Members from In Flames, Spiritbox, Bring Me The Horizon, GWAR, Baroness, and more have championed the right for anyone to wear their favorite band shirts.
The ongoing debate over non-metalheads donning metal band merchandise has persisted for years. Every time a celebrity or pop star, seemingly oblivious to the heavy music world, sports a t-shirt featuring a band they may not listen to, they become the target of ridicule and criticism from certain corners of the metal internet community.
Revolver magazine has now decisively settled the argument with a new video featuring responses from various metal artists on the question: should non-metalheads wear metal shirts?
In the video, Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante, In Flames’ Anders Fridén, Suicide Silence’s Chris Garza, along with members from Baroness, GWAR, Wargasm, Bring Me The Horizon, Vended, and more collectively agree on one thing: why not?
Chris Garza humorously remarks, “My 13-year-old gatekeeper hater comes out for half a second, like, ‘What are you doing?’ But this other big piece of me is like, ‘I want the genre to grow.'”
Courtney LaPlante shares her perspective, stating, “People have been questioning me and what I’m wearing since I bought my first band t-shirt…I don’t give a shit. People are gonna question you regardless.”
Lee Malia, guitarist for Bring Me The Horizon, adds, “I couldn’t care less. We used to get shit when we first started because I used to wear Metallica shirts in promos…we used to get people saying we weren’t ‘metal enough.'”
GWAR’s Pustulus Maximus provides a broader perspective, saying, “I don’t think humans should be that concerned with what other people wear, to be honest. I mean, who cares?”
Anders Fridén concurs, “I don’t care what you wear. It doesn’t matter. It’s good if you know what the band is if you get a question, I guess, but you’re allowed to wear whatever you want.”
While some artists express a bit of ambivalence, with Mike’s Dead suggesting doing background research before wearing a shirt, and Dave Stephens of We Came As Romans urging fans to give the band a chance, the overwhelming majority in the 10-minute video supports the idea that anyone can wear whatever they like. The message is clear: be open-minded, avoid judgment, and, for goodness sake, don’t quiz someone on their metal knowledge just because they’re wearing a band shirt.
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