Following his exit from the band last month, former Deftones bassist Sergio Vega has been working on new music with Keith Buckley of recently dissolved Buffalo metalcore group Every Time I Die.
In a new interview on the Talk Toomey podcast with Joshua Toomey, the Quicksand bassist shared details of his collaboration with Buckley and Spotlight drummer Chris Enriquez. Speaking of the new project, which comes in addition to his continued tenure with Quicksand, the Vega disclosed [as transcribed by The PRP]:
You don't have the thing of trying to build the band; you don't have to deal with the time conflicts with the people you may want to work with. It opens up a lot, so currently [Enriquez and I] have a song done. We have [another] one almost done. And then last week we started working on a track with Keith Buckley.
It's super exciting because we got on the phone and we just talked about life. He, Chris and I had a quick FaceTime. We hadn't met each other — obviously [we're] well aware of each other — and we really, really hit it off. So it's a rare time that I feel compelled to mention the person, because of the situation.
Vega also elaborated on his departure from Deftones, which he initially addressed after the metalcore institution updated their Spotify profile picture to a photo of the remaining four members. Vega cited contractual issues and failed communications between the 'tones, their legal team and himself as his reason for leaving the band after 12 years.
"It was a function of the contract being cancelled," Vega reiterated regarding his lack of a more secure position within the band. "I was like, 'I think the path forward is that we can all be in the same boat. Now would be the time to get off this type of [salary] structure, because it's not really working for anybody, especially now when we're not touring,'" he explained.
Vega emphasized that he felt the outfit needed to "make good" on the fact that it had been 12 years since he joined the band, replacing Chi Cheng in 2009. "I just can't go onto the salary thing because it's not working for us," the bassist said. "And that was it — we really couldn't come back on that."
The musician went on to clarify that it wasn't really about the money, though: "It's the security and stability of feeling like you're a part of something that you're investing in, and belonging. To me, the key word is this feeling that you belong."
Meanwhile, the breakup of Buckley's band was even messier: the statement announcing their split was signed by all members except the former vocalist, who later issued his own statement on their "inevitable" end. Bassist Stephen Micciche then claimed to have been given an ultimatum by the estranged bandleader, with the vocalist allegedly demanding that he choose himself and his brother, guitarist Jordan Buckley. "It will just be a different band now," the guitarist said after EITD's turn away from his kin, sharing the other members' intention to keep making music together.
In a new interview on the Talk Toomey podcast with Joshua Toomey, the Quicksand bassist shared details of his collaboration with Buckley and Spotlight drummer Chris Enriquez. Speaking of the new project, which comes in addition to his continued tenure with Quicksand, the Vega disclosed [as transcribed by The PRP]:
You don't have the thing of trying to build the band; you don't have to deal with the time conflicts with the people you may want to work with. It opens up a lot, so currently [Enriquez and I] have a song done. We have [another] one almost done. And then last week we started working on a track with Keith Buckley.
It's super exciting because we got on the phone and we just talked about life. He, Chris and I had a quick FaceTime. We hadn't met each other — obviously [we're] well aware of each other — and we really, really hit it off. So it's a rare time that I feel compelled to mention the person, because of the situation.
Vega also elaborated on his departure from Deftones, which he initially addressed after the metalcore institution updated their Spotify profile picture to a photo of the remaining four members. Vega cited contractual issues and failed communications between the 'tones, their legal team and himself as his reason for leaving the band after 12 years.
"It was a function of the contract being cancelled," Vega reiterated regarding his lack of a more secure position within the band. "I was like, 'I think the path forward is that we can all be in the same boat. Now would be the time to get off this type of [salary] structure, because it's not really working for anybody, especially now when we're not touring,'" he explained.
Vega emphasized that he felt the outfit needed to "make good" on the fact that it had been 12 years since he joined the band, replacing Chi Cheng in 2009. "I just can't go onto the salary thing because it's not working for us," the bassist said. "And that was it — we really couldn't come back on that."
The musician went on to clarify that it wasn't really about the money, though: "It's the security and stability of feeling like you're a part of something that you're investing in, and belonging. To me, the key word is this feeling that you belong."
Meanwhile, the breakup of Buckley's band was even messier: the statement announcing their split was signed by all members except the former vocalist, who later issued his own statement on their "inevitable" end. Bassist Stephen Micciche then claimed to have been given an ultimatum by the estranged bandleader, with the vocalist allegedly demanding that he choose himself and his brother, guitarist Jordan Buckley. "It will just be a different band now," the guitarist said after EITD's turn away from his kin, sharing the other members' intention to keep making music together.
