TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Nu-metal band Deranged found themselves the pariah of their local scene for failing to misspell their band name, sources report.
“I wish somebody would’ve explained this rule to me when we started,” vocalist Teddy “Loco” Sampson lamented. “We would’ve been happy to change the spelling, but we already spent all our money on designing our logo and printing merch, and I already put in my two weeks at Famous Footwear. There’s no going back now. We’re just going to have to try to push forward and play some shows. We already got kicked off the bill for the upcoming Mudvayne concert down in Daytona Beach, which would’ve been huge for us. It really sucks that we have no other bands in our scene to team up with.”
Bassist Dave “Vermin Shock” Taylor from fellow Tallahassee nu-metal band Sikkened expressed his outrage at Loco’s actions.
“When I saw their logo on the bill for the Mudvayne show, I was incensed,” Taylor said as he fiddled with his Ibanez K5. “Everybody knows nu-metal bands aren’t permitted to spell their names correctly. I immediately got on the phone to everybody in our scene, and Deranged is now completely blackballed. I mean, how difficult would it have been to just spell their name ‘DRaynged’? At the very least, they could’ve flipped the ‘R’ around in the logo, but they didn’t bother with any of that. It’s truly offensive that they thought they could get away with this type of behavior. I’m just glad I discovered this before my band sullied its good name by playing on the same stage as them.”
Nu-metal expert Trina Seang provided her insight on the situation.
“Nu-metal appears to scoff at societal norms like grammar, but you’d be surprised at how strict the artists are otherwise,” Seang mentioned. “The list of transgressions a band can commit is pretty extensive, such as not using enough hair gel in your spikes or not having at least one band member who wears a mesh tank top. I wish I could say Deranged could work their way back from this, but I’m not aware of a single documented incident of a nu-metal band redeeming themselves after wrecking their reputation with other bands in their scenes. There’s honestly a better chance of them making it if they change their style to country or adult contemporary.”
At press time, Deranged further enraged their peers by writing a song in standard tuning with a six-string guitar.