Phil Demmel on Machine Head's recent implosion

Former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel has recently opened up about his split with the band:

"I'm not gonna badmouth the breakup or Robb. I think he's an amazing musician and the times I had in Machine Head were awesome. The last few years just weren't. We just didn't work as people anymore. I think Robb strayed from the path of being a band. He stayed on his path instead of us being on the same path or asking to be on the same path. It just became 'This is what we're doing.'"

He also says that he hates Machine Head's 2018 album "Catharsis":

 "There's moments of what I wrote that I like. I wrote most of the music to 'California Bleeding', but then Robb wrote the lyrics on top of it that I just wish that… Me and drummer Dave McClain talk about it like, 'Fuck! I wish I could take my riffs back. That isn't what we want them used for.' So I think, in that sense, it just became a Robb Flynn solo project and that isn't what I signed up for. And the last few years were basically collecting a paycheck and I just couldn't do that. The stress and all the talks and all the 'can't do this,' 'don't do that,' 'don't do this,' 'don't stand there,' 'don't say this,' 'don't sing the words to the audience,' don't point.' The final talk that we kind of had with Robb… I don't wanna speak out of turn here, so I'm gonna choose my words pretty carefully. I think that — personally; I only speak for me — I think that Robb was just as done with me as I was with him. I think it was, like, 'Maybe we can go to therapy,' but it was kind of things that are just being said just to, like, 'Hey, we both know this is over.' I think I kind of did him a favor by not having him have to fire me. I think that he believed what he said. And he knows what's happening but it's just the way that he's running things now so it just didn't work anymore.

There was never a doubt in my mind that Robb wouldn't carry on without us. Especially in my position — I think that the guitar position for that band would just be a plug-and-play situation. I contributed heavily to the material. But in the end, Robb wants to do what he's gonna do so I don't know how much that would be a factor. The records that I contributed to — five records; well, actually four — I'm not gonna count the last one. 'The Blackening', 'Unto The Locust'… Those records would look entirely different without my contributions. I think losing Dave McClain is a huge, huge blow. I think that he was such a part of that process, and finding somebody is not gonna be easy. But there's never been a doubt in my mind that Robb will find two people to probably just be hired guns. I don't think that he wants to take on the headache of the corporation and all that. This is what he's good at. He's an amazing musician. He's great with notes and note selection and melodies and layering stuff. And he's got Jared MacEachern with him, who's fucking… I think he was the best musician when I was in the band. The guy is classically trained and knows theory and can sing his ass off and can play. It was such a crazy ending.

I wasn't gonna do the last tour. I was hoping that they'd get somebody to replace me. And then Dave said, 'Well, I'm not gonna do the tour unless you do the tour.' So, if Dave left, then the tour would have been canceled. So we just kind of agreed to, 'We'll honor the tour and be done.' The last tour... it was totally awkward. Me and Robb weren't talking. It wasn't mean but there was no talking. Onstage, it was kind of forced.  I'm sitting here now just kind of processing everything that has happened and I think that there is still some… I don't wanna say 'bitterness,' but just… I don't know if I've been able to really process the way everything has ended and gone. I look back at my time in the band and I'm really proud of everything that we've done. I helped take this band from its lowest point to its highest point. We wrote some amazing records, played some amazing shows. So I'm trying to reflect on all the positive stuff. And just being free now of… So much was held back towards the end — in the past couple of years, three or four years — and just being stress-free is what I'm kind of focusing on now. Just focus on all the positive stuff that we've done and move forward with all the fun stuff that's happening now."  

Here's what Robb Flynn had to say about the break-up:

"We've grown apart as people. Musically, we've grown apart. I've held on too tight to the reins of this band and I have suffocated those guys. My rough edges" have given Machine Head the success that it has but they've also hurt the people around me. I've got a lot of drive but I've got a lot of anger and rage. And that drive of mine has alienated folks in the band."

Well they both seem to be saying the same thing, which is refreshing. At least Robb knows he's being a dick. He just can't help it.

Apparently Machine Head are auditioning replacements:

MACHINE HEAD has begun holding auditions to find replacements for drummer Dave McClain and guitarist Phil Demmel, who left the band last fall. During an Instagram live stream, frontman Robb Flynn revealed that the sessions are taking place at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with engineer Zack Ohren, who worked on the group's latest album, 2018's "Catharsis".  

Flynn stated about the musicians taking part in the auditions: "You might not know some of these guys" while "some of [them] you may." 

Among the tracks that all prospective guitar players and drummers were asked to learn are "Locust", "Old", "Imperium", "From This Day", "Halo", "Aesthetics Of Hate" and "This Is The End". 

Robb said that the audition process has "been awesome, really good; in fact, really confusing." He added: "[I] don't know where we are going. We've got some thinking to do."