SLIPKNOT's JAY WEINBERG: 'We're More Like An Athletic Team Than We Are A Band In A Lot Of Ways'

In a new interview with Barstool Backstage, drummer Jay Weinberg spoke about his typical pre-concert routine to prepare him for the high-energy intensity of a SLIPKNOT performance. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're more like an athletic team — we're more like a team than we are a band in a lot of ways. With the sheer number of people, and we all wear the same thing, and this and that, we kind of have a team mentality and a sports mentality about what we do. It is incredibly physical. So with that in mind, I have kind of a running checklist every day where I kind of live the exact same day every single day when we're on tour — if I'm in control of that. Sometimes we're flying on a show day, and that kind of sucks, and I'm not able to get into my flow state that I prefer. But I eat the same exact thing every day; I drink pretty much the same amount of water every day; I know exactly when I'm gonna have my pre-show meal; I know exactly when I'm gonna start getting into the jam room and start stretching and this and that. So that's all part of it. I'll run through a bunch of songs by myself. We'll run through maybe two, three, four songs together in the room. And then by the time we're done playing the third or fourth song or something, our tour manager is coming into the room. He's, like, 'You guys are onstage in five minutes.' And then it's like mad dash, and I'll be, like, 'Oh, fuck. I've gotta put on my mask.'"

He continued: "Sometimes that works out the best, because then you don't have any time to cool down and it's just, like, 'Oh, shit. I've gotta throw this on and run out there.' But the mask is the last turn of the key; that's the last thing that happens before we're all together. And we have our little band rituals that we do before every show that just brings us all to the… makes sure we're all on the same page and we're about to go out to do this thing that means a lot to us. We know it means a lot to everybody who's there, so we're gonna give it everything we've got. But we all have those individual things. I think the mask is all of our final key to that door that unlocks the stage for us. And I suppose it is kind of unique."

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 2014's ".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.