515 Crew

[Varg]

http://www.thearteryfoundation.com/artists/serpents/


Now under the same management as Whitechapel, Revocation, Impending Doom, Asking Alexandria, and a bunch of other bands you don't care about. My personal faves on the page are our YouTube page that is linked to some Japanese girls page (hasn't been fixed after notified 2 weeks ago) and the "live member" bullshit.

More announcements that nobody cares about coming soon...

[Shane]

I just wanted to lol @ your matching band jackets and the rapey lookin' dudes on the right. Also the people who write that bio shit are douchebags but whatever. grats on the success brah.

[Darrin]

[Nick]

Bahahahahahahaah....

[elliot]

Why are you not an actual member, just "live?"

[kurtis]

sure you wanna be linked with these guys??

[inx515xhell]

at least you guys can probly beat up all the other bands on that label.

[Darrin]

It isn't even a record label right? They hired management hahah.

[Beaver]

Congrats on getting a bunch of compilations that will either wind up in a garbage can or on the festival grounds of a warped tour.

[zach walther]

i am pro varg

thumbs up bro

[Varg]

Why are you not an actual member, just "live?"

An on-going battle that we have. Hopefully it will be rectified soon. Actually, it will be one way or another. You're like the 1,000th person to ask.

sure you wanna be linked with these guys??

Everytime I see that picture I cringe. I don't know anything about them or who they are, but I can tell they're total fags.

It isn't even a record label right? They hired management hahah.

They're a label too- Artery Recordings. I'm not sure you fully understand the job of a management company/manager? There's been a lot more going on than just working with Artery- I just can't say anything about it yet.

Congrats on getting a bunch of compilations that will either wind up in a garbage can or on the festival grounds of a warped tour.

Cool story bro.



Thanks to everyone else.

[Bullet Tooth]

you also got engaged. show us her tits

[inx515xhell]

Varg to wed?

[tylerjames515]

I was wondering about that live members thing, seems pretty lame.

[Varg]

I was wondering about that live members thing, seems pretty lame.

That's putting it mildly. Like I said, it's going to change one way or another here pretty soon.

[Varg]

Officially done with this band. And I can't tell you what a huge relief it is. The whole story coming later...

[Shane]

bawwwwwwwwwww

[Varg]

...

[Varg]

I thought I'd share the e-mail I sent Shawn and Alex. It gives you some insight as to what was going on. Because it's so long I'll give you my uncensored thoughts and everything that has happened over the last couple days in my next post.

Shawn & Alex,

Both Dusty and I thought it was necessary to formally notify you of our
leaving Serpents. While I'm not speaking on Dusty's behalf, we have discussed many of these issues at length and I believe us to be of like mind on the majority of them. I've not spoken with Alex since our meeting at the HOB so I don't know how this e-mail will be received or if anyone really cares. I'm just going to basically lay everything out on the table and be honest because that's what I would want. I've been wanting to send Alex an e-mail for the past few weeks but was extremely hesitant because I felt I would be reprimanded for it. I always felt in the dark regarding our partnership with Artery because our only contact with Artery was through andrew. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it was the same for you. If you were being included in all the goings-on of Serpents or just some things. We were only informed of what andrew told us and for some reason I had the benefit of being clued in on some matters that only he and I were privy to and to which I was told by him not to tell other members of the band. Communication, or the lack thereof, is this bands Achilles' Heel.

