How Jay Weinberg Joined Infectious Grooves + Suicidal Tendencies

Believe it or not, Mike Muir reveals someone outside of Infectious Grooves was responsible for suggesting Jay Weinberg as the band’s new drummer. That’s one of the revelations in the singer’s recent interview with Full Metal Jackie for her weekend radio show.

After Weinberg’s dismissal from Slipknot last year, it wasn’t long before the drummer found a new musical home and that would be with Infectious Grooves. (Editor’s Note: After the interview, Weinberg was also confirmed to drum for Muir’s other band, Suicidal Tendencies.) Within the chat, Muir reveals how Weinberg landed on the band’s radar and there’s actually a pretty sweet and touching story about the unknown tie that the drummer has to Mike’s family.

Muir also offers an update on the band’s recording future, speaks about his long-running bond with bassist Robert Trujillo, his funk and punk influences and how he’s reaching and surprising a new generation of fans.

Elsewhere in the chat, Muir addresses his other band Suicidal Tendencies and says he’s had a change of heart, re-evaluating a previous stance of moving on from full albums. See what’s going on with Suicidal Tendencies after a six-year break since their last full-length record.

It’s Full Metal Jackie and I’m excited to say we’ve got Mike Muir on the show with us this week. Mike, there’s a lot of things going on in your world. I want to talk to about Infectious Grooves. They have returned and are playing again in 2024 and you’ve got a new drummer behind the kit. I would love for you to tell us how Jay Weinberg came into the fold continuing a long line of spectacular drummers for this band.

So, when we first started, the first drummer that we have played with us was Stephen Perkins, who was in Jane’s Addiction and the first tour we did was with Ozzy, the “No More Tears” tour and then, after Stephen, we got a 17-year-old kid named Josh Freese playing drums with us and Josh, now he’s in the Foo Fighters. He’s played with everybody and probably played on half the records of bands you like and didn’t know that he played because he phantom played, because producers hired him to play. After Josh left, we got this 14-year-old kid named Brooks Wackerman, which is quite a story on that. Brooks has been playing with us, and he plays with Avenged Sevenfold now.

Right before COVID, and the end of 2019, we did a festival headliner festival in Brazil and then we’re supposed to do some festivals in the next summer in between Metallica because they had time off. But then COVID happened and so that all got messed up and now we had a little circle of time that we could do with Robert [Trujillo]‘s schedule a bit and we kind of knew if we try to set something up much later, there’s always something that could happen and it’s really not fair to everybody. So, we knew for sure, we could do it and then we got these three weeks of time, so what are we going to do.

So, I call Brooks, and then Avenged had dates, so he couldn’t do it. So, really, it was the only time we could do it. So, we’re like, okay, what do we do? And so we’re like, well, let’s just lock it in and we’ll figure out a drummer and Robert goes, “I’ll make a list.”

So I was like thinking of people and my middle son actually, when he heard Brooks couldn’t do it, he goes, “What are you gonna do for drummer?” And I go, “Well, we’re making a little list.” He goes “Is Jay on the list?” and I had not even thought of Jay.

My son has this picture and it’s Valentine’s Day, but if you saw it, he’s four years old. It’s 10 years ago at the time, He’s four years old. He’s got a little Suicidal shirt on, and he’s getting a hug from Jay. It is like the coolest picture. So, he’s followed him ever since and my son … I’m going on a random tangent, but my son’s favorite drummers are Lars and Jay.

So anyhow, I told him, “I think we’re gonna talk to Jay and Robert knows him but we didn’t have any connections.” We opened up that first tour that he did for Slipknot and that was a time literally where I heard they got this young drummer and he’s really good. I don’t like to use the word “judged” but I observed and I was watching him and some of the sound checks and I go, “This kid is badass.” He always stuck out to me. But, you know, he was in Slipknot.

So when I knew he could do it, I knew that he had surgery locked in. In the beginning of the year he had just started walking and I basically got his number because I didn’t have it and texted him and I felt a little awkward. But I’m like, “Sorry for this and that.” But he got back to me, we started talking.

He goes, “I don’t know if I’m gonna be ready to play by then and let me talk to the physical therapists because I’d love to do it.”  So it all worked out.

It’s been an absolute joy. We got in there when we did the first couple of practices and we’re just going. This is just really so much fun. My kids were talking. They all went down there. Robert was smiling the whole time and everyone was smiling and it was just I think it was just a whole lot of fun for everybody and more fun than actually we thought it would be.

