Roy Mayorga (born April 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of heavy metal bands

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 1996. To date the band has release ...

Hellyeah Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, was an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. The band's last lineup consisted of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drum ...

and

Stone Sour Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000; since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

and is currently the drummer for the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band Ministry.

Early life

Mayorga was born in

Forest Hills, Queens Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast and Flushing ...

, New York City, on April 6, 1970, to Cuban and Ecuadorian parents. At four years old, his family moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. While growing up, his parents would often play

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

music and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

, which were his earliest exposures to music. He eventually became a fan of

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

through his older brother, which led him to become interested in

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

. He began playing drums at six years old. His parents soon divorced, leading to him moving to

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, where he became involved in the local

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

scene.

Career

Mayorga formed his first band in 1985 in Allentown, called Youthquake. When Youthquake's bassist departed from the group, the remaining members formed Word Made Flesh, which Mayorga's brother eventually joined as guitarist. Mayorga befriended the members of New York punk rock band

Nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. It can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the throat. Over 30 d ...

while living in Allentown, which led to him becoming the band's drummer in 1988. The band released their debut album ''Extinction'' in 1990 through

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindco ...

, which was accompanied by a European headline tour, and a tour in support of D.O.A. In the following year, the band recorded a number of songs for compilations, as well as the single "Cybergod". Additionally, the tour the U.S. west coast, with local support from Final Conflict,

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

Asbestosdeath Asbestosdeath was an American doom metal band from San Jose, California, the precursor to the highly influential band Sleep. History Asbestosdeath started life in the late 1980s as a trio consisting of Al Cisneros on bass, Chris Hakius on dr ...

and Mindrot, before departing on a second European headline tour supported by the Radicts, however Nausea were unable to complete the final leg of the tour. In 1992, they released their final single "Lie Cycle", through Graven Image Records, before breaking up in the following months. While living in New York City, Mayorga began working as a live sound engineer for nightclubs such as

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, and Coney Island High. After Nausea's breakup, Mayorga formed Thorn with Stephan Flam and ex-Nausea guitarist John John Jesse. After their fourth live performance, they signed to

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. He also played with New York

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band Shelter in 1996. He also played drums on the album ''The Hollowing'' with metal band

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

in 1996. Mayorga formed the heavy metal band

in 1997, with former

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

vocalist

Max Cavalera Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (; born 4 August 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist unti ...

. He and Cavalera co-wrote much of the music for the band's self-titled debut album. He then departed from the band in 1999. In 2001, he rejoined the band, performing on their 2002 album '' 3'', before leaving again in 2003 in protest of the firing of bassist

Cello Dias Marcelo "Cello" Dias is a Brazilian musician. He is the bass guitarist of Against All Will and the former bass guitarist of Soulfly. Biography The Mist Dias began his career in 1988 playing bass guitar for the Brazilian thrash metal band ...

. He was briefly a member of the band

Medication Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...

from 1999 to 2001. In 2004, he helped create rock band Abloom as with vocalist Jasan Radford and lead guitarist Levon Sultanian. Also part of the band was Mike Doling ( Snot, Soulfly) and John Fahnestock (Snot). Fahnestock left and was replaced by Marcelo Dias a.k.a. Marcello D. Rapp (Soulfly). In 2005, he appeared as one of the drummers on the Roadrunner United compilation CD '' The All-Star Sessions'', playing on "The Enemy", "The End", and "Baptized in the Redemption", all tracks being produced and musically written by

Dino Cazares Dino Cazares (born September 2, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria (band), Brujeria. Cazar ...

and Roy Mayorga. The song "The End" spawned a music video.

Mayorga also does classical film scoring, working on films such as ''Legion'' (2004) and ''Shudder'' (2007). He temporarily filled in behind the drumkit for

's 2006 European tour with

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal, Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Frid ...

following

Igor Cavalera Igor Graziano Cavalera (born 4 September 1970) is a Brazilian musician, best known as the former drummer for the heavy metal band Sepultura, which he co-founded with his brother Max in 1984. Max left the band in 1997, and Igor himself would ...

's absence. He officially joined

on May 10, 2006, as a replacement for Joel Ekman. He drummed for their second release, '' Come What(ever) May'', released in August 2006. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the '' Live in Moscow'' album exclusively to

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on August 14, 2007. Roy Mayorga played drums for Amebix during their 2009 reunion tour until they broke up again in 2012. In October 2013, Belgian metal band Channel Zero announced that, following the death of their drummer Phil Baheux, they will continue the work made on the new album, with Roy Mayorga playing the drums as a session drummer. On May 6, 2019, Mayorga was announced as

's new drummer for their May 11, 2019, performance honoring their previous drummer

Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, ...

