SEAN KILLIAN Rips 'Selfish' PHIL DEMMEL For Wanting Him To 'Shelve' VIO-LENCE In 2023: 'I Don't Want People Like That In My Life'

In a new interview with Robb Chavez of Robbs MetalWorks, VIO-LENCE singer Sean Killian spoke about the 2024 departure of the band's founding guitarist Phil Demmel. Phil's final concert with the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans took place in February 2024 at Carioca Club in São Paulo, Brazil. Asked if he was "adamant" about wanting to keep VIO-LENCE going after Phil's exit, Sean said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Phil] wanted me to shelve the band. And then we sold out the Whisky [A Go Go in February 2023] in L.A., and he brought it up in the green room after we played. And I was, like, 'No, I'm not shelving anything.' 'Cause we never really toured back in the day, so there's so many places around the world that haven't seen VIO-LENCE or heard it live. For him, it's a garage thing that — I don't know… He's kind of a selfish guy. And if you've seen some of his interviews. he even brings it up himself."

Asked why VIO-LENCE's previous reunion in 2001-2003 didn't last, Sean said: "Well, we actually were writing music at the time, so we had Perry [Strickland] on drums and Phil [on guitar], Deen [Dell] playing bass, me singing and we had Ray Vegas playing guitar to fill in, 'cause Robb [Flynn, former VIO-LENCE guitarist] was already taking off with MACHINE HEAD. And we wrote some music and then Robb, he came to Phil and tapped him and said, 'You wanna play [with MACHINE HEAD]?' And then Phil called me and I was, like, 'Look, dude, I'm just a guy that loves to play music. You're a musician.' I've never told him, 'You can't do this' or 'you can't do that,' 'cause he's filled in for LAMB OF GOD [in later years] and a bunch of stuff. And I've always supported him a hundred percent. But when he told me that he wanted me to shelve it [two and a half years ago], that's when I was just kind of, like, 'This relationship…' Like [THE MENTORS legend] El Duce would say, 'This relationship is over.' [Laughs]"

After Chavez noted that it's "really surprising" to hear that Demmel wanted Killian to stop playing shows with VIO-LENCE in 2023, Sean said: "It's an internal thing with him. It's not about me. It's when he started doing interviews. So when [VIO-LENCE] played the Mystic Festival [in June 2024] in Poland, MACHINE HEAD was playing [at the same event], so I text Robb, 'Hey, man, why don't you play [the classic VIO-LENCE song] 'World In A World' with us?' 'Cause he always shows up a day before [MACHINE HEAD is scheduled to play]. And [Robb was], like, 'Fuck yeah.' So we did it. And so then the next week [Phil] does an interview, and it's just nothing but him talking bad about [VIO-LENCE]. And I just finally had it with him and told him, 'Man, you got issues. And I don't want any part of it.' I'm 61. I don't want people like that in my life. And so here we are today. And I'm happy. And the group that I'm playing with are enjoying themselves, and the fans really respond every time."

VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reformed soon after Demmel acrimoniously left MACHINE HEAD seven years ago.

Formed in 1985, VIO-LENCE helped define and refine what came to be known as the Bay Area sound, dropping three seminal albums before splitting in 1993. Leaving behind a heady legacy, they reformed briefly a couple of times in the intervening years before becoming a full-time going concern once more in 2019. After playing a string of successful shows, the quintet started to think about new music and delivered "Let The World Burn", showcasing their first new material in 29 years.

Filling out the band's ranks on "Let The World Burn" alongside Killian and Demmel were drummer Perry Strickland, ex-FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Olde Wolbers and former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson.

Killian is the only VIO-LENCE member from the "Let The World Burn" recording lineup who is still touring with the band.

For VIO-LENCE's recent U.S. tour as the support act for DEATH ANGEL, Killian was joined on stage by Ira Black (LIZZY BORDEN, VICIOUS RUMORS, METAL CHURCH) on guitar, Jeff Salgado (PSYCHOSOMATIC) on bass, Nick Souza (HATRIOT) on drums and Toby Swope on guitar.

"I've got a great group of guys," Sean told Robbs MetalWorks. "Claudeous Creamer's usually [playing guitar] with us, but POSSESSED is in Europe right now, and so anytime POSSESSED plays, we have Toby join us. And he's a great guitar player. He also plays drums. He tells me he plays drums better than guitar. And they're all professionals — Ira, Jeff, Nick Souza, Zetro's son. Great drummer, great attitude. And so it's, like, I'm happy that I have the guys we have because now it's finally, like, okay, this is my band and we're moving forward. And we're taking it to places that people haven't seen it before."

Killian continued: "Look at my Instagram. I'm not constantly on it. I'm not a hound for attention. When we do our tours, you see video or live pictures of us and stuff like that, but in between, you really don't see a whole lot. I don't post a whole lot about stuff. So that's kind of the difference. I'm not a social media rock star. I'm just a guy that fucking loves to play thrash metal."

