Deftones Band • Page 157

the wrong member left

 

nah

 

Lame if they really never made him a full member honestly, he contributed a lot.

 

They're my favorite band. It's super shitty of them to treat Serg this way--his playing is going to be sorely missed, both live and on future records. Fuck, such a bummer.

 

yeah, would like to know if there’s maybe more to this that isn’t being let on or at least just an honest account from the band’s perspective of why they felt Serg wasn’t worthy of the designation. bc none of this seems to warrant a claim of being “out of pocket” or a “fuck him”

 

The most surprising thing out of this is learning he's been out of the band for this long.

 

Not a fan or someone being quick to edit Sergio's part of their Wikipedia to (touring member 1998, session 2009–2021)...

 

I love the Deftones. I grew up with their records and will continue to listen to them.. but they’re starting to look like kinda shitty dudes.

You got Steph who must have finally fried his brain since he’s both a flat earther and an anti-vaxxer which is funny but mostly sad. Then we find out that Serg who’s contributed greatly to Deftones for 12 years was never even made an official member and when he asked to finally be made whole they got greedy and had their lawyers say “nope goodbye”.

That shit must hurt. I feel for Serg. No communication from a band he spent 12 years writing and touring with? That’s trash. He deserves better and he’s a pretty amazing musician so I hope he finds better. Unless Serg is leaving something out - it seems like no one from the band reached out during any point, even after he did, and that’s shitty on their end.

I could understand if Serg was brought on simply for touring but when he’s in all their promotional pix and he’s written/recorded with them on 4 released records? Something doesn’t add up.

 

The only way this makes sense is if Sergio asked for a huge contract. From a career standpoint, negotiating a new wage based on your new responsibilities is totally normal, and if my place of work said no and came back with a contract exactly the same as what I was making before, I'd leave too.

 

I think it's more a question of role/title. I think he said on that video that he received an improved contract each time it came up (each album?). He'll have to have received songwriting credits, tour wages etc. I presume he'll have been missing out on some things but it seems like his problem was receiving another contract offer without him being added as an official member of the band. Maybe there was some miscommunication as to why he rejected it, I don't know.

I broadly don't want to hear all the ins and outs but it is strange.

 

I'm not gonna pretend like I can know anymore about the situation than what's been said, but that's a good statement from Serg and as much as I love Deftones, it's their loss. He's extremely talented and will continue to great work.

 

Quicksand's latest album for example is super cool, good on Sergio for doing what he wants

 

Kind of disappointing

 

Deftones has been my favorite metal band for almost a decade now. They were a huge influence on me as a musician and changed the way I looked at music. Serg being in the group lead me to discover Quicksand which then lead me to a bunch of other bands and changed my music taste for the better. This band was a huge part of my life. Now seeing how Serg got treated totally makes me see them in a different light now. I’ll always love their music but this situation leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a bummer.


But… I guess we’ll see if there’s another side of the story


Also, sorry, first post here lol. I just discovered the thread the other day

 

Serg's basslines are so intricate and well-written, and he really added a lot to their overall sound, especially on Koi No Yokan and Ohms. His talent is undeniable and while I don't know the details from the band's side, this is not a great look for them. Can't imagine giving more than a decade of my life to a band I'd die to be a part of, just to be tossed to the side like this. Surprised this stayed quiet for as long as it did. I don't know if it was ever clarified before if he was a permanent member or not, but it should've happened years ago.

As others have mentioned, the optics are also way fucking worse on this situation after the mountains of bullshit they've let slide in regards to Steph's asinine views on an array of topics. I don't think Steph has enough of a reach for anyone to believe his personal ramblings, but just knowing the band doesn't put a stop to it, while treating a contributing member like total shit after 12 years, is flat-out gross.

I think the part that's eating at me the most here is the band communicating with Serg solely through lawyers. Like, be a human being about it at least. WTF

We'll see if/when the band responds. If they don't, then I'll be reevaluating my fandom with them. I'll always listen to their records, but it'll stop there. Merch/vinyl/concerts are off the table as of now.

 

Same thoughts

 

Man just really sucks.

 

I won’t fault them for making a business (or maybe artistic?) decision to move on from Sergio but to not communicate that in person is a poor way to handle it.

 

Going to reserve judgment, but him not being a full member is a shock and a cause for concern. I said earlier I'd rather not know, but now that Sergio posted his video I really want to know.

 

They could just have a very personal connection to the original lineup and maybe they didn't want to have an official member to replace Chi in honor of his passing. I don't know. If that's the case, seems like something they could have been upfront about, but we're likely never going to know the full story behind it. It's a bummer, for sure, but there is a long-documented history of how difficult these guys can be to work with, whether its with producers or each other.

 

Yeah, the Chi factor really complicates things and we really don’t know how they all are dealing with that. Can’t imagine losing someone like that after 20 years in a band. Not an excuse to be shitty, but it highlights how little we know about their internal situation.

 

sounds great

 

hell yeah