Slipknot‘s Alessandro Venturella has told the story of how he went from being a humble guitar technician to becoming the bassist in one of heavy metal’s biggest bands.
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Venturella, aka ‘VMan’, was working as guitar tech for Brent Hinds of Mastodon, when he received a call from his friend Jim Root, who himself recently revealed that he turned down Slipknot twice before signing on as guitarist.
“Me and Jim became friends while I was teching. He was asking if I knew any bass players. When I found out what for, I put my hand up right away,” Venturella revealed in an interview with Bass Guitar magazine.
Continuing, he revealed that the fact he wasn’t actually a bassist at the time was not going to be an obstacle. “[Root] pointed out, ‘But you don’t play bass?’ and I said something to the effect that I could do whatever he needed from me. Then I just had to make sure it was true.”
Venturella made his live debut at Knotfest in 2014, after being picked to replace original bassist Paul Gray, who died in 2010. “My approach isn’t the same as Paul’s. I can’t be him and never will be; every player is ultimately born different,” he explained. “As the rhythm section, we’re there to hold the fort.”
Meanwhile, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has hit out at the NFL and the Super Bowl for not recognising rock and metal, tweeting in support of David Draiman of Disturbed, who is currently attempting to fulfil a childhood dream of singing at The Superbowl.