I know Alex a little and respect him and appreciate everything that he has
done for Serpents thus far. That's why I want to make sure he knows
everything that this band has struggled with and continues to struggle with.
I've tried to be as unbiased as possible and only include matters that are of
greater importance, while leaving out any petty squabbles.
Time after time the band wanted (and needed) to sit down and discuss concerns together as a group, while andrew not only refused to take part, but condemned anyone for participating in these group discussions. He deemed this "talking behind [his] back"- even when informed (and encouraged to join) when and where we would be airing our concerns. These were legitimate concerns that needed to be addressed and dealt with immediately. Most notably- the recent "Northern Discomfort Tour". I don't know if you're aware of the bands current financial and "tour-ready" situation, which is why I'm mentioning this. I led the discussion on this roughly two/three weeks ago and laid the facts out: 1) We have no trailer. 2) IF we rent a U-haul for 30 days it will cost over $600 at which point we might as well be discussing buying one. 3) Nobody has money to buy a trailer or rent one for a month. 4) Half the tour dates were not booked and the promoter was skeptical of the dates being filled. The promoter further informed me "Nobody in Florida will take the tour." while five of the dates were scheduled for Florida. 5) Our guarantees were going to be eaten up
by gas and other band expenses- which normally wouldn't be a problem if: A) We sold enough merch. (which recent performances would indicate we do not) and B) If we saved up enough money individually to support and feed ourselves during this tour. Therein was the biggest problem- nobody really had any money saved and nobody really worked (or worked enough to be able to save anything.) Beyond that 6)Marc didn't want to use his van for the tour and 7) Dusty said he wasn't going to do the tour. When discussing it with the group we seemed to be in agreement that although we were ready to do the tour, we weren't really financially capable of doing the tour (and we weren't going to have a drummer, a van, or a trailer for it too.)

I tried discussing the situation with andrew the following day and all
concerns fell on deaf ears. He was upset we discussed this without him and
accused of us of going behind his back/plotting against him- even though he
knew we were going to discuss it and chose not to participate. He stated that if anybody didn't do the tour they were "done" and offered no viable solutions to any of the problems. I again explained that we weren't going to have a drummer and we should try to save some face by letting the promoter know as soon as we could that we wouldn't be able to do it. As of this e-mail the tour starts in 8 days and none of the above issues have been resolved (save most of the tour dates being filled) and even more issues have arisen. My decision to leave came late last night after Dusty informed me that andrew had intended on finding a replacement for me for reasons still unknown. I have spent nearly $2,000 on travel expenses to be a part of this band and lost almost twice as much income due to having to cancel lessons (my job) over the past couple months. Everyone had their own personal sacrifice- and that was mine. I could not justify spending another dime on this band after being told andrew's intentions. While Dusty was honest with me, I felt it was only fair to be honest with him and informed him that andrew had already been speaking with other drummers to replace him. I also informed him of what I was told about the Atery EP offer which he knew nothing about because andrew didn't want him to know about it. Dusty was a member of the band (apparently even more so than me; ref: "live member") and I felt he had every right to know about it. According to andrew that was "grounds to be thrown the fuck out."

Serpents is not a functional band. There are no group discussions or
decisions- andrew controls, decides, and plans without consent. I understand and accept that it is andrew's band at the core, but with no sense of camaraderie or compromise in conjunction with his unbearable hypocrisy it will be a revolving door of band members. We could not go one week without someone threatening to leave or threatening to be replaced. Everyone aside from andrew at this point has discussed leaving for another band/going back to their old band. That on top of the constant arguing, bickering, ignoring, silent-treatment jr. high mentality made for an incredibly uncomfortable environment for everyone and was emotionally draining. His self-proclaimed ''my way or the highway'' attitude will inevitably lead to what happened yesterday with Dusty and myself leaving. I hesitate to call it "giving up" because I know we both wanted to stick it out and we really thought it would work out in the end and it was just a rough point in the bands life, but ultimately we saw that it will never change- just as we were warned by many people what we were in store for when dealing with andrew mikhail.

Again I tried to remain as unbiased as possible even though it seems
impossible at times. More than anything I wanted to make sure you were aware of the perpetual inner-conflict in Serpents. It would absolutely be something I would've want to have been informed of. After the last month of being physically depressed I can honestly say walking away from the band with Dusty has been a huge relief. I genuinely feel happy now and I apologize for the lack of briefness in this e-mail.

No response from either of them. I'm not surprised at all- and you'll see why in my next post...

[Varg]

I know Alex doesn't like Dusty, at all, so there wasn't going to be any love lost if he left. Weeks ago when discussing the EP deal that Dusty knew nothing about, Alex was basically talking about how to screw Dusty out of royalties. I heard it all because I was right next to andrew during the phone call and he was asking me questions music business related questions about how much drums really constituted "writing". Alex knew and said that Dusty would be entitled to royalties, but if nobody said anything then they could probably get away with not having to give him any because he wouldn't know any better. (Is it any wonder he got so upset that I told Dusty this??) They both already planned on dumping Dusty, but andrew was going to find someone to replace him first so his summer wouldn't be "wasted".
I think it's INCREDIBLY shady on Alex's part to be a manager and act in such an unprofessional and at times unethical manner. A manager is suppose to speak with everyone in the band. Yes, there should only be one or two designated people that speak with the manager on a regular basis, but there was none of that. There was one line of communication only while everyone else was left in the dark.
On to the fun stuff...

