Cradle of Filth guitarist quits band due to low pay
Marek ‘Ashok’ Šmerda, the guitarist of metal band Cradle of Filth, has confirmed his exit from the band following their current Latin American tour.
Šmerda’s wife, Zoë M Federoff, was the keyboardist and backing singer of the veteran metal outfit. It was reported on August 25th that she had pulled out of the band mid-tour, citing “personal reasons”. At this point, she also hinted at her husband’s exit.
The following day, Šmerda released a statement explaining his own exit, citing “conclusions my wife and I came together at long before this week.” He added, “We simply do not feel like Cradle can provide for our future, and in fact hinders it.”
He continued, “Among other reasons it is a lot of work for relatively low pay, the stress is quite high, and we haven’t felt for a while like this band actually prioritizing/caring about members. It has been years of unprofessional behavior from people above us that led to our decision.”
Šmerda then turned his sights onto Cradle of Filth’s “foolish” upcoming collaboration with Ed Sheeran. He explained, “First it was charity single for kids, then for profit single, then on next album, and now who knows and I just do not want to be involved anymore, no disrespect to Ed Sheeran.”
Meanwhile, Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth issued a statement too, which touched upon the “extremely dramatic week” in the band’s career. He explained that Zoe’s departure was “sudden” and what ensued was “a whirlwind of chaos.”
Despite this, her stand-in, Kelsey Peters, is doing well, and the general mood is “very upbeat and positive.” He continued, “Thank you for all your continued support and for not listening to all the bullshit rumours and sickly worms presiding over the internet. Cradle of Filth ALWAYS come back better and stronger than ever and that will be no different this time when we unleash our new album in the foreseeable future.”
Cradle of Filth’s Latin America tour will continue throughout the next month.
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