Drama, Drama, Drama. When did the music business get this way? Max Wrye (That’s Outrageous drummer) has released a statement clarifying their reasoning for giving founding member Tom DeGrazia the boot.

You can read the statement below. Please stay tuned to UTG as this story continues to develop. If you see anything we havent posted, email us: utgjacob@gmail.com.

Here it is:

tom absolutely DID NOT write the whole record.  seriously, not even half.  tom asked me when the band was first getting noticed to let dave in the band and play guitar, we needed members so i said yes without thinking.  dave literally had nothing to do with the record or where the band is right now.  at all.  i let him join during our first talks with rise.  tom and dave turned out to be really horrible people.  they teamed up on a lot of us during tour and otherwise constantly teasing us and making us feel like shit.  tom was the worst.  he stole almost $1k from us saying he was buying equipment and instead bought a macbook, tricked our bassist into spending thousands on a trailer and van warranty, made us spend almost $2k on hotel rooms during the recording process, made us drop off the rise records tour, faked being sick and flew first class home while we were in illinois continuing the rest of the tour for the rest of the month.  everyone that we associate with professionally wanted him out, including rise.  if we didn’t let him go when we did, he would have sabotaged  our careers.  we couldn’t have that.

overall it was very tough letting both of them go, but in no way, shape, or form are they the sole reasons why we are where we are now.  dave was let in with a free pass.  tom and i started the band and wrote headshot and girlfriend together back when this was a side project for both of us.

Tom responds quickly:

Due to some recent accusations, I decided to write this statement setting the record straight.
“tom absolutely DID NOT write the whole record.  seriously, not even half.”
I didn’t write even half of the record? Let’s take the record track by track.
1. The Poughkeepsie Tapes
An intro based off of a piano idea that I made in my room, I made the beat, synths, etc, and sent it to Cameron Mizell to master. Joe happened to be in the room with me but was sitting on my futon texting people, not really paying attention.
2. Headshot At The Ballet Recital
Originally written in Max’s room with Doriano and I. All clean vocals, chord progressions, and the whole structure was written by me. Doriano and Max wrote Dor’s screams as I assisted. Max wrote the breakdowns for that.
3. Teenage Scream
Based off of the intro piano line that I wrote. It was structured by me, and Joe wrote the breakdown parts. As far as lyrics, Andrew Goldstein wrote the chorus, while Dor wrote his screams and I wrote the rap part.
4. Star 69
Written completely by me, Cameron made it sound cool though.
5. #Winning
Instrumental written by Joe with my assistance, I wrote all lyrics/melodies except for one line in the chorus that Joe wrote. I wrote about half of Dor’s screams for this one as well as the overall structure of the song.
6. So I’m thinking of starting a clothing line…
All lyrics/melodies written by me, any chord progressions where clean vocals were sung were written by me. Joe wrote the breakdowns and Dor wrote his screams.
7.Is It 2012 Yet?
The track was made by Andrew Goldstein, most of the lyrics/melodies also written by him.
8. The New York Chainsaw Massacre
This is the song I had the least to do with. It was written mostly by Joe and Dor with my lyrical idea (playing off of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) I wrote the chorus melody/lyrics.
9. Re:Why I Killed My Girlfriend
Another one of our demos, written by Max, Dor and I. All piano, clean vox, progressions by me. I also wrote about half of Dor’s screams including the infamous dubstep rap. (Listen bitch, i just want you to know, etc.)Breakdowns written by Max except for the bridge breakdown that originally de-tuned to drop G was written by me
10. What Happens In Azeroth, Stays in Azeroth.
A piano ballad written and recorded completely on my own.
I would say, track for track, that I wrote a little more than half of the album. ALSO if you were in the studio with us you would see that I completely took charge due to everyone’s cluelessness on how to write a record. Max couldn’t even track his own drums, we had to program them, and Cameron had to write his fills. Without me, these guys would still be working day jobs. I also came up with all the cool song names besides “Teenage Scream” and “Azeroth”.
Breakdown of other accusations:
1. “Stole” 1k for a laptop after saying I was going to buy equipment: First off I took $900 to buy a midi controller and put the rest towards a laptop to run Reason live. Max left out that he received around $600 for his in-ear molds and various other shit that he just HAD to have. He already had perfectly good Shure ones.
2. Made the band spend 2k on hotel rooms:That was a band decision due to the majority of the band not wanting to stay in the studio because there were bugs and it didn’t have a shower. I didn’t “make” them do anything, they could have refused.
3. Faked being sick and made us drop off the tour:The reason we dropped off the tour the first time was because Joe, Dave, Greg, and myself couldn’t take being in the hardcore scene and plotted to start a pop/rock band after we got home without Max and Doriano. Once everyone flaked and we went back on tour, I actually DID get sick and flew first class on my own dime, not the band’s.
4. Tricked the bass player into buying a trailer and a van warranty:He did buy those things, did I “trick” him? Hell no. He brought up buying the trailer himself and the warranty was talked about and he decided to do it. I didn’t do anything to threaten him into it or something. It was his own choice.
5. Teased members of the band and made them feel like shit: I admit, when Dave and I make fun of someone, we make an impact. But in all honesty the only person that ever got made fun of was Max. And it was by everyone else in the band. I guess we were wrong but it wasn’t just Dave and I.
Overall, the only talent in the remaining original members is Joe. He is a good songwriter for sure. Was I the sole reason they are where they are today? Idk, you can check out Dor and Max’s old hardcore band and see if Rise would have signed them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaLchB9F1WA
Everything I said here is the complete truth. I wish Max wouldn’t make crazy accusations just to make himself feel better about their situation. I wish them the best but they obviously don’t feel the same about me.
In the end, none of this even matters. We are fighting over things that happened within the confines of a Scene-Core band. This is not a big deal, and nor the band or these accusations will even be thought about in like 5 years. I usually try to take the high road but when things like this are said about me completely out of context, I have to defend myself.

*sigh*

Thoughts? Anyone?

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Jacob Tender

Jacob is a freelance writer who calls curbside.audio home. He is also the co-host of the Bantha Fodder podcast and helps UTG with technical and financial nonsense.

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