Emmure’s Frankie Palmeri on Past Band Members: “No one even knows who the fuck those guys are.”
Before we get into Frankie Palmeri’s slam against his former bandmates — all of whom quit the band a year ago — a quick word on his claim in an interview with Hot Metal [brought to our attention by The PRP] that bagging on Emmure is played out. Yeah, I get it: making fun of their music has grown tired. But Palmeri keeps finding ways to keep himself in the headlines by saying utterly ridiculous things, and making fun of that hasn’t lost its appeal at all! Also, for what it’s worth, I think Palmeri is completely aware of what he’s doing.
Case in point: in the aforementioned interview, Palmeri had this to say about his former bandmates:
“…I’m the only sole survivor of the original line-up. In the original line-up, and it isn’t even the line-up that quit the band, the original line-up, no-one even knows who the fuck those guys are, so it’s always been just been me kind of and always like making my vision come to life in some way, or at least trying to pursue this mission in some degree.”
Ouch! I don’t pay enough attention to Emmure to know how important the guys in the “original line-up” were to Emmure’s sound and/or development, but either way that’s a huge slam against both them and the guys in the most recent incarnation, especially guitarist Jesse Ketive and bassist Mark Davis, who were in the band for ten years.
But it gets worse! Palmeri then proceeds to tear down his current collaborators, emphasis added:
“So I have gone through a lot of changes and had to work with all kinds of people, and this latest incarnation of Emmure to me is the only way it should be, and I would probably allow it to be from this point on. There won’t be a line-up after this, pretty much is what I’m saying. I think the main purpose of the band is a vehicle for me creatively. So it’s always going to be like that, regardless of who’s in the band.”
So, in essence, “nevermind all these other guys who play on my records and tour; it’s all about me!”
Which, OK, plenty of bands have one main creative force with a rotating cast of characters around them: Nine Inch Nails, The Faceless, Six Feet Under, etc. But there are more tactful ways of expressing that idea than saying “the main purpose of the band is a creative vehicle for me;” give your band members at least some credit, bruh!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be watching this animated .gif of Palmeri getting electrocuted on stage in Russia on repeat.