In June 2024, Demmel told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco Bay Area radio station 107.7 The Bone about his decision to leave VIO-LENCE, the band that he formed nearly four decades earlier: "The VIO-LENCE thing just became… Perry left, or Perry's no longer in the band, and it just became — and I love Christian — it just became something not familiar anymore. And it hit me when we played the Whisky [A Go Go in February 2023 in West Hollywood, California] and it was Adrian [Aguilar], the drummer's first show. And we were having this kid Miles Dimitri Baker, who plays in ICE NINE KILLS right now, come down, and he was gonna be my fill-in [for some dates]. And so he was gonna play on a song or two. And I show up to the show and I walk backstage and, man, there was 50 people backstage and I knew maybe [the guys in] the band and a couple of other people. It was just, like, 'Man, this isn't my home anymore. This doesn't feel like home.' And no slight against the dudes, 'cause I loved playing with Adrian, I loved playing with Christian, and Ira really worked hard for the band and was a big — he was a big fighter for the band. He worked hard. He cared a lot. Ira was a very productive member of VIO-LENCE. But with everything that was happening, it was just time for me to go… The Kerry [King] thing was firing up, the CATEGORY 7 thing was firing up, and [I] just [did] not [want to] let that be a distraction from [the other stuff I was doing]."

Demmel added: "I loved the VIO-LENCE EP ['Let The World Burn'] that I wrote, and me and Sean wrote and we recorded with the dudes. And I'm super proud of those songs and the way that the recording came out. [Producer/engineer] Juan [Urteaga] did a tremendous job."

Circling back to the high turnover of members in VIO-LENCE, Demmel said: "Bobby [Gustafson was in the band for a couple of years] and Miles and this kid Jesse's playing now. Ira, Adrian, Nick Souza has played, [former CANNIBAL CORPSE and current EXHORDER guitarist] Pat O'Brien's been in. And this is all within the past couple years. So it just wasn't the thing that I started in high school, and the songs meaning the same."

Phil added that "it was cool traveling and doing the stuff that we did. And Sean wants to continue and travel and do the fun stuff. I'm still a partner with him in the business."

As for the possibility of VIO-LENCE making new music without Demmel being an official member of the band, Phil said: "That's all something that remains to be [seen]."

When Demmel announced his exit from VIO-LENCE a few days before the São Paulo concert, he said in a video message he shared to his social media: "It's been, I guess, in the works for a bit. My status has been undefined for a while. I'm kind of doing things that I felt comfortable or fell into my schedule or whatever. But given just the latest state of the band and where I feel I belong with it or feel tied to it, I just think that my time is at an end."

Demmel continued: "I'll always identify with the band. Me and [drummer] Perry started this band in high school. It's cool to be going to places that we haven't been.

"I'm feeling that Sean is… We've gone far on different pages. I guess we've always been on different pages. But I don't feel like I fit in with what the objective of this is anymore. And in light of some current events [laughs], I felt compelled to make the break."

Phil went on to say that he "thought about maybe doing a home show" with VIO-LENCE as a way of "saying goodbye," but ultimately concluded that "I don't feel like I need that. I feel like playing those [comeback shows in Oakland in April 2019] with Perry and Deen and Ray and having those two magical days and doing some other stuff that we've done, writing the five songs, doing the EP, I feel fulfilled," he said. "And anything further kind of feels forced. Actually, before this [Latin American] tour [kicked off], I honestly didn't wanna come. [But] I was committed to it. I wasn't gonna back out. I'm committed to the dudes. But I think I'm done. I think that I've done what I wanted to do with this band."

Demmel added: "June 1st, 1985 to February, what will be 11th, 2024. 39, almost 40 years. So, never say never again. Try not to say that. Sometimes you do. It's been life defining, it's been a pleasure, it's been an honor being Phil from VIO-LENCE."

VIO-LENCE played the São Paulo concert as a four-piece after an alleged altercation between Black and Olde Wolbers resulted in Ira being sent home from the tour a few days early.

In February 2023, Demmel addressed VIO-LENCE's future in an Instagram Live video, saying it was "kind of weird playing these shows" with "a bunch of fill-ins and me and Sean." He added that while Adrian is "awesome" and the Whisky gig "was packed", he is "just kind of really torn right now in the sense of what VIO-LENCE is and what it's gonna be and what my role is gonna be in that and how I feel about that." Demmel went on to say that he told Killian he "wanted to shut [VIO-LENCE] down," but then he realized "that to ask that of those dudes to not do it anymore is selfish on my part."

Released in March 2022, "Let The World Burn" was VIO-LENCE's first original release since 1993's "Nothing To Gain".

Demmel was in MACHINE HEAD for nearly 16 years, during which time he played on five of the group's studio albums: "Through The Ashes Of Empires" (2003),"The Blackening" (2007),"Unto The Locust" (2011),"Bloodstone & Diamonds" (2014) and "Catharsis" (2018).

Although Flynn was part of VIO-LENCE's classic incarnation and played on the band's debut album, "Eternal Nightmare", he wasn't approached about taking part in of VIO-LENCE's 2018 reunion.

Photo credit: James Willard (courtesy of Metal Blade Records)