the shit finally hit the fan
What was supposed to be the weekend of Wasted ended quite dramatically for Kel and me. She got into a fight with Chet and I went crazy. I guess a bit of background information is neccessary for you to understand why this all happened. I swear everything in this blog is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in my eyes at least. Of course there are two sides to every story and if anyone directly affected by this feel the need to retort, then please do so. I made a phone call to Phil after the incident, which I made some threats towards Chet and I'd like to apologize for that, it has nothing to do with him, or the rest of the band. I have high respect for Phil, Carl, and Matt.
There is a long history of tension between us and Chet. He's quite the manipulator, if it was a job he'd be a millionaire by now, and has a charming personality that can make you believe practically anything. We were really good friends during most of our time together in the Templars and APA, but something changed all that. Unfortunately, that 'something' was Kelly. From the time we first started dating he seemed a bit jealous, probably because we weren't spending as much time together, but that's not unusual. It's quite normal in fact, so that wasn't the problem.
The problem was that for some reason he started meddling in our business behind the scenes. That meddling ranged from badmouthing Kelly to Phil (more on this in a minute), to holding an APA band meeting regarding us. Around March of 2004 Kelly received some news: The disease she has had since birth had worsened and she only had a 50/50 chance of living more than four years. Needless to say we were devastated. We were really in love by then and the prospect of her dying was really hard for me to handle. I decided to do what I felt was best for her and move to Jacksonville so she could be near her parents and her doctor, who is an expert on her particular disease.
After I broke the news to my bandmates in APA and told them I'd be leaving the band as a result, Chet did the most fucked up thing he ever did to us: He called a band meeting to discuss ways to break us up. I don't know what he was thinking, but that's some pretty ill shit! I heard this from two of the guys in APA, so I know it's the truth. WE ended up staying in Atlanta because Kelly refused to let us move. Things were happening for APA; Our sound had gotten much tighter, we were getting great support slots in Altanta, and some big labels were showing interest, Kelly knows how important music is to me and she made that sacrifice cause she cared about me.
Yeah, she's really horrible, Damn her to hell! That seemed to be the impression Phil had of her way before he even met her. He told me that he'd been "hearing some bad shit about your girl", I remember this like it happened yesterday, and that "people are talking" about her. I don't know how he feels now, but I still consider Phil the best friend I ever had. He has always been there for me and can make me laugh no matter how bad I'm feeling. He has the best sense of humor of anyone I know. I share some of the blame for the rift that developed between us by not clearly communicating my feelings about Kelly and by not defending her as vehemently as I should. He probably thought she was just some girl I was fucking and not the future Mrs.Hardy that she was to become.
It's still a shame that he never really gave her a fair chance cause he had some birdies chirping in his ear the whole time. I know that one of those birdies was Chet. I've heard this from several people around Atlanta as well as indirectly from Phil himself during one conversation. Maybe I put 2 + 2 together and came up with 5, but there were only two people "very close to both you and Perry" in Atlanta that Phil was friends with. Unless Frank from Crash & Burn is a big-time shit-talker and I just don't know it, that leaves only Chet. It took some time, but Phil and I have come to terms with our issues and Kelly even encouraged me to mend my friendship with him. She even said she'd feel the same way if she was in his position, hearing bad things about a friend's girlfriend.
Being the crazy kids that we are Kelly I decided to elope to Las Vegas and got married by Elvis on July 15, 2004. We thought it would be a nice surprise, but a friend let it slip to Chet at a bar that we went to Vegas to get married. Half of Atlanta knew before we said out vows and word had also apparently reached Phil. I called him that night to give him the news, he told me I was out of the band, and we didn't speak again for several months. Upon returning from Vegas, Kelly's health took a turn for the worse, she was throwing up constantly and finally early one morning I insisted that we take her to the hosptal. Come to find out she was pregnant. Not only that, but there were complications. And so began the worst period of my life. We tried to stay in Atlanta, but I saw something I didn't want to see or believe in the bathroom at an APA show at Mulligans. That was the final straw; I quit the band that night, we packed our bags, and headed to Jacksonville. And I haven't talked to Chet since. maybe that was a part of the problem. If I would've dealt with my issues with him sooner it wouldn't have come to this:
The Templars show last Saturday night was the first time we had seen Chet since that night at Mulligans. He kept very much to himself and didn't look at either of us once. I actually wanted to pull him aside and talk to him, but was already in an ill mood for various reasons and didn't want to risk making matters worse. The templars played a great set and I left feeling better. The next day was stressful for both Kelly and I. Our friend Tim had been stranded with us in Hollywood for two days cause the girl he had come out there with had ditched him to be a band groupie for the weekend. She had the keys to the apartment they were staying at and Tim had no clean clothes little money. We spent most of Sunday trying to find her. I called Phil and discovered she was staying with the Templars at their hotel. Despite leaving several messages which I'm sure she got, she never contacted Tim. After debating whether or not to go see the Adicts who were playing a short drive from where we were staying, we decided to drive out to Pomona to see the Lower Class Brats. Maybe that wasn't the best idea in the end.
