Dark Days: A Memoir by Blythe D. Randall

Author:Blythe, D. Randall [Blythe, D. Randall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780306823152
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2015-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

chapter twelve

My second week in prison began with me sitting down to do something I absolutely loathe—writing a letter to the press. In my life as a musician, I prefer to let my work and my actions speak for themselves. I don’t like explaining myself, my band’s music, or our show, especially to the press. In fact, I hate doing interviews when we put out a new record or go on tour, because I honestly really have nothing to say. I’m not the band guy who says, “This is our greatest record ever! We are so proud of it!” in the press. I view that kind of crap as the hot air that it is. I mean, who is going to tell an interviewer, “You know, this record is pretty good, but I like the one we did two records before it waaaaay better,” even if it’s the truth? “Just listen to the damn record and come to the show, and if you like it, cool. If not, I’m sure you’ll let us know”—that’s my ideal answer to all questions concerning any upcoming releases or tours by lamb of god, or any other music I may put out in the future. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help sell many records or concert tickets, so I talk to the press and answer the same questions over and over. Then, once the reviews come out, good or bad, I try not to look at them. What other people think and say about my music has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on what I do and how I do it. Besides, brutal criticism from total strangers, sometimes directed at you personally, is the price you pay for daring to stand in the ring and fight instead of sitting on your fat ass in the bleachers, heckling and drinking over-priced shitty beer. I’ll take the ring any day—I’m not really a sidelines kind of guy.

But I wasn’t putting out a new record or going on tour, I was facing a manslaughter charge, and I was being demonized by the national media of the country I was incarcerated in. I couldn’t just ignore that kind of press, like I could a crappy record review. I still wasn’t exactly sure what had happened that night in 2010, but I honestly believed I never purposely attempted to harm anyone (which was the nature of the charge against me), and I wanted to state that as loudly and as clearly as I could for the record.

“Greetings from Pankrác Prison in Prague. I, D. Randall Blythe, am writing this to inform anyone who may care of my status and position concerning my current incarceration in the Czech Republic . . .” The statement went on to elaborate on five main points: 1) a profession of my innocence, 2) my complete surprise and displeasure over not only being arrested but not being previously informed in any way of the charges against me by either the Czech or American governments, 3) a statement that

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