Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe has had quite an interesting summer. He spent 37 days locked up in a Czech prison, being detained and soon charged with manslaughter over an incident at a 2010 show where a fan jumped off stage and suffered injuries leading to his eventual death. Blythe was being blamed for pushing the kid.
After being released on August 3rd, the Lamb of God frontman kept a relatively low profile, until this past Friday when two big interviews with the singer were posted.
First, Randy spoke to MTVnews.com about the situation. He once again reiterated that he will absolutely go back to the Czech Republic if called to do so, and voiced some displeasure with the US government:
"It could become very easy for me to become aggravated over the fact that my bail was appealed twice, and that the prosecuting attorney was really just spinning the wheels of the system in order to keep me incarcerated … you know, 'This isn't right and that's not how we do it in America' … Well guess what? I wasn't in America," he said. "Their system is different; I think it's archaic, but I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of our legal system, much less the Czech legal system.
"I certainly think the prosecuting attorney is going to come at me with everything he has … due to the fact that the American government did not comply with their requests. Initially, after this young man died, they wrote a letter saying 'We want to investigate this,' and the American government said, 'No.' " he continued. "So I think that's one reason why I remained in prison, because the prosecuting attorney was very angry with the American government. I'm not too pleased with our justice department either, because, if they don't want to comply with an investigation, OK. But have the common courtesy and do your job to safeguard your citizens by at least maybe popping me an email saying 'Hey, you're wanted for manslaughter in the Czech Republic.' "
Randy also answered some questions from Rolling Stone magazine discussing what the average day in prison was like, as well as his final moments before boarding a plane back home to the States:
What was a typical day like in Pankrác Prison?
Except for Saturday or Sunday, when you get to sleep in until 7, I'd wake up at 6 o'clock, make my bed, brush my teeth, drop and do some push-ups, meditate some and then talk with my cell mates until breakfast arrived. Ate some breakfast, which is just bread and some sort of meat spread or cheese. One time they had this cheese from Moravia, and it smelled like the bottom of a dumpster in an alleyway on a hot August day.I'd divide my day into serious reading and writing, and relaxing reading. After breakfast I would start serious reading. At 10:30, they would bring us hot water for instant coffee, then read until lunch. Lunch is the big meal of the day in the Czech prison – it was always soup accompanied by stew. Not exactly the finest of cuisines, but it will keep you alive.
I'd work out with my cellmates after lunch – push-ups, knee bends, and we lifted our metal stools as dumbbells. Probably around 1 o'clock, we'd go outside to walk in the yard, and I would talk to whoever was there that spoke a smattering of English. We'd come back, and for about an hour, I would teach my roommates English – I had two Mongolian cellmates. It's really hard to be in prison and not be able to talk to anyone.
Then we'd have more hot water for coffee, and then I'd write. I wrote from about 2:30 until dinner – letters, poetry, lyrics for songs. I wrote a song for my friend Hank Williams III – I've been wanting to write a song for him for years, and what better place to do it than prison? I started the outline of a novel set in Pankrác, and a journal, because I'm sure there's going to be some sort of book out of this experience.
Then dinner would come, and that was a single bowl of some sort of stew. I got really sick of stew by the end of it. Then after dinner, I would write some more. Lights were out at 9, so by 8 o'clock, I tried to stop writing and reading serious stuff and let the brain take a break and read something light. At 9 o'clock, lights out.
I'd lay in my bed, and people around me in the cells would start yelling across the yard. There was a couple of Vietnamese guys who loved to yell, and some Ukranian guys. And they would yell back and forth for about an hour. When I was arrested, luckily I had some earplugs, so I shoved them in every night. Then I'd blow my wife a kiss goodnight into the air and listen to the Ukranians and the Vietnamese yell.
I understand it was touch-and-go when you finally got released.
I remember sitting at the gate and really sweating it pretty hard, until the plane was in the air. I left the country entirely legally – I had my passport – but I was kind of fleeing the country at the same time. Because if the prosecutor had found out that I was out and had time, he could have requested my incarceration on some different grounds. I just sat at the terminal and was texting my friend, London May, from Samhain, and was just like, "Keep your fingers crossed – I'm leaving!" And [then] I was in the air.
Blythe is glad to be home and will return to the stage this weekend as a part of Knotfest. Read all of our previous coverage of this story here.
