A quote from former The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato has been making the rounds lately, and band mastermind Ben Weinman is here to set the record straight.
In an interview with Revolver, Puciato stated "I don't miss it at all. And I hate to say this, but if we were to get back together, it would be for money. And I don't fucking want to do that. Every year, all those festivals… they just throw astronomical amounts of money at us to get back together. And it's never even been something that we even entertain."
Over some morning coffee, Metal Injection's Greg Kennelty caught up with Weinman to discuss reunion offers, what happened to Dillinger Escape Plan, and what Ben has been up to these days.
Let's start with the reason you and I got around to talking, which is alleged rumors of The Dillinger Escape Plan being offered reunions. In a recent interview with Revolver, Greg stated [the above quote]. How accurate is that?
Well, first of all, it's pretty amazing you live like, two blocks away from me now and we can just discuss these things as neighbors. I want to be as respectful to the band, its members, and the fans as possible so I'll try to clear some things up without getting into too much of the 'he said she said'. To be clear, I have not talked directly to Greg since just after the final Dillinger shows in 2018. One of the reasons for that is because, without getting into too much detail as some of this info is not for me to disclose, I think it is safe to say the band's members – including myself – do not share the same values as Greg. While I cherish the work we did together and will always acknowledge how instrumental his contributions have been to the legacy of this band, there is a lot of misinformation out there based on the perception Greg has crafted through interviews and what he gets quoted on. At the very least, let's just say the rest of the band has nothing to do with the information Greg has put out there, and that none of it is accurate.
I think it is very important to mention that Greg has no ownership of the Dillinger Escape Plan as an entity, no ownership in the overarching corporation, and has no ownership over the name and he never has. He has always been paid as an independent contractor and he has no interactions with our booking agent, lawyers, etc. I'm happy to show anyone who doubts this all the paperwork that says otherwise. That's that. This band has existed with different singers and musicians over the years and I am proud that my continued involvement from day one has helped keep some consistency in how we functioned and did things as a unit.
The truth is that any discussions of a reunion with Greg have been shut down before money was discussed. There have been no concrete money offers for a reunion with Greg – meaning that the conversations have never gotten to money as they've always been shut down immediately – that I or anyone on our team is aware of. I think there was some preliminary talks thrown around for us to do Furnace Fest, but our agent's response was that we are not entertaining reunion offers at this time. The end. I have been approached a few times indirectly by people who had talked to Greg while he was out on the road about doing a reunion, and what was conveyed to me was that he really wanted to do it and that it should be discussed with me.
My response to anyone asking was that the Dillinger Escape Plan would not be performing with Greg and that we ended that chapter of the band in the appropriate way, as everyone saw. I'd like to leave it at that. That is really all there is to it. I'm not sure what Greg's intention for releasing this info was but hey… not my monkey, not my circus as they say. He is a very talented person and I think the people out there collaborating with him will make some awesome shit. I certainly cherish everything we did and feel extremely proud of our work together.
So just to clarify – Dillinger is your band? On paper, anyway.
I don't like to say Dillinger is my band. This band is a collective of people, all of whom have been instrumental in the band's trajectory and success. Yes, I have been undeniably possessive about the way certain things were done, but that has both helped the band and probably hurt the band at times. I will say that I own all the trademarks and am responsible for the corporation the band does business under if that is what you are asking.
It's been seven years since The Dillinger Escape Plan broke up, and you've been largely quiet on what happened. So of course we have to ask – what happened?
I think we communicated during the time pretty well that the band had reached a natural climax and ending it in the way we did was the only way for Dillinger to end, in my opinion. This was 100% not Greg's choice, but after it became clear that I was done with the band, I think he began to embrace the idea and the value of taking control over something like this in the way we did. I also think it was really important for Greg to focus on his own projects independent of Dillinger. He obviously still has more to say artistically. I, on the other hand, already had a band that existed in many forms and, in my opinion, continued to produce important art from beginning to end. I just don't feel the need to talk about the band anymore for the most part, other than just celebrating its legacy now and then with cool acknowledgments or projects people are doing inspired by or work, like the comic book and the Seven)Suns string quartet version of our album One Of Us Is The Killer.
I have been home scoring movies and playing guitar in one of my favorite bands of all time with a schedule that still allows me to be a dad to my kids. I really have nothing to report that I haven't said already. I'm happy to answer these questions as I think it is important to set the record straight from the band's side of things, and then let people do what they want with the info put out there. It's not in my hands and I really do have too much else going on to spend time actively promoting myself. I have no need to create a narrative about the things I do in my life. My actions and work speak for themselves, including my work with Dillinger. The rest of the guys in the band are also super busy following their own paths and we all talk pretty often.
