Escuela Grind Called Out by Former Driver Over Alleged Misconduct, Guitarist Fires Back
In the wake of guitarist Thomas Sifuentes’ departure from Escuela Grind over apparent safety concerns, people online have come out of the woodwork slamming the band for incidents ranging from acting in bad faith to straight up theft. It’s not been a good look for the band that’s been touted as an example of queer and minority representation in metal.
Though many of the stories shared were second hand accounts or presented anonymously, a former driver for the band came forward with their first-hand personal account of how they allegedly were treated while out on tour. The allegations, which were posted as a story on Instagram at the time, outline alleged sexual harassment and poor treatment from the band.
Here’s their statement in full:
“If anyone recalls I drove for a band for a bit. There was a lot of mistreatment throughout the entire tour, not just for myself, but I kept my mouth shut where I could, and just hung in there until I saw an exit. I looked crazy on the internet for a second pushing people until I got some form of apology. But, the apologies never came, I never got paid in full, you kicked my best homie out of the band, and you clowns are on your way home. So let’s fucking get it.
“[Jesse Fuentes], how fucking dare you speak to people the way you do. Whether it be people ‘working for you’, your friends, your band mates. You are trash. You think the shit you do and say is just going to disappear. You can delete hate comments but you can’t delete my experience and you can’t get rid of the people you fucked over. You boasted about leaving people on the side of the road, informed me I was simply your employee when I brought up concerns about the van and trailer. You hired a fucking tour manager THAT SEXUALLY HARASSED ME EVERY DAY. Pathetic. Coward.
“Chris Kotter, the tour manager. You talked at the side of my head for two and a half weeks and underestimated me every step of the way. You flirted with me nonstop despite me telling you every single day in every single way that I did NOT like you. No I don’t want to go camping or hiking, NO I don’t want to peg you, NO I do not think some people come along as sexual shamans, and it’s insane to me that the activist with a homemade ‘Gay Sex and Class War’ patch would be such a fucking predator. I’d spit in your face if I knew it wouldn’t give you a hard on you fucking prick.
“[Katerina Economou], it’s disgusting to me that you would stand up there on stage every night and pretend to be a voice for the girls, gays, and theys but you didn’t advocate for a single one that I saw. Weird. You allow Jesse to ruin your band’s reputation and honestly everyone’s mental health that I saw. But, I’m just a fucking driver, what do I know.
“If y’all would have taken 5 minutes to get to know me, like I spent the entire two and a half weeks getting to know y’all you’d know I was more than qualified to handle your shit. ALL THE RUMORS ARE TRUE.”
There have been a number of allegations against the band making the rounds over the years, with people accusing them of scamming people, stealing cash and drugs, and generally being a shitty business partner. It should be noted that all of these things are considered allegations and hearsay until something actually comes of it all, but if any of it’s true, that’s a super shitty way to do things in such a small corner of the music industry.
Guitarist Krissy Morash has since denied the driver’s allegations and called into question their recollection of things. They also fired back at the driver, claiming she was bad at her job and that the band did everything in their power to make her feel welcome and appreciated.
“We were happy to let you go because not only did you lie about being able to park trailers, you let your emotions effect your driving capabilities, aggressively driving behind/yelling at other cars (we have had friends get their vans SHOT at for this) you were not getting rest for long drives and chose to party with other bands and drink before we left venues. You nearly wrecked into oncoming traffic after breaking too late on LA freeway however you couldn’t even accept suggestions for driving safer in the future (you apparently know how to drive and no one needs to tell you otherwise). I’m literally the reason why Jesse had to talk to you about behavior in Fresno and you buckled, gave up & insisted that we thought you would steal things from our van while trying to leave??
“We bought airb&bs to make sure you were comfortable but yet you had a problem with not getting to choose which bed you slept on? We had a bed in the back for you to rest in as well during the day. We were nothing but accommodating towards you.
“To insist Chris is a predator when he did not touch you or even ask to peg you is insulting when i watched you get things out of him for your own benefit. Patting his head when he would do things for you.
“Day 3 in DC after damaging our van, we still showed you love and compassion. Jesse sat and talked to you for hours in the cold because we believed in you. To turn around and not consider any of this shows your true behavior and it is disheartening
“I am not feeling the love and respect you are portraying to a small group of this band on social media. I bit my lip and waited to even say anything about this because it wasn’t anyones business and i considered you were maybe going through something in your personal life.
“While i’m still grateful for taking time out of your life to help us i hope you find other ways to deal with your incompetence in the future.”
Aside from Morash’s statement, Escuela Grind as a whole has yet to issue a statement about the allegations.
