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During a conversation with Sweetwater, Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg talked about performing the band’s heavy, intense music live in concert while wearing a mask.
Asked if playing with a mask on is “hard” and whether he’s “sweating his brains out,” Weinberg replied (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“Oh, it’s everything that you might imagine and way more. It is difficult, but it’s right in a way – in many ways. It’s the element of the band that I was so aware of as a fan and even more than a part of the show.
“It’s all part of the art and coming from the understanding there are layers to Slipknot that I grew to appreciate as a young person that you have the music that you’re listening to.
“And sometimes people might have a different experience, maybe it’s the music that they’re first impacted by, maybe it’s the appearance that people are first impacted by – it’s everything coming together. It’s the artwork, it’s the visuals, it’s the music, it’s everything coming together that makes Slipknot what it is.
“So that was one thing. I started playing with the band a year before we played a live show together, so we spent all that time making a record, and that felt like a massive undertaking. But then I came to realize very quickly that that is just the very beginning of getting used to this band, that everything comes alive on stage.
“Slipknot’s an on-stage band and I knew that coming into it but I absolutely learned that the first time that the curtain went up and we’re playing a song and stuff. I learned that instantly that everything is completely different. So, yeah. the mask informs the music, the music informs the physicality of everything.
“It’s all just one big thing, and I feel like putting that on, I’d only be able to really speak for myself, but you’re really able to just tap into something that isn’t necessarily there when you don’t have it on, and that thing is Slipknot.
“It’s a difficult thing that I definitely had to acclimate myself to. But now it would feel weird playing those songs without it, in a way. It almost feels strange in rehearsal mode to play songs without that, it feels like there’s an element missing that really kind of turns the key.”
You can watch the interview below:
You can read the full article by Ultimate Guitar: HERE
