SHROOMGATE: DEP GUITARIST BEN WEINMAN SPOKE TO GREG PUCIATO ABOUT DRUGZ
Last week’s most amusing news item came from Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato (above, center), who made public his thanks and apologies to local emergency responders who helped him out during a half-day drug freakout. (Reviewing Puciato’s account of the unnamed substance’s effects, one could settle on mushrooms as the likely culprit.) As party people, we at MetalSucks giggled knowingly at his beginner’s mistakes and cheered his quick rebound to good humor and sanity. Party loud, dude!
But Puciato’s boss, DEP founding guitarist Ben Weinman (above, left), isn’t as cool with his misadventure or his urge to chronicle it for the public. Nor with the potential he created for something other than Weinman to get credit for DEP’s genius. Our awesome buds at Metal Insider got the exclusive story from Weinman:
On how Puciato’s antics might alter public perception of DEP:
You have to realize that it’s not all about promotion all the time and promoting yourself and creating [an] image. Although … we feel like the [fewer] barriers between us and the kids the better, it’s definitely concerning to me. It’s been hard for me as the founding member of the band. I’m the only constant who’s been here from day one. Most of the core ethics, methods of this band, and what’s made us who we are, started in the first five years of the band. And that’s something that’s been really important for me to stick to in order to maintain our identity.
On the fact that Weinman, not drug use, is responsible for the creativity of DEP:
I can say the one thing that concerns me about [Greg’s post] is I’ve got kids coming up to me assuming that there are certain things involved in the creative process which absolutely aren’t true. I’ll just come out and say it: I’ve always been extremely proud of the fact that Dillinger is what it is and it’s never been with the use of any drugs. I feel like that’s been extremely important for the development of this band. We’ve all been straight edge, and I still am to this day. I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I never do, and I’m 36 years old and I’ve written basically every riff ever in this band.
On his talk with Puciato and his tireless work on DEP music:
I actually talked to him last night. He was like, ‘Wow there was a lot of press about that. That’s crazy.’ I said, ‘Look, you gotta realize — I might be in Jersey in my basement writing the record and you’re out in Hollywood hanging out, experimenting, figuring out what you want to do with your life … and that’s great. But … you’re the frontman and you’re the image of what this band is, not me in the basement working my ass off on riffs with a pot of coffee [and] with a lot of fucking excitement and passion [and] without any care for what’s around me. If you put a fucking Mercedes in a shitty fucking Pinto shell, everyone is just going to see a shitty Pinto shell. They are not going to see the core of what went into that fucking machine.’
Elsewhere in the interview (read here), Weinman continues to be way intense about this episode — and it’s easy to empathize with the dude, cuz DEP is his baby and he loves being drug-free. Where some readers may depart from Weinman’s vibe, however, is where he cites his credentials in the field of psychology to draw a direct line between drug use and shitty music. And not to microscope him to death, but we might also agree that Weinman adopts the tone of a unappreciated housewife, all slaving away in the kitchen while Puciato pours drinks for the neighbors. Of course, DEP is a business and any boss is quick to get prickly when business is fucked with. But if asked (lol), I’d point out to Weinman that at least one dude (me) feels much closer to Puciato and DEP after this little flap; before now, Puciato to me was an unrelatable two-speed spittle fountain in a muscle shirt. So, hey, both of them can chill and forget about it. Huh actually, I’ve got a little something here that’ll help with that!
–ADF
Dillinger Escape Plan tours Europe with Mastodon and The Red Fang in February. Then they play the Soundwave events in Australia and a pair of shows in South Asia. Dates here.
