Jay Weinberg | Nine years inside Slipknot
Jay Weinberg replaced Joey Jordison in Slipknot, played The End, So Far, and was out by 2023. His story, his playing, and his SJC and Zildjian rig.
Following Joey Jordison into Slipknot is not a job. It is a dare.
Jay Weinberg took it in 2014, held it for nine years and three albums, and was then let go in November 2023 in one of the more talked-about drummer exits of recent memory.
He is also the son of one of rock’s most famous drummers, which he has spent his whole career not trading on. Here is what he actually brought to that band.
Who is Jay Weinberg?
Jay Weinberg was born on 2 August 1990, the son of Max Weinberg — the E Street Band’s drummer and, for years, the bandleader on Conan O’Brien’s shows.
That is a heavy surname. It is also, on the face of it, entirely the wrong background: E Street is about groove and restraint, and Jay’s career has been the opposite.
He got his own start early, deputising for his father in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band on parts of a 2009 tour when Max had a scheduling clash — which is a considerable thing to do at eighteen. He then played in the punk band Against Me! from 2010 to 2013.
Slipknot
In 2014, Slipknot announced that Weinberg would drum on .5: The Gray Chapter, their first album after Joey Jordison’s departure and Paul Gray’s death.
He stayed for three records:
- .5: The Gray Chapter (2014)
- We Are Not Your Kind (2019)
- The End, So Far (2022)
Drumeo’s voters gave him Metal Drummer Of The Year in 2021 and Drum Recording Of The Year in 2022 for The End, So Far.
In November 2023, Slipknot announced he was out. Weinberg has spoken publicly and with notable restraint about it since — including the observation, in a Rolling Stone interview, that he may have become a scapegoat for wider frustrations in the band.
Since
He drummed with Suicidal Tendencies in 2024, and was announced the same year as the new drummer for Infectious Grooves.
What Jay Weinberg actually does
He is a violent player, in the technical sense. Everything is at maximum. The strokes are long, the accents are enormous, and there is almost no dynamic middle ground — which suits Slipknot exactly.
He plays into the front of the beat. His time pushes. It is why the Gray Chapter material sounds more frantic than the Jordison-era records even at similar tempos.
He did not imitate Jordison. This was the right call and it cost him some goodwill with the fanbase. Jordison was a tighter, more clinical, more rudimental drummer; Weinberg is looser and wilder, and he played the old material his own way.
He is a hybrid drummer. Triggers, pads and samples woven into the kit, which modern Slipknot is built on.
His fills are chaotic on purpose. Long tumbling runs that sound about to fall apart and do not. It is a deliberate aesthetic and it is harder to control than a clean fill.
Jay Weinberg’s drum kit
- Drums — SJC Custom Drums. His touring kits were SJC customs, including the striking We Are Not Your Kind kit, with an SJC signature snare. Slipknot’s kits are as much staging as instrument, and his were built to be looked at.
- Cymbals — Zildjian. A large, aggressive setup: bright hats, multiple crashes, and a heavy load of chinas and stacks for the accents.
- Sticks — Vater 908 signature (VHJW908). We wrote about them when they landed — see our Jay Weinberg 908 signature drumsticks piece.
- Electronics. Triggers on every drum, plus pads for samples.
Every era, with buy links, is on Jay Weinberg’s Rig Vault page.
Want the sound without the rig?
Modern Slipknot drums are a production sound as much as a playing one, and that is good news for your wallet.
Trigger the kick. A single trigger and a decent sample is what makes those double-kick runs audible under seven other people. Our electronic drum kit guide covers hybrid setups and what a module actually does.
Then buy chinas, not crashes. Two chinas and a stack will get you closer to this sound than a new snare. Our cymbal buying guide covers where they sit.
And a heavy stick. The 908 is a chunky stick for a reason — you cannot play this music on a 7A. Our drumstick size guide explains what that changes, and the Gear Guru will spec the rest.
Where to start listening
- “The Devil in I” (2014). His first Slipknot single, and the statement of intent.
- “Unsainted” (2019). The best-produced drum sound of his tenure.
- “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)” (2022). The award-winning record, and the most controlled he ever sounded.
- “Solway Firth” (2019). Chaos, held together.
- Against Me! — Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014). Punk Jay, and a reminder he can play simply.
Final thoughts
Weinberg’s nine years in Slipknot were harder than the results suggest. He arrived into a fanbase that did not want him, refused to impersonate the drummer he replaced, and made three albums that stand up.
The exit was messy and he has handled it with more grace than most would. Suicidal Tendencies and Infectious Grooves are good landing spots for a player with that much aggression in his hands.
And the surname, in the end, told you nothing at all.
See Jay Weinberg’s full rig in the Rig Vault, read about Joey Jordison, or see who took the chair next in our Eloy Casagrande feature.