The nepotism conversation is one that constantly stirs up heated discourse, primarily when trying to honestly assess if the children involved are truly as talented as they seem to be, or if it’s all just being gassed up by mommy and daddy’s money. The entertainment industry is rife with these debates, and the metal scene isn’t a stranger to them either. One of the most notable happening right now centers on Vended, the young nu metal act featuring Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan, the sons of Corey Taylor and M. Shawn Crahan of Slipknot.
Despite making a promising name for themselves as a live act and now with a solid debut under their coveralls, Vended have had their share of scrutiny around the issue. In an interview with Metal Hammer, Griffin Taylor referenced how it felt dealing with hecklers yelling at them to play Slipknot tracks and shitty YouTube comments early on.
“I was a teenager with a lot of feelings and a lot of emotions and I didn’t know how to deal with it. It would just depress the fuck out of me.”
"... there have been times where I've read some hate comments on YouTube and I literally went into the bathtub, filled the bathtub up and just immediately started crying," Taylor has stated in the past. "I was just so fucking in a bad place before we got here."
As Simon Crahan put it to Metal Hammer,
"My dad told me, ‘I would not put you on a tour if you weren’t good’. [...] We’re a good band. We play good music. That’s why we’re here… and everyone thinks it’s just been handed to us.”
It’s true that Vended have been able to play some incredible shows, both big and small, support and headliner, in just a short time. They’ve been included in multiple Knotfest lineups since their inception, participating in huge festivals overseas, and getting to play with gigantic names like Avenged Sevenfold, Korn and Bullet for my Valentine--and all of this before the release of their debut album, which came out in September of 2024. But how much of it is nepotism and how much of it is their music alone?
A better question would be: who cares?
You’d honestly be a fool to not take advantage of prime resources like knowing someone in the industry, blood relation or not. If you know people who’re willing to put you on, get your name out there, and genuinely support you, you should absolutely take that chance. There’s honestly no issue with the boys taking the opportunities their fathers may have or may not have given them in the past, and anything in the present.
And whether their detractors like it or not, Vended’s music is speaking for itself. The love they get from other musicians in the scene isn’t just because they love the boys’ parents. They’re not half-assing anything in the slightest, especially not in the live performance department, as the band is known for having some truly intense shows. To achieve all that they have and do so at such a young age is nothing to sneeze at. For that, Vended is more than deserving of their flowers and I’m excited to see what the band’s cooking up next.