We were having a good time at the show hanging out with the guys in LCB as well as several friends from Atlanta. We were exchanging baby pictures with Mark from TKO and his wife...just having a good evening. Then the girl that ditched Tim came strolling in...with Chet! That was like a red flag to a bull for Kelly. She got in the girl's face and basically told her about how fucked up it was to leave Tim stranded. She also said some rude things about Chet which I'm sure provoked him cause he was standing right there. LCB got onstage and played a great show as always. We were dancing in the pit and having a great time. I was in the back of the club talking to someone when the words "fuck you Chet!" reached my ears. Kelly was confronting him about everything that he'd done and he shot back with "the truth is heavier than you", which actually makes no sense, but we got the point. Kelly shot back with something about his "problem" and he went ballistic. He comes running from behind the barricade that seperated them and they started yelling in each other's faces. Next thing I know I see his hand go up then kelly starts punching him. Judging by the handprint on her face afterwards it was obvious that he had slapped her. That was when I went psycho. I ran up and tried to hit him only to be grabbed by several bouncers as soon as I got to him. I remember yelling " what the fuck are you doing", him yelling "you know I would never swing on your girl" and not much after that. People have told me I threatened to kill him the next time I see him and judging by how enraged I was, I porbably did. I do remember breaking a bottle outside and trying to get back in the club only to be met at the door by several more bouncers and several friends who were trying to calm me down and keep me from getting arrested. Finally Scotti, and the girls from Atlanta got me calmed down enough to go home. Thanks guys!
This is the first time I've ever aired my dirty laundry in public! However the skinhead scene being the sewing circle it is, I know word is going to get around and I'd rather have my version of events out there for all to see.
As far as Chet's concerned, I want to talk to him, and work things out in the most peaceful way possible, but am prepared to go to war if necessary. I'm not a violent person, but no one is going to smack my wife, and the mother of my child under ANY circumstances. I don't condone her insults to him, and have told her so, but I do feel she had the right to confont him on everything that had happened between us. She was pissed, probably even more than I was, and this had been festering for more than a year, and finally was given the opportunity to explode.
I would like to extend a apology to Mark, Gonzo, and anyone else that we put in a bad position. Hopefully this will not happen the next time we cross paths with Chet! But that is largely up to him, and how he handles things when we talk!
There is a long history of tension between us and Chet. He's quite the manipulator, if it was a job he'd be a millionaire by now, and has a charming personality that can make you believe practically anything. We were really good friends during most of our time together in the Templars and APA, but something changed all that. Unfortunately, that 'something' was Kelly. From the time we first started dating he seemed a bit jealous, probably because we weren't spending as much time together, but that's not unusual. It's quite normal in fact, so that wasn't the problem.
The problem was that for some reason he started meddling in our business behind the scenes. That meddling ranged from badmouthing Kelly to Phil (more on this in a minute), to holding an APA band meeting regarding us. Around March of 2004 Kelly received some news: The disease she has had since birth had worsened and she only had a 50/50 chance of living more than four years. Needless to say we were devastated. We were really in love by then and the prospect of her dying was really hard for me to handle. I decided to do what I felt was best for her and move to Jacksonville so she could be near her parents and her doctor, who is an expert on her particular disease.
After I broke the news to my bandmates in APA and told them I'd be leaving the band as a result, Chet did the most fucked up thing he ever did to us: He called a band meeting to discuss ways to break us up. I don't know what he was thinking, but that's some pretty ill shit! I heard this from two of the guys in APA, so I know it's the truth. WE ended up staying in Atlanta because Kelly refused to let us move. Things were happening for APA; Our sound had gotten much tighter, we were getting great support slots in Altanta, and some big labels were showing interest, Kelly knows how important music is to me and she made that sacrifice cause she cared about me.
Yeah, she's really horrible, Damn her to hell! That seemed to be the impression Phil had of her way before he even met her. He told me that he'd been "hearing some bad shit about your girl", I remember this like it happened yesterday, and that "people are talking" about her. I don't know how he feels now, but I still consider Phil the best friend I ever had. He has always been there for me and can make me laugh no matter how bad I'm feeling. He has the best sense of humor of anyone I know. I share some of the blame for the rift that developed between us by not clearly communicating my feelings about Kelly and by not defending her as vehemently as I should. He probably thought she was just some girl I was fucking and not the future Mrs.Hardy that she was to become.
