Jay Weinberg on the Legal Limits That Stalled His Collaborations

Jay Weinberg spent ten years inside one of metal’s most visible bands, but in a new interview with Loyal to the Craft, he describes a parallel period in which part of his creative life was legally out of reach.

Weinberg says he did not have “the legal ability to play music with other people,” a restriction he frames as difficult because making music involves both creation and sharing. He continued creating privately, but knew the material could not be released. “Although I was super intensely focused on one aspect of my creative life and happy to do so, like a little part of my creative self, it was dying for sure,” he said.

The drummer does not mention Slipknot by name in the interview, though he joined the band in late 2013 and left in 2023 after what the group called a “creative decision.” Since his departure, Weinberg has toured with Suicidal Tendencies, recorded with Fuming Mouth, launched Portraits of an Apparition, and released solo work. His recent collaboration with Softcult, “Drown Fountain,” originated as an idea in 2013—around the time he first had songs waiting.

Weinberg frames the current period as a return to a healthier model: writing primary material himself and bringing in friends to finish it. The difference now is that the work can actually come out.