Sevendust Guitarist: Our Past Confederate Imagery Usage Was Wrong

Sevendust's Clint Lowery has clarified the band's past usage of Confederate imagery, stating he's learned and grown from those times and, looking back, it was "not cool" of him.

The use of Confederate imagery has been prevalent in rock and metal for decades. More recently, the iconography behind the losers of the Civil War has sparked furious debate over its overtly racist background, calling into question artists who adopted its use at various points in their careers.

As a guest on the Talk Toomey podcast, Lowery explained how the Confederate imagery with Sevendust came into play, acknowledging it was done for the wrong reasons while also urging the importance of self-education and