. while also announcing '' Welcome Home'' as the title of their next album and that the release date was pushed back to September 27. In 2024, Mayorga joined

Kylesa Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, Down-tuned guitar, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by ...

Personal life

In May 2011, Mayorga suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

as a result of his frequent

headbanging Headbanging is the act of violently shaking one's head in rhythm with music. It is common in rock music, rock, Punk rock, punk, heavy metal music, heavy metal and dubstep, where headbanging is often used by musicians on stage. Headbanging is als ...

while drumming. The event led to him having to re-learn how to play drums.

Discography

* 1986: Youthquake – ''Maximum Rock and Roll Compilation'' * 1989:

– ''They Don't Get Paid, They Don't Get Laid, But Boy Do They Work Hard'' * 1989: Nausea – ''Squat or Rot Volume. 1'' * 1990: Nausea – ''

Extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

'' * 1990: Nausea – ''Cybergod'' * 1991: Nausea – ''More Songs About Plants and Trees'' * 1991: Nausea – ''Lie Cycle'' * 1992: Nausea – ''Discharged: From Home Front to War Front'' * 1993: Thorn – ''Bitter Potion'' * 1997:

– '' The Hollowing'' * 1998:

– ''

'' * 2000:

Dave Navarro David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Between 1993 and 1998, Navarro was the guitarist of Red Hot Chili ...

– '' Trust No One'' * 2002: Soulfly – '' 3'' * 2004: Abloom – ''Abloom'' * 2004: Nausea – '' The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol. 1'' (re-release) * 2005: Roadrunner United – '' The All-Star Sessions'' * 2006:

– '' Come What(ever) May'' * 2007: Black President – '' Black President'' * 2010:

Amebix Amebix were an English punk rock band from Tavistock, Devon. A pioneer of the crust punk genre, Amebix's merger of anarcho-punk and post-punk with elements of heavy metal music, heavy metal, particularly early extreme metal, inspired musicians ...

– '' Redux'' * 2010: Stone Sour – ''

Audio Secrecy ''Audio Secrecy'' is the third studio album by American rock band Stone Sour. It was recorded and produced by the band and Nick Raskulinecz at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. On June 10, the band released a free download of "Mission ...

'' * 2011: Amebix – ''Knights of the Black Sun 12"'' * 2011: Amebix – '' Sonic Mass'' * 2012: Stone Sour – '' House of Gold & Bones – Part 1'' * 2013: Stone Sour – '' House of Gold & Bones – Part 2'' * 2014: Channel Zero – ''Kill All Kings'' * 2015: Stone Sour – '' Meanwhile in Burbank...'' (recorded in Mayorga's personal studio in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

) * 2015: Stone Sour – '' Straight Outta Burbank...'' (recorded in Mayorga's personal studio in Burbank, California) * 2017: Stone Sour – '' Hydrograd'' * 2018: Ministry – '' AmeriKKKant'' (tracks 3, 8, 9) * 2019: Ministry – '' Moral Hygiene'' (track 1) * 2019: Mark Morton – ''

Anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into t ...

'' (tracks 4, 7, 10) * 2024: Star Stunted II - ''Mahogany Wood'' * 2024:

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

- '' Tarantula Heart'' ;Producer/Engineer credits * 1994: ''Chaos B.C.'' remix (

) * 1995: ''Sun to Sun'' (The Spitters) * 1997: ''Kicks Joy Darkness'' (Karouac) * 1997: ''Eye for an Eye'' remix (Soulfly) * 1998: ''Tribe'' remix (Soulfly) * 2012: ''No Rules EP'' ( Lody Kong) ;Film Score * 2004: ''Legion'' * 2007: ''Shudder''

References

External links

*
Roy Mayorga: The Soulfly Interview
''Drum! Magazine'', December 2002
Interview with Musicfeeds TV during the 2011 Stone Sour Australian Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayorga, Roy 1970 births Living people American musicians of Cuban descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians Stone Sour members American heavy metal drummers Nu metal drummers Black President (band) members Nausea (band) members Soulfly members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Mass Mental members 21st-century American drummers Drummers from New York City Drummers from Florida