Why Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta Is Wrong To Call Out CHVRCHES

Jamey Jasta’s twitter feed was busier than usual this week after the Hatebreed frontman took issue with the inclusion of CHVRCHES' placement on the bill of Deftones’ second one-day festival Dia de los Deftones.

The event, which is set to take place at San Diego’s Petco Park on November 2, also includes JPEGMAFIA, Gojira, Hum, Youth Code, and Brutus, with Deftones headlining.

But the Hatebreed frontman had a lot to say about CHVRCHES occupying the second top slot, a perceived slight against Gojira.

“Who is churches with a v and why the fuck are they playing over Gojira get tha fuuuuuck outtta here,” he tweeted. “Have you ever heard The Heaviest Matter In The Universe you’re gonna get embarrassed off the stage lol no offense. God the music industry suckkkkks sometimes.”

After a brief period of cooling down, he added: “Update: googled Churches w/ a v, they gotta be huge they did a song with a guy w/ a Marshmallow mask and people LOOOOOVE IT. Good for them.”

People do indeed love Churches with a V. The Glasgow-based synth pop trio – featuring vocalist Lauren Mayberry, and Aereogramme alumni Iain Cook and Martin Doherty – are currently touring the world in support of their latest album, Love Is Dead. Their collaboration with Marshmello, titled Here With Me, has, at the time of writing, been played 230,401,697 times on Spotify, with a further 20,459,652 views on YouTube. Even without the muscle of the superstar DJ, the own song, The Mother We Share, has been streamed over 118,000,000 times.

Now, we’re not suggesting that the Hatebreed vocalist has strayed into The Simpsons’ ‘Old Man Yells At Cloud’ meme territory, largely because that’s already been done if you check the replies to his tweet. And tweeting “Bands that play their instruments > track acts" does nothing to help his argument, either. Or make any sense, for that matter. It does something of a disservice to Deftones’ own Frank Delgado, whose turntable skills help bolster the band’s unique sound.

Lauren responded to the Hatebreed vocalist, explaining their position: “I saw Gojira in Glasgow years ago and have seen Deftones three times so was excited when we got asked to be on the bill. Just because someone plays or listens to 'pop music' doesn’t mean they don’t understand or appreciate other things.”

But we digress. It’s worth pointing out that the music industry has changed massively in recent years. You can’t simply rely on physical sales or the band’s legacy to plot their position on a bill. But to suggest CHVRCHES are higher up on the bill than Gojira thanks to a powerful agent is foolish, and let’s not forget whose festival this actually is.

The diversity of Deftones’ specially-curated festival is not new. For their inaugural bash in 2018, the Sacramento band invited Atlanta rapper Future to perform alongside Mike Shinoda, Rocket From The Crypt, Ho99o9, rapper Doja Cat, metallers Vein and Australian death pop duo Vowws.

Chino Moreno is a massive fan of electronic music. Indeed, his side projects Team Sleep and Crosses – or ‘†††’, if you know how to find the symbol on your keyboard – were far removed from Deftones’ sound. It’s not a stretch to say that many of Deftones’ fans ears and minds have been opened to disparate artists from different genres, thanks to their ambient explorations or covers of Sade, Japan or Duran Duran.

Whatever or whoever’s festival it may be, the inclusion of diverse acts can only be a good thing. An unvaried bill can be fucking boring. Download’s booking of Die Antwoord – the South African hip-hop duo who have yet to be pictured with, shudder, a guitar – at this year’s festival was truly inspired and were well-received by the crowd. Believe it or not, many metal fans can and do enjoy a wide range of genres.

So, when Dia de los Deftones rolls around this November, there’s every chance that CHVRCHES may convert some Gojira fans, and vice versa, particularly when the Gallic-bred metallers play The Heaviest Matter In The Universe.

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