Vended's Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan have offered a simple, blunt message to anyone sneering at and dismissing their band's achievements based on their family ties to Slipknot: "shut the fuck up".
The Des Moines, Iowa quintet are currently on tour in Europe with Slipknot, and frontman Griffin Taylor has actually shared a stage with the headliners, being invited onstage in Bucharest, Romania by his father Corey on July 20 to sing guest vocals on Custer.
In a new interview with Kerrang!, Griffin Taylor and bandmate Simon Crahan, the son of Slipknot's visionary percussionist Shawn 'Clown' Crahan, freely acknowledge and express their gratitude for the support they have received from their famous fathers, but have strong words for those who've written off, patronised, dismissed and abused their band based solely on their never-hidden connections to The Nine.
"Yeah, we got more help than other bands do and I’m honest about that," admits drummer Crahan. "I’m not going to say we didn’t because that’s not fair to who our fathers are. They’ve helped us, but they have never, ever, ever, written our music, never showed us how to play, never showed us how to perform onstage, they’ve never done any of that. When people say, ‘Oh, Griffin’s dad’s probably showing him how to scream how he does,’ Griff is learning on his fucking own."
“I understand when people say, ‘Oh, they got all of their musical talent from their fathers'," Griffin Taylor adds. "I understand where people come from with that, because of genes or just the way a voice is built or someone’s reflexes are built, but we didn’t get our parents’ musical talent. We found that on our own."
"My dad never showed me how to play the drums," Simon Crahan continues. "Maybe he showed me little things, but I learned that shit by myself – we all learned this shit by ourselves. To think that some people actually think our dads help us like that, I can see what they’re talking about, but we’re a bunch of fucking talented 18, 19, 20-year-olds that are trying to show the world that anyone can fucking do it. People can just fuck right off, half the time."
Crahan is also unrepentant and bullish when asked about Vended's decision to tour Europe for the first time beneath Slipknot's wings.
"It’s good for us to be around the people who really showed us what music was really about," he states, adding. "Yeah, people are pissed off, but if you were in our position, you would take the tour, so shut the fuck up."
On Sunday, August 14, Vended will open the Ronnie James Dio main stage at Bloodstock. They will then play a brace of headline shows, at London's The Black Heart (August 15) and The Anvil in Bournemouth (August 17), before continuing their tour back in mainland Europe.
You can read the full interview with Vended on Kerrang.com
