In the wake of the death of Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker, there are many questions left unanswered. Lucker died early yesterday morning after crashing his motorcycle into a light pole. Musicians everywhere were affected by the loss, posting tributes on Twitter and Facebook and a vigil was held in Lucker's memory last night.
After assessing all the information that has come out in the last 24 hours, I have to ask, could all of this been avoided?
The first sign of trouble came after scanning Mitch's Twitter account. One tweet in particular stood out:
I'd rather die riding 95 then live a life full of nothing but filthy lies.
— Mitch Lucker (@MitchLuckerSS) October 3, 2012
Clearly, Mitch knew what he was getting himself into when getting on his motorcycle. He lived for the adrenaline rush riding a bike provides. In a recent interview with AltPress, Mitch explained the excitement he gets from riding:
"The danger in it. Being a frontman in a band, you get addicted to adrenaline rushes. When you're onstage, there's not more of a rush. When I get home from touring, I need to find something to match that so I don't get my adrenaline withdrawals. Being exposed to every element of danger while you're sitting on a motor — that, to me, is freedom."
The important thing about riding a bike, is safety. And it seems like that is something Lucker had no interest in. In browsing this MetalSucks post, highlighting photos from Mitch's Instagram account, one photo was incredibly haunting:
In case you cannot read that caption, it says:
Just ordered a new helmet that's not DOT certified… I got tired of looking like a bobble head with my gold dot rig. #lowprofile #smoke my favorite color haha
DOT certification means the helmet is safe for use. Mitch willingly forwent safety to basically, "look cooler." Also, if any of the previous photos of him on his Harley are any indication, he wore no further safety protection while driving. That bobblehead helmet could've saved his life.
As I was writing this very post, new footage from the vigil surfaced of Mitch's wife, Jolie Carmadella speaking at his vigil. Video of the vigil is below, but here is the most shocking revelation from her talk:
"He was an alcoholic, and it's a been a big battle, I tried to stop him. I was in front of him begging him not to leave the house. Begging him. 'Just seriously, for us, don't leave.' And he did. And this is what happened.
"It's a wake-up call."
She continued, "He was an amazing man. He was a wonderful father and a great husband. And now he's gonna miss out on watching [his five-year-old daughter] Kenadee grow, because he decided to drink and ride.
"Just don't. Just think before you guys do something stupid. Please learn from this. Please."
Of all the evidence that points to this being able to be avoided, this is the final straw. While unsafe helmets and a quest for danger is one thing. there is no way Mitch should've been driving after drinking. It's truly a sad occurrence because he leaves a five year old daughter behind. One who he absolutely loved, and saw the band as a way to provide for her. Here is a chilling quote from Mitch in a 2009 Noisecreep interview:
"It's the hardest thing I deal with, but what I'm doing is the reason we have a roof over our heads and that I can take care of her," he said at the time. "I hate being gone, but my family couldn't survive without me going on tour. Tons of fathers out there don't want to wake up and go to work, but they have to, in order provide. I don't consider Suicide Silence work. I just tell her, 'Daddy is going to leave and go play music now!'"
This is a sad day, and ultimately no amount of questions will bring Mitch back. RIP Mitch Lucker.
