Virgin Steele's Frank Gilchriest Clarifies Comments on "Fake Drummers"

Band Photo: Virgin Steele (?)

Virgin Steele's Frank Gilchriest has written in to clarify some comments he made in the past about "fake drummers" and the abuse of digital technologies, which apparently resulted in his quotes being used out of context and with the intended sarcasm lost. Here's what he has to say about it now:

I am writing this because I want to retract the statements that I made regarding the abuse of digital technology in a 2006 interview. Unfortunately, that was the one and only “interview” I’ve ever given for Virgin Steele and it misrepresents me. It’s been bothering me ever since it was first published. At the time, I was given the impression that I was having an informal conversation with a Virgin Steele fan club. I was not made aware that it was a formal interview intended for world wide distribution. I had no intention of “slamming fake drummers.” I was slamming the use of technology to misrepresent an individuals true abilities on any instrument. After years of seeing this “interview” pop up on the internet, I decided to set the record straight for anyone who cares.

First of all, I have no problem with digital technology or drum triggers. In fact, I occasionally use triggers myself. Many of my favorite drummers use them as well. Secondly, around that time I was being accused by some of our fans of programming and not actually playing my drum parts in the studio. When given the chance, I responded sarcastically and provocatively to those accusations to have some fun and to clear up the confusion. I was unaware that my words would wind up plastered all over the internet. I would have never granted permission for that if I had any control over it. I’ve asked our manager to remove my remarks from the official Virgin Steele website many times because it misrepresents my thoughts.

I want to apologize if any of the remarks I made in a sarcastic and informal context offended anyone especially my fellow drummers. I am a huge fan of many incredible drummers in Metal who record using digital technology and triggers. Many of whose skill levels far exceed my own.

I never do interviews for Virgin Steele. I regret that what I thought was an informal conversation I might have over a beer was taken out of context and that my good natured sarcasm was misrepresented. But I guess “slamming fake drummers” makes a good headline.