We’ve always enjoyed doing it but everybody’s really appreciating it. I was talking to Jay about it and I go, “You know it’s funny because for all of us, we’re all coming from different places, different circles, but it’s like everyone’s going dude that was so much fun and music should be fun.”

I think it gets away from it with Suicidal. It’s always having to prove yourself and it’s always the battle of not fitting in and not wanting to fit in and that and so just to be there just going, “Wow, dude, this is so much fun.” It’s a great, great situation and I think Jay really helped that out.

Jay Weinberg Plays First Show With Suicidal Tendencies

READ MORE: Jay Weinberg Plays First Full Show Since Leaving Slipknot With Suicidal Tendencies

The last new music we had from Infectious Grooves came in 2020 and this is definitely an impressive lineup with yourself, Rob Trujillo, Dean Pleasants, Dave Kushner, and now Jay on board. Might we take this beyond the stage and into the studio?

Yeah, we’re actually going to record a song. It’s been so much fun. You sit there and I used to think fun was overrated. My dad always said, “A lot of times people say what’s fun is what they regret the next day or a week later.” But it’s been so much fun.

We talked to Adam, who is no longer playing live and we’re like, “Oh let’s write a song.” it used to be, you couldn’t really do that because you had to ask everybody for permission. But people would stop you if you say, “I want to do this” and “Oh you can’t do that” and “h that’s gonna confuse people.” It was always like a battle and now there’s nobody that can tell us what we can and can’t do. That’s a great situation to be at. So you don’t have any plans and you just go like, “Okay, let’s go to the studio and let’s just record something and so we’re really excited about that. I think it’ll be fun.”

it’s now been over 30 years with Infectious Grooves through various lineups. Do you have a particular album cycle that was the most fun and rewarding for you in terms of how everything played out?

Well, I think the biggest thing is you kind of have to keep a focus on where you are now and have appreciation. I think that’s definitely one of the things. I do definitely appreciate the fact that I can actually do something going to Australia, because I’m biased there and stuff, we wanted to play a couple of shows here. So, we snuck it in and we’re going to do a couple of shows in Orange County. But I think you got to like really sit there and go find that balance between living in the past and enjoying the present and looking forward to the future. That’s the hardest thing I think to do in life.

I think we’ve got a pretty good balance on that now and being able to enjoy all the moments as they happen because so many things in the past, you weren’t able to enjoy them. There were so many other things going on that you were trying to get through it, or you’re trying to prove something or this or that and so I think for everybody, this is just an opportunity to just have a lot of fun.

But on the same sense too I think a lot of times when it’s bad to say when people get together, whatever. It’s like a party and they don’t take it serious. Everybody’s taking it very serious. There’s a great amount of musicianship there and there’s also a purpose and I think you put those together. I think that’s a great combination and I think people will will see that as like, hey, it’s okay to have fun. But it’s also okay to be very serious about what you’re doing and believing in it, just getting the opportunity to let people see what you do and just go this is why we love it.

Infectious Grooves, “Violent and Funky”

One of the great things to see over the years is your continued working relationship with Robert Trujillo and Infectious Grooves allows you to indulge your mutual love of funk with its heavier spin on things. When first going down that rabbit hole, who were the funk bands that first drew your interest and influenced where you wanted to take your band’s music?

Well, when I was a kid, my favorite bands are still like Parliament and Sly and the Family Stone and things like that. Then, when I got a little bit older, and people started getting heavier music, and then punk came in so it was Parliament and Sex Pistols were my favorite bands when I was 14 or 15 years old.

I always say that I think there’s a lot of similarity if you listen to the music, when you know when Parliament was in the studio and they’re doing this song “Flashlight,” they weren’t sitting there going, “Oh, is this gonna be played on the radio?” It was just, they were just doing their thing and that’s all it mattered, you know? And it really came across to me and that’s the same thing I got with punk.

You could talk about Malcolm McLaren, but it was like Sex Pistols. They’re just doing their thing and they didn’t really give a shit. I think that’s one of the things regardless of what you do, you have to come from a place of I’m doing my thing. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. That’s not my problem. That’s your loss.

I think with Infectious, there was a lot of resistance when we did it, because we’re in Suicidal at the time and they’re all trying to do the big push. [The label] thought it would be confusing and so it was always kind of like trying to fit in there. But it was just something that was like, hey, these are elements that we really loved in music.

