With the release of their 2007 studio album debut, The Cleansing, Suicide Silence cemented themselves as one of deathcore’s biggest bands. One of the most noticeable qualities of the band’s music was that of vocalist Mitch Lucker, who always brought incredible energy to his recordings and live performances.
Sadly, on November 1st, 2012, Lucker passed away. In the almost 11 years since his death, the surviving members of Suicide Silence continue to deeply mourn his passing.
Recently, band bassist Chris Garza took part in a conversation with Metal Injection’s Frank Godla, and the two talked about a variety of topics. At one point during their conversation, Godla asked Garza if he struggles with any sort of regrets, and in reply to this question, Garza opens up about the regrets he has in regard to the band’s late frontman.
For a little bit, he talks about the difference between life lessons and regrets and learning from things, but then he eventually shares the following about what he regrets regarding Lucker (the following was transcribed by The Pit):
“But with regrets, I mean yeah, there’s stuff like… you know, I wish I hung out with Mitch more. ‘Casue Suicide Silence is me and Mitch; that was Suicide Silence. It sounds cheesy, but it’s our two souls combined – that’s the sound, that’s the soul and bones, and integrity of Suicide Silence.
“I just wish like… ’cause we didn’t really hang out once the band took off. It went from like, us hanging out in a garage to an hour in an arena with Slayer. It seemed like, that leap seemed seamless… it was very quick, and I just wish we had the mental and emotional capacity to kind of sit down and hang out more, and talk about the band and where we’re going and, more importantly, our friendship. But those conversations really never happened.
“They say ‘never have regrets,’ but straight up, I get asked that – ‘Do you regret that?’ That is a fucking deep demon and I regret – I wish we sat down and talked and hung out more, and didn’t take things for granted. But that is a regret.”
In response to this, Godla acknowledges how hard it must’ve been for the two members to have one on one time when so much was going on for the band. But he also brings up how much Garza and Lucker accomplished through Suicide Silence and how that’s something to be proud of. To that point, Garza says:
“Yeah it was a crazier ride, and you’re right, we’re lucky we got to live that crazy life together. Everything I do now, it’s like… it is for him. I kind of treat him like – sometimes I’ll go ‘What would he do?’
“So it’s kind of my way of having a second chance at this. ‘I wonder what he would do? I wonder what we would talk about.’ You know, what decisions would we make?”
Love and miss you Mitch <3
Suicide Silence Guitarist Talks 'Worst' Thing About Being In a Band
