SUMERIAN RECORDS Founder Remembers MITCH LUCKER

Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen released the following statement regarding the passing of SUICIDE SILENCE singer Mitch Lucker:

"The world lost a great entertainer and star today, but more importantly, an amazing father.

"I had the pleasure of working with Mitch as his agent starting in 2005 before SUICIDE SILENCE was signed to a label or had done a real tour and before I started Sumerian Records. From the first time I met him and saw him perform, I knew he would be a frontman people would love. While he was a rock star, he always had a real sense of class and respect, which is something that isn't as common as it should be with band guys.

"For years, SUICIDE SILENCE was my biggest band. Mitch and I would go on to play crucial roles in each other's careers as I championed them as a main band I fought for and he returned the energy by always speaking highly of me to those around him and thanking me from the stage every time I came to see them play. I'll never forget the look on his face out back of the Showcase Theatre in Corona at the SUICIDE SILENCE holiday show in 2007 when me and his manager, Jerry Clubb, surprised him with the news that he would be going on tour with SLIPKNOT next year for the first-ever Mayhem Festival. it was one of those timeless moments in life that you never forget. It was all of us as a family celebrating the fact that 'we did it' the local Riverside band that so many people in the industry didn't understand or wrote off had just gotten their chance to 'make it' as if your kid got into his dream college.

"There was a brief moment in time when I was going to hang up the booking gloves and transition from being an agent to a manager. It was during this month that I stopped working with SUICIDE SILENCE. However, the friendship and bond that Mitch and I shared was never altered by our professional relationship changing. Every time we were in the same room together, it was as if nothing had changed since the first day we became friends and on the same team. It takes a truly special person to be able to do that and I am very grateful to have known Mitch in the way that I did.

"Mitch always treated his fellow touring bands with respect, which is another thing that isn't as common as it should be these days. Even more importantly, he always treated his fans with the gratitude and appreciation that every artist should. Every time he did a meet-and-greet at Soundcheck Hollywood, I watched him give the honest time of day to each and every fan that wanted to talk to him, get a picture or just shake his hand. He carried himself this same way on the road too, all over the world with his loving fans.

"But now all band stuff aside, above all — Mitch Lucker was an incredible father. He was a true dad to his beautiful daughter Kenadee and loved her with all his heart. To me, this is the worst part of his death. I cannot even imagine how it is for her to go through this. It's a loss no one should have to experience.

"I will be making sure a portion of the proceeds from the Monster Outbreak Tour and California Metalfest that SUICIDE SILENCE was confirmed for will be going to a fund for Kenadee's future.

"Thank you for all the memories, Mitch. Love you, dude. You'll be missed and remembered, forever."