Static-X Tour Manager Slams Emmure Frontman, Blames Tera Wray for Wayne Static’s Drug Problem
Eric Dinkelmann, who has long worked behind the scenes with Static-X in a variety of capacities, has taken to social media to fire back at Frankie Palmeri.
The controversial Emmure frontman recently dissed the upcoming reunion of surviving original Static-X members as a “cash grab,” and called the idea of the band touring without their late namesake “crazy.” Palmeri’s opinions seem to be largely informed by the fact that Wayne Static and the other members of the band — particularly bassist Tony Campos — weren’t on good terms at the time of Wayne’s death, from a lethal mix of alcohol and prescription drugs, in 2014.
Palmeri’s comments clearly pissed of Dinkelmann, who in a lengthy Facebook statement argues “Wayne Static [alone] wasn’t Static-X” and that if Campos “wants to continue touring under the flag he has every right to do so.” Furthermore, Dinkelmann blames Static’s widow, Tera Wray, for the frontman’s drug problem, for breaking up the original band, and for banning Campos and company from attending Static’s memorial event — an absence for which Palmeri criticized the band. Wray took her own life in 2016.
Read Dinkelmann’s entire post below:
“I’ll just knock out some actual quick *truths* for people seeing as I’ve worked for Static-X since back in 2001:
“For credibility purposes I’ll start by stating I met Static-X while I was touring on Ozzfest ‘99. I became friends with the band and started working with them back in 2001 as a videographer for the tour DVD bonus footage. I went on to become band assistant, security, merch designer, Assistant TM, and eventually worked my way up to Tour Manager. I even designed the version of the Static-X logo for Wayne’s solo version of the band, as well as the new current Static-X logo.
“Wayne Static wasn’t Static-X. This isn’t a NIN scenario where Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails. Static-X was always a partnership and was 50/50 between Wayne + Tony. Wayne never wrote 100% of the music. Sure Wayne was iconic to the band, but it was a collective and a partnership. That is fact and why Wayne needed permission from Tony to use the band name later.
“Emmure wasn’t even around during the hay day of Static-X. I don’t remember this guy at a single one of our shows and Emmure wasn’t picking up steam till after Tony + Wayne had their split.
“Frankie wasn’t around for any of the shit where Tera was trying to get crew members fired because she was bored or creating problems that actually caused most of our crew to leave and eventually broke up the band.
“What Frankie was around for was the actual ‘cash grab’ where Wayne tried to dupe the fans by renaming his solo project Static-X because the solo act wasn’t doing too well. Wayne went to Tony and asked to use the band name. Tony was busy working on other things and terms were agreed upon for Wayne to use the name.
“Why doesn’t Frankie talk about that? Probably because Emmure was on one of those tours as main support. Even more coincidentally his band profited from it when Bizarro Static-X pulled off the headlining slot due to ‘medical problems’ (real reason: a drug bust) and Frankie’s band moved to the headlining position.
“After this happened Wayne lost a lot of money and upset promoters after pulling out of the tour. With this in mind rumblings of lower guarantees started happening and Wayne wanted to change the financial agreements to use the name. Wayne tried to lie to Tony about why he wanted to change the terms of what Wayne had already agreed to and cut Tony out of what he was owed. Wayne put himself in this position and tried painting Tony out to be the bad guy.
“Ah the drugs. There was no rampant use of prescription drugs during the hay day of Static-X. This was something that really didn’t come into play until Tera came into the fold. No one really goes into the fact that the prescription meds that Wayne was on weren’t Wayne’s. They were Tera’s. Tera got Wayne hooked on medication prescribed to her and ultimately those mixed with booze is what killed my friend.
“I don’t remember Frankie tearfully calling me to tell me Wayne passed away on the afternoon of Nov 1, 2014 before hit it the internet or press, but I certainly remember Tony + our crew calling me. We were all shattered especially because we didn’t get the chance to mend our relationships because of Tera. As we all know though, you’re not going to come between a guy and his wife if she’s still in the picture.
“When you share years with someone you build bonds. Bonds usually are based on mutual appreciation and love. When those feelings are flipped they generally turn to severe levels of animosity because of how much you cared for that person and your relationship. We all loved Wayne. We were all a family. So when we had our problems, things were intensified by this. We felt betrayed by our brother all in our unique ways/disagreements. That doesn’t mean we stopped loving them. Everyone gets bitter and angry with those we care deeply for. Sadly we all don’t get to mend those broken fences until it’s too late, but that doesn’t mean that’s the way feelings are left. I think everyone deep down realized that.
“The reason none of the original crew or band members were at the memorial was because Tera banned us all from attending. Pretty fucked up considering how much we shared with a guy we looked at as a brother, but you’re really not going to make a huge fuss about it at the time and be as classless as her. We loved Wayne. We all cried and went through severe levels of depression when he passed. We all wanted to be there for the Memorial and to do it right.
“This previous reason is actually the EXACT reason this tribute is happening. None of the actual band members of Static-X got to say goodbye or have any closure. They have every right to do so and I think it’s a great way to celebrate 20 years of Static-X.
“Tony is the only sole surviving member of the band. If he wants to continue touring under the flag he has every right to do so. Bands do this all the time. I guess Alice In Chains + Stone Temple Pilots are assholes in Frankie’s eyes too. Those guys wrote those songs and spent years touring the world playing for fans. The fact that Tony is including the original lineup is showing he’s trying to be classy about it. If it was a cash grab he could have easily hired cheaper musicians to pocket as much $ as possible. Instead he’s bringing in all the guys who worked on Static-X as well as guys from other bands and is sharing this with everyone.
“The most disrespectful thing here is someone like Frankie, who has nothing to do with Static-X, has the audacity to make claims like this and use it as a pedestal. He isn’t *in the know* about anything pertaining to the band much less the facts of what transpired with the actual band members.
“But you know I guess anyone will make shocking claims to use as a pedestal to push their own agenda and his solo project for that ‘cash grab’.
“C’mon Frankie, be more responsible with how you use your platform and voice. Don’t slander others on things you actually know nothing about. It’s bad enough we were excluded from saying goodbye to our brother before. Now we have to deal with this nonsense from people in positions that should be a bit more understanding?”
[via The PRP]
