In an interview published in the January 2025 issue of Modern Drummer ( via Blabbermouth ), for which he is the cover star, Slipknot drummer Eloy Casagrande gave more details about his joining the band , which began in late 2023.
Eloy stated that the audition was "a big secret" and that nobody could know about it, not even Sepultura , his former band. The decision to audition was in his hands, and he decided to do it since the Brazilian band was going to disband .
"It all happened at the end of 2023, when I received a call from Slipknot's manager asking if I was interested in auditioning with them," said Casagrande.
"That year, Sepultura decided to stop playing, so it was a very natural decision for me – to continue playing with another band, instead of retiring."
“At the end of [2023] and the beginning of [2024], I couldn’t talk about [the audition] – it was a big secret and nobody could know, not even they [Sepultura] knew – it stayed just between me and Slipknot.”
Asked about what it's like to be part of the band, Eloy said: “It's always been where I wanted to be. I grew up listening to them, so I wanted to have the experience of playing live with Slipknot with a mask on my face.”
"At my first show with them, I was thinking, 'This is really happening. My God. I can't believe it.'"
What was the audition process like?
As soon as he was invited to the audition, Eloy took his drum kit to a studio in São Paulo, where he recorded videos to send to the band. According to him, he played six songs, choosing three, while "Eyeless," "Purity," and "Gematria" were selected by Slipknot.
“My flight was scheduled to go to the audition, so at the end of January [2024], I went to Palm Springs, California, and spent ten days with them there. For the first five days, the whole band was rehearsing as if it were a show. Every day, they came with a different setlist, and we just played those songs,” Casagrande commented.
Casagrande also gave his opinion on Greyson Nekrutman.
When asked about Greyson Nekrutman , who replaced him in Sepultura , Eloy says: “When I see him playing, I can remember myself in the same place. When I joined Sepultura, I was his age. That's quite interesting.”
"He's a very good drummer. I used to watch him playing videos that he posted on social media when he was playing more jazz and drum solos. A brilliant musician, and I wish him and the rest of the band all the best and I have a lot of respect for him," said Eloy, who revealed his desire to one day reunite all the drummers of Sepultura.
Eloy assisted Nekrutman during the transition.
As soon as it was announced, Greyson went to Eloy's studio in São Paulo to rehearse, and according to the drummer, they had a "very good conversation," with Casagrande giving tips and advice on how the songs should be played.
“He only had two or three weeks to learn all the songs, so I gave him some advice like, ‘We used to play this song faster. Be careful with this song because we used to play it slower.’ I wasn’t teaching him how to play the songs because he can play anything he wants. He’s an amazing drummer,” he concluded.
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