Chvrches have opened up a bit regarding their recent back and forth with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, who notoriously decried the band being placed above Gojira in the line-up for the second Dia de los Deftones festival. In a recent interview with NME, the band’s frontwoman Lauren Mayberry and bandmate Martin Doherty elaborated on how the line-up was chosen and the incident with Jasta.

When the controversy first arose, Mayberry explained that the line-up was curated by the Deftones themselves, meaning that they were selected to perform at the behest of the band. In this recent interview, she also explained that Gojira did not feel the same way as Jasta and that the group had even sent Chvrches a merch package as a sign of peace between them and the metal community.

“I thought it was really cool because it just showed that kind of thinking in the metal community isn’t stood for any more. And Gojira actually sent us a merch package so we got a crap tonne of Gojira t-shirts. That was really nice. It reflects the community and informs the community,” Mayberry explained in the interview.”I just didn’t understand. I was like, ‘That’s not what Deftones has ever been about’.”

Doherty, on the other hand, elaborated that Jasta’s comments occupied a different musical space than he was currently operating within. While Hatebreed, Deftones and Gojira operate as metal bands, Chvrches performs more under the umbrella of indie rock and alternative.

“Who cares really? I mean, that guy. We’re living in different universes. What’s even the point in taking a swipe like that? I’ve been listening to Deftones since 1998 and they were always an alternative metal band,” Doherty explained in the interview. “I wasn’t a huge metal fan but I was a massive Deftones fan. I think that anyone who’s narrow-minded like that totally misses the point of the band, as far as I can see.”

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat