Slipknot guitarist Mick Thomson says their unnamed drummer grew up with the band and knew all their old material.
And he reveals the group immediately knew he was the right man to take over from Joey Jordison before they started recording upcoming album .5: The Gray Chapter.
Thomson tells Guitar World: “We knew who we wanted from the start, and we got him. We knew from the get-go there wasn’t going to be any issues with him. We did get lucky, I guess. He knew all the old material anyway as he’d grown up with the band. That made things easier.”
Rumours have been circulating the sticksman is Jay Weinberg, son of Bruce Springsteen’s drummer Max. A tweet last month by Weinberg’s former Against Me! colleague Laura Jane Grace hinted that he may be the man behind the mask.
Fans recently figured out the band’s new bassist was Krokodil man Allessando ‘Vman’ Venturella because his distinctive tattoos gave him away in the The Devil In I video.
Thomson adds: “No one was supposed to know who any of us were. Initially, no one knew who the fuck I was. We spent years in total anonymity. After a while, fans started figuring shit out. Or they’d follow you around, snap a picture. What can you do? We had a pretty good run with it, though.”
.5: The Gray Chapter will be available October 20 via Roadrunner Records while the band have lined up a January UK and Ireland tour with Korn.
Tour dates
Jan 14: Dublin 3Arena Jan 16: Sheffield Motorpoint Arena Jan 18: Glasgow SSE Hydro Jan 19: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena Jan 20: Manchester Arena Jan 22: Liverpool Echo Arena Jan 23: London Wembley SSE Arena Jan 24: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena Jan 26: Nottingham Capital FM Arena Jan 27: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
