SLIPKNOT's JAY WEINBERG: 'The Live Show Really Informs What We Do'

In a recent interview with The Sound Lab, SLIPKNOT drummer Jay Weinberg spoke about the evolution of the band's sound, particularly in the years leading up to the release of SLIPKNOT's latest album, 2022's "The End, So Far". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think as far as the mentality and approach to writing songs and crafting them in the studio and really just trying to throw ourselves into the music as much as we can definitely does change as you get older. This being my third record with the band, I've definitely learned over the years, after almost 10 years of being in the band, the live show really informs what we do. Which I kind of think back on making [2014's] '[.5:] The Gray Chapter' as incredibly ironic that we made an album without even playing a single show together, because so much of what we do is onstage; it informs pretty much everything. And that definitely does affect it. I think as you get older, your tastes and inspirations change and evolve, even though what I enjoyed back when I was a kid still, I'm sure, finds its way into my own contributions to our music. It's probably that way for a lot of us. But you have different things that you wanna say; you have different things that you wanna express, 'cause you're that many years down the line of being a person and having life experience to draw from. So, yeah, the mentality maybe stays a little bit the same in that we wanna throw a hundred percent of ourselves into it, but the approach and the end result, I think, does change as you get a little bit older. And you just wanna do different stuff; you don't wanna do the same things you did 10 years ago — or 20 years ago, for guys in the band. So, yeah, it's always a constant kind of evolving thing, as it should be, and that's perfectly fine."

Jay discovered SLIPKNOT when he was a pre-teen, through his father Max, of Bruce Springsteen's E STREET BAND, and leader of the house band on Conan O'Brien's talk show. He was hooked immediately and was a huge fan of SLIPKNOT by the time he was invited to Los Angeles to try out as replacement for Joey Jordison in 2013.

For the first few months after the release of ".5: The Gray Chapter", the members of SLIPKNOT had declined to name the musicians who were playing drums and bass on their tour, despite the fact that their identities were revealed as Weinberg and bassist Alessandro "Vman" Venturella by a disgruntled former drumtech for SLIPKNOT who posted a picture of a backstage call sheet on Instagram.

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Jordison passed away "peacefully in his sleep" in July 2021 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old.

Prior to joining SLIPKNOT, Weinberg was a member of AGAINST ME!, having played with the Florida-based act from November 2010 until December 2012.

Weinberg joined AGAINST ME! shortly after he was ousted from MADBALL and following the departure of AGAINST ME!'s previous sticksman, George Rebelo.

In May 2013, Weinberg filled in for KVELERTAK drummer Kjetil Gjermundrod during the band's North American tour because Gjermundrod had to bow out of the run after experiencing significant pain in his arm.