In a new interview with Rolling Stone, drummer Jay Weinberg discusses his surprise firing from SLIPKNOT nearly two and a half years ago.
The split happened just two days after Jay played his final show with the band on November 3, 2023 at the Hell & Heaven festival in Toluca, Mexico.
Weinberg recalled: "I woke up the morning after traveling home from our last show together, and I received a phone call from the band's manager in which he informed me that the band had made a decision to not renew my contract at the end of the year." He continued, "It took place, to be quite honest, at the end of a year that was a very difficult year within the band." That might relate to some preexisting tensions before I arrived at the band," Jay explained.
"But I'm left with no explanation, just that 'It's a creative decision and you're no longer the drummer in SLIPKNOT.' And what he said from there was, 'We would like to release a joint statement with you tomorrow.
Take the rest of the day to think about it.
I'll be available to you for the rest of the day if you want to talk.',"My world just kind of bottomed out from under me," Weinberg admitted.
"This thing that I have been dedicated to with complete focus and drive and attention and love and holding on to a dream, despite the difficulties, despite all the things that happen with entering a volatile environment like that and a dark environment at that, to having nothing but questions." He revealed: "I went on a walk with my wife to clear my head and process what had just happened.
And then 20 minutes later, they posted their own statement online.",When asked how he felt about the band's decision not to renew his contract, Jay said: "I mean, how would anybody feel about that? It perfectly encapsulates the confusion of that." He added: "It came without an explanation, [with] no reason.
It was confusing then.
If I'm perfectly honest, it remains confusing.",As a newcomer to SLIPKNOT, Weinberg acknowledged that he found himself caught in between preexisting tensions within the band.
He explained: "One guy has one way he wants things done, another guy wants another way he wants things done, and amplify that by eight other people, to try to satisfy all of those things." This was his singular focus for 10 years, Weinberg stated.
He shared: "As a newcomer, and like you mentioned, you're like, 'Are you in the band? Are you not in the band?' How do you define that after 10 years?" It's not a short amount of time.
But it's easy for a newcomer, for myself, to be caught in the crossfire there." Maybe I became a scapegoat for certain things," Weinberg reflected.",Weinberg had replaced Joey Jordison as SLIPKNOT's drummer in 2013 and went on to play with the band until his sudden firing.
During his time with SLIPKNOT, he played on several albums, including ".5: The Gray Chapter", which earned a trio of Grammy nominations, including two for "Best Metal Performance" and a nomination for "Best Rock Album".
Weinberg also played on SLIPKNOT's 2019 album "We Are Not Your Kind" and their 2022 release "The End, So Far".