Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg recently appeared on The Downbeat Podcast to discuss his time with Slipknot, Bruce Springsteen, metal music, and such. While chatting about filling his dad’s shoes as the touring drummer for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Weinberg revealed that Springsteen didn’t give him a pass due to his father:
“Bruce told me at the beginning of the show, he was like, ‘Our commitment to this experience,’ he was like, ‘We know you know it because you’ve been watching it forever. But just because we’re choosing you, does not mean you get a pass or you get it easy or whatever.'”
The drummer shared his reaction to Springsteen’s words:
“I knew that, and I wanted that. I wanted the full experience, and I wanted to try the best of my ability to rise to that occasion of what had been asked of me. They took a real shot on the dark because I’d only been playing drums for only three years at that point.”
Weinberg revealed why he actually didn’t want to do a bad job in the band:
“My uncle’s, and my aunt’s in that band, and I didn’t wanna do a bad job, so they knew that I was taking it seriously, and Bruce was giving me a list of five songs a day to learn on the way to a show.”
He also made it clear that those 5 songs were extra songs.
In an earlier interview, the drummer revealed that it was insane being asked to fill in for his dad with the band and shared that Springsteen had asked his dad if he thought his son could play in the band without cracking under the pressure. The Slipknot drummer’s dad, reportedly, responded with:
“I don’t know. We’re gonna find out.”
See the podcast episode below.
