stuff I grew up with. Every record in the 80s and 90s sounds different. A MÖTLEY CRÜE record sounds completely different from a GUNS N’ ROSES record production wise, so I wanted to chase that. When it came to guitar tone, usually I’m the glue that holds everything together sonically in STONE SOUR. I’ve made sacrifices in my guitar tone for the better of the band to round us all out. In this project, it’s just me so I can be more aggressive in tone than I’ve been. I wanted it crisp and clear, and I recorded these guitars a total of four times because I’m crazy like that.”
Though the recording experience was positive, Rand went on to say that the process of releasing this EP wasn’t so smooth. Due to COVID-19 and the general state of the industry, as well as the fracturing of STONE SOUR, record labels weren’t exactly sold on the project at first, and were questioning the project and where it could go. But once again taking the lead, Rand is putting the EP out himself, and going forward, THE L.I.F.E. PROJECT will be his main focus, with more songs in the pipeline.
“Casandra and I recorded some cover songs, and I think I might release them, and then hopefully we’ll do another EP early next year or do a full length that includes the songs already released,” says Rand. But as the interview winds to a close and the final question is asked about his future plans, he touches upon perhaps the biggest question on many people’s minds. “I think the scary thing to ask is ‘is STONE SOUR over or not,’ and the truth is none of us know that answer. A bunch of stuff happened and there’s so many moving parts with everything at this point. But I will say this, and I want all the STONE SOUR fans to know, I think the hiatus will be a big benefit for the band in the long run.”
But for fans of Rand‘s songwriting sensibility and place in helping create so many songs for one of hard rock’s most recognisable bands, THE L.I.F.E. PROJECT is here to demonstrate why he has indeed earned his position. For so many who have fallen in love with and carry special attachment to his songs with STONE SOUR, Rand poses an interesting question to those looking to explore his new band.
“I’m taking songs where I ordinarily would go one way, and then I ask myself, ‘what happens if I go the other way? That’s where these songs are coming from, and they’re some of my proudest moments.”
The L.I.F.E. Project is out now via self-release.
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