Over the last couple days I've been speaking with some people who may or may not have been in a band with andrew previously and they told me everything he's ever done. It's unbelievable what a total piece of shit this guy is. He has people all over the country looking for him because he's screwed so many people over. Everyone at Outerloop HATES him (even he's admitted that) Nobody at Earache will respond to him (andrew himself told me that). For those that don't know, we were in talks with Sumerian. Dusty had been meeting with someone from Sumerian while out in LA. After all their get togethers it sounded like a slam dunk. Then about a week later we get the message "bad news, apparently Ash has a problem with andrew" and all of a sudden it didn't look too promising. This guy is such a dickhead. Like King Midas in reverse- everything he touches turns to shit. He also somehow has the ability to make anyone and everyone around him physically depressed to the point where they can't stand to be around him. I have heard multiple stories now about this and I experienced it myself. I'm still amazed that somebody actually has that kind of ability or aura about them.
He would book shows and tours not only without asking anyone, but without even telling them afterwards. He doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself and expects everyone to work on his schedule. He takes credit for ANYTHING the band has ever done or anyone that's ever been a part of any band he's been in. Swear to God, I couldn't go one week without hearing him say some stupid shit about how HE was making me or some other members "dream come true". He would constantly bitch about having "to do everything" which was far from true, and he wouldn't allow anyone to help him with whatever he was bitching about. That was the fastest way to get him to shut his fat-fucking mouth "Oh well then let me help..." and he would quickly turn the subject to something else that YOU needed to fix. Probably something like writing music for him to steal and take credit for.
He uses everyone. He used Dusty for drums. He's using marc for his van and basement/practice spot. And he's using Coty to further himself too. I feel bad for Coty, but thankfully Coty is on the verge of quitting now too. Dusty and I had a long talk with him two nights ago and as of yesterday I heard he's really considering leaving- which he should because anybody that plays in a band with that fat fuck is only doing themselves a terrible disservice and ruining their own name by association.
By the last show he had tried to take over TM'ing duties from me and would take the cash-box home with him. Wouldn't even put the performance money in there, just left it in his pocket. Started selling BAND t-shirts on his facebook and pocketing the money for himself. Plus he was the only one in control of our merchnow account and whenever we'd ask to see a statement he would only reply with "we haven't gotten one yet". But he made damn sure that the first $300 we made went to pay off our bill. Yeah, a real stand up guy. I feel so bad for whoever steps into this band without knowing what they're in store for. Don't take my word for it, ask anyone from any of the bands he's been kicked out of---- err I mean "left" or "asked not to return" including: Oceano, Legend, Thick As Blood, Isles and a bunch of others I can't remember. All of them will have nothing but bad things to say about him. He's the biggest piece of shit I've ever met in my life.

[kurtis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO_gUnLttsk

[Shane]

So what are you going to do now?

[joseph]

vrg-
have you ever been in a band before? serious. im not trying to be a jerk.

[Varg]

So what are you going to do now?

Go on vacation. I have some things in the works, but temporarily being in no band is way better than being in that band.

and lol @ bullet tooth de-friending me on fb and still posting on the serpents fb page. haha wtf dude?

[Bullet Tooth]

So what are you going to do now?

Go on vacation. I have some things in the works, but temporarily being in no band is way better than being in that band.

and lol @ bullet tooth de-friending me on fb and still posting on the serpents fb page. haha wtf dude?

i defriended a lot of people. ive reduced it to mostly close friends and band contacts. im posting on the serpents page to talk shit.

[Varg]

I know, lol, which is why I didn't know why you de-friended me. Everyone's waiting to find out who's unfortunate enough to take our spots. I *think* one of the guitarists from Dweller is trying to learn the stuff just for the tour, nobody knows about a drummer. I wouldn't be surprised if they still didn't have one...or a van...or a trailer...or a fucking clue.

[Shane]

I'm pretty sure nobody will make those drum parts look as effortless as the original guy.