Imagine being asked to come jam with Slipknot and telling them you'd rather just send in a video of your playing instead. According to Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor in an interview with Revolver, new drummer Eloy Casagrande was the only one of the band's drummer choices to actually agree to getting in a room with the then-eight.
"I think we just kinda went, 'You know what? Let's just tell people.' It was really as simple as that, you know? Eloy was the only one who was brave enough to get in the room with us. There were a handful of other people that we were looking at, and none of them wanted to jam with us. They just wanted to do their own thing and send it in — a very TikTok thing, you know? And we were like, 'That's not the way this works, dude.'
"Eloy rearranged his schedule to come see us. He was so hungry to jam and just see what would happen that we were immediately impressed just by that alone. He didn't get it right away — getting to know him was just as important as jamming with him — but by the time we made that decision, we were, like, 'Let's tell the world now. He's earned it.' Our audience is so used to us kind of keeping our cards close to our chest, but to me it was more refreshing to just kind of come out and go, 'Yeah, he's our dude.'"
Guitarist Jim Root added his own opinion, including a funny story about Eloy and Slipknot bassist VMan: "Yeah, he's a super-cool dude. He's really quiet, but he just lives, eats and breathes drums. If he's got an idle moment, he's got a practice pad in front of him or a practice kit. I recently bought a new place that has a little tiny demo studio attached to the garage. I've got a drum set in there and a big couch that you can turn into a bed.
"Eloy and VMan came to stay here for a week between the Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals, and Eloy was, like, 'Is it possible that I can stay in the room with the drums?' [Laughs] At literally seven the next morning, I could hear drums being played out in my studio. He's like some sort of Jedi drum master, which is inspiring to me. He makes me want to be a better guitar player to match his abilities, you know?"
Slipknot has a boatload of shows booked throughout the rest of 2024 in celebration of their 1999 self-titled debut album (and new material, apparently). Get those dates below, get your tickets here, and prepare to be awed by the sheer drumming prowess of Casagrande.
8/6 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/7 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/9 Baltimore, MD CFG Bank Arena (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/10 Camden, NJ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/12 New York, NY Madison Square Garden (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/14 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/15 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
8/17 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena (w/ Knocked Loose & Orbit Culture)
9/1 Pryor, OK ROCKLAHOMA
9/7 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/8 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Styles Resorts Amphitheater (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/9 Louisville, KY Louder Than Life
9/11 Nampa, ID Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/13 Inglewood, CA Intuit Dome (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/15 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/17 Austin, TX Moody Center (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/18 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
9/21 Des Moines, IA Knotfest Iowa at Waterworks Park (w/ Knocked Loose & Vended)
10/11 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival
10/19 São Paulo, BR Knotfest Brasil
11/8 Guadalajara, MX Calle 2
11/9 Mexico City, MX Parque Bicentenario
12/5 Amsterdam, NL Ziggo Dome
12/6 Dortmund, DE Westfalehallen
12/8 Stuttgart, DE Schleyerhalle
12/9 Leipzig, DE Quarterback Immobilien Arena
12/11 Zürich, CH Hallenstadion
12/12 Paris, FR Accor Arena
12/14 Leeds, UK First Direct Arena
12/15 Glasgow, UK Ovo Hydro
12/17 Manchester, UK Co-op Live
12/18 Birmingham, UK Utilita Arena
12/20 London, UK The O2
12/21 London, UK The O2
