Gregory Kriesel Sues The Offspring

Just to clarify, the lawsuit's in state court (not federal court as DyingScene wrote) and was filed back in June -- the other band members countersued earlier this month.

It's funny, I was literally just teaching my UCLA students two days ago about the importance of spelling out band member rights in a clear partnership agreement. Otherwise you end up in this ridiculous we-have-an-S-Corp-but-also-an-unwritten-general-partnership situation.

 

I was just talking to a friend and trying to figure out if the Twitter account below was real. I...guess...this kind of confirms it.

gregkriesel (@gregkriesel) | Twitter

Sad news since I believe Dexter and Greg started the band in high school so must be a pretty brutal split.

 

Can someone much smarter than me summarize what he's suing them for? I assume it's something along the lines of making business decisions and/or diverting profits without his consent.

 

Kriesel's suit says they kicked him out of the band around October/November of last year, and he says they had no right to do so. The countersuit says Kriesel left voluntarily (after being asked to do so), then came back later and claimed he couldn't be made to leave. So Kriesel wants to keep his financial interest in the band, while the other members want to buy him out of that interest.

 

Greg, why don’t you get a job?

 

Jeeze, that's crazy to see so many years into the band's life

 

This is really sad because I actually really like this band (a lot) despite the criticisms that people like to throw in their direction.

One thing I gave them credit for (over blink-182) was that they didn't have much drama, but now I might as well toss that notion out the window with Greg K getting the Tom DeLonge treatment... Although Greg seems to be getting things worse because I think Tom still gets royalties, and the door is open for him to eventually join blink again.

This one doesn't seem as amicable.

Edit:

Also just want to add this note (without making a new post about it). I was hyped for their new music, but this kind of removes some of the hype...

I'm still interested in new music, but I'm torn... On one hand I still want new music (and selfishly hope this doesn't delay it), but on the other hand, what they did here was incredibly scummy and makes me lose some respect for the remaining members in the band. I actually hope Greg K is able to join back in (though, I doubt he wants to at this point), or is able to earn royalties like he should.

 

I don’t get the impression that any members besides Dexter have any creative input so music will probably be unaffected.

 

Also, I don't think this is quite the Tom Delonge-type treatment. Greg K was almost like an invisible member (seriously, try finding even ONE speaking interview with him on YouTube) and I get the sense his heart just wasn't in it. He's not a contributor in terms of songwriting and he has a pretty overall stoic presence when playing live so I imagine he was kept around for the same reason Andy Fletcher stays in Depeche Mode, he's childhood friends with the lead guy. I feel bad because him and Dexter went to high school together and formed the band in 1984 so it definitely must be really painful to be in a lawsuit with your childhood friend but I guess money really does make matters more complicated.

 

I wonder how much ‘we’re all gonna tour at a high level TOGETHER for 10-15 more years’ factored into them selling their catalog a few years back.

That lump sum goes quick when you still anticipate that touring revenue every year.


Either way, this is a bummer.

 

Blink renegotiated all ownership/partnership rights when they got back together in ‘09. Travis got added as a full partner, for example. Tom is gonna be getting a cut forever, as I imagine his lawyers outlined what actually had to happen to remove him - thus why the ‘he quit the band’ story has been phased out as time has gone on, because the contract is probably so tightly locked that it’s pointless saying that anymore.

 

I feel like the main beneficiary of the catalog selling was Dexter since he's the only one credited against any Offspring sonsgs. Otherwise, I have to imagine that for dudes in their 50's, there is no way they want to maintain a rigorous touring schedule.

 

Fair, though with this band it’s just what they do every summer it seems.

It’s like them, 311, and Everclear constantly going out every year.

 

This absolutely blows. I admit Greg K has always felt like a member that was almost invisible in terms of live presence and in the studio its always been Dexter and Noodles.