Obviously, when Robert got into Suicidal, I didn’t know him previously and I asked him what his other bands were, and he didn’t want to play me any of it. Than when he eventually did. I go, “The bass is amazing, but some of the music is a little more poppy. But you take away the bass and you add a little more aggression to it, it’s like really cool stuff.”  You could obviously see that he was a great bass player. So, we would definitely wanted to incorporate his bass playing skill into Suicidal but Infectious also got to a point where we wrote the songs around the bass, and then added different elements according to what it was.

Robert, I always say he’s definitely one of the best bass players in the world and he’s probably even a better person. There’s so many people that try to get in touch with me to get in touch to Robert and I’m like, you guys are killing me. He’s just the nicest person and just tries to be as helpful and stays calm and I go, “Robert, man, I’d be in jail. Man, people do that stuff.”

We just played in Mexico, House of Vans and it’s like a private thing they do. They give out the tickets. But Tye couldn’t do it, because his son plays bass with us and so Robert did it. Metallica is huge and they’re out everywhere in the world. In Mexico, they’re Mega Huge. And Robert, he’s one of the saints there and you just see how people [react].

it is the best day ever of their life and they want to make it last, and they want to take him with them and they don’t realize how physical they’re getting and stuff. I was just sitting there and my oldest son’s 19. I was going like, “Dude, if it was me. I’d be swinging on people.” Just the way that people kind of lose their mind. It’s insane. It’s really insane and he’s just so gracious and calm. We had to sneak him out after the show through the back. It was like crazy.

While Infectious Grooves is front and center right now over the past year, you’re now past 40 years since your first album with Suicidal Tendencies. Do you find your love for what you do is the same as what it was when you were a young man all those years ago or has your appreciation for it evolved over time?

I think the proper word is “my hate.” I was definitely motivated by hate and I don’t always think that’s a bad thing. If you put it in the right place because you see something you don’t like, then you try to avoid it and do it a different way and stuff. But yeah, I just didn’t really like a lot of music and I said this many times. One of my best friends said, “You know, it’s not music, what you’re doing. You don’t think anyone will like it.” I don’t really care if people like it. in fact, I don’t like most people as it is. So, it makes it easier.

But if it was non sentimental, I would say that it is nice to be in a situation where you see people and they’re bringing their kids and they were kids when they listened to Suicidal and they didn’t think their parents understood them. You see their kids and they’ve got a love for the music too and appreciate where it’s coming from. To see the reaction, especially the younger people because sometimes parents take their kids to shows and afterwards they’re like, “Dude, you’re crazy.” I said, “Thank you very much.”

But they could see that. As my dad says, “Sweat don’t lie,” and I’m not trying to be nostalgic or go through the motions. I’m not 16 years old anymore. But there’s a certain conviction and belief and if it wasn’t evident predominantly, it’s just overwhelming.

So, every time we do a show, especially when you have the younger people in Hawaii, and afterwards they always trip out and stuff and I guess that’s because I say how old I am. But it’s a cool thing to be able to do it in a way that I would be probably shocked if I was young. Someone said how old I was, I’d say, “Fuck, That’s crazy, you know? I hope I could do that when I’m old but doubt I’ll be alive, you know?”

Suicidal Tendencies, “Institutionalized”

Is 2024 for pretty much Infectious Grooves or has there been any thought to what comes next with Suicidal Tendencies?

Actually, I’d said that I was never going to do another record because records … talk about the word “fun,” records had never been fun for me to make. It’s always difficult and time consuming and the pressure and just everything, but recently, I’ve kind of been re-evaluating that.

We’ve been talking and we’re actually going to record another record and I think it’s the first time we’re gonna make a record in a while where we pretty much know what we want to do and that’s to make people not happy. Happy hate songs. But yeah, they make us happy. So, yeah, we’re gonna do that.

We’re gonna start demoing some songs at the end of the month, at the same time when we start doing the Infectious song and so we’re gonna try to keep that element of fun and excitement and I think one of the things we want to do is definitely, when it comes out, people will know that it’s something that they haven’t heard before. I think that’s the starting point and also something that doesn’t fit into what other people are doing and I think that’s more Suicidal, at its best, by making it a map of purpose.

Thanks to Mike Muir for the interview. Keep up with Infectious Grooves through their website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify accounts. You can also stay up to date on all things Suicidal Tendencies through the band’s website, Facebook, X, Instagram and Spotify. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show here.