It's still a shame that he never really gave her a fair chance cause he had some birdies chirping in his ear the whole time. I know that one of those birdies was Chet. I've heard this from several people around Atlanta as well as indirectly from Phil himself during one conversation. Maybe I put 2 + 2 together and came up with 5, but there were only two people "very close to both you and Perry" in Atlanta that Phil was friends with. Unless Frank from Crash & Burn is a big-time shit-talker and I just don't know it, that leaves only Chet. It took some time, but Phil and I have come to terms with our issues and Kelly even encouraged me to mend my friendship with him. She even said she'd feel the same way if she was in his position, hearing bad things about a friend's girlfriend.
Being the crazy kids that we are Kelly I decided to elope to Las Vegas and got married by Elvis on July 15, 2004. We thought it would be a nice surprise, but a friend let it slip to Chet at a bar that we went to Vegas to get married. Half of Atlanta knew before we said out vows and word had also apparently reached Phil. I called him that night to give him the news, he told me I was out of the band, and we didn't speak again for several months. Upon returning from Vegas, Kelly's health took a turn for the worse, she was throwing up constantly and finally early one morning I insisted that we take her to the hosptal. Come to find out she was pregnant. Not only that, but there were complications. And so began the worst period of my life. We tried to stay in Atlanta, but I saw something I didn't want to see or believe in the bathroom at an APA show at Mulligans. That was the final straw; I quit the band that night, we packed our bags, and headed to Jacksonville. And I haven't talked to Chet since. maybe that was a part of the problem. If I would've dealt with my issues with him sooner it wouldn't have come to this:
The Templars show last Saturday night was the first time we had seen Chet since that night at Mulligans. He kept very much to himself and didn't look at either of us once. I actually wanted to pull him aside and talk to him, but was already in an ill mood for various reasons and didn't want to risk making matters worse. The templars played a great set and I left feeling better. The next day was stressful for both Kelly and I. Our friend Tim had been stranded with us in Hollywood for two days cause the girl he had come out there with had ditched him to be a band groupie for the weekend. She had the keys to the apartment they were staying at and Tim had no clean clothes little money. We spent most of Sunday trying to find her. I called Phil and discovered she was staying with the Templars at their hotel. Despite leaving several messages which I'm sure she got, she never contacted Tim. After debating whether or not to go see the Adicts who were playing a short drive from where we were staying, we decided to drive out to Pomona to see the Lower Class Brats. Maybe that wasn't the best idea in the end.
We were having a good time at the show hanging out with the guys in LCB as well as several friends from Atlanta. We were exchanging baby pictures with Mark from TKO and his wife...just having a good evening. Then the girl that ditched Tim came strolling in...with Chet! That was like a red flag to a bull for Kelly. She got in the girl's face and basically told her about how fucked up it was to leave Tim stranded. She also said some rude things about Chet which I'm sure provoked him cause he was standing right there. LCB got onstage and played a great show as always. We were dancing in the pit and having a great time. I was in the back of the club talking to someone when the words "fuck you Chet!" reached my ears. Kelly was confronting him about everything that he'd done and he shot back with "the truth is heavier than you", which actually makes no sense, but we got the point. Kelly shot back with something about his "problem" and he went ballistic. He comes running from behind the barricade that seperated them and they started yelling in each other's faces. Next thing I know I see his hand go up then kelly starts punching him. Judging by the handprint on her face afterwards it was obvious that he had slapped her. That was when I went psycho. I ran up and tried to hit him only to be grabbed by several bouncers as soon as I got to him. I remember yelling " what the fuck are you doing", him yelling "you know I would never swing on your girl" and not much after that. People have told me I threatened to kill him the next time I see him and judging by how enraged I was, I porbably did. I do remember breaking a bottle outside and trying to get back in the club only to be met at the door by several more bouncers and several friends who were trying to calm me down and keep me from getting arrested. Finally Scotti, and the girls from Atlanta got me calmed down enough to go home. Thanks guys!
This is the first time I've ever aired my dirty laundry in public! However the skinhead scene being the sewing circle it is, I know word is going to get around and I'd rather have my version of events out there for all to see.
As far as Chet's concerned, I want to talk to him, and work things out in the most peaceful way possible, but am prepared to go to war if necessary. I'm not a violent person, but no one is going to smack my wife, and the mother of my child under ANY circumstances. I don't condone her insults to him, and have told her so, but I do feel she had the right to confont him on everything that had happened between us. She was pissed, probably even more than I was, and this had been festering for more than a year, and finally was given the opportunity to explode.
I would like to extend a apology to Mark, Gonzo, and anyone else that we put in a bad position. Hopefully this will not happen the next time we cross paths with Chet! But that is largely up to him, and how he handles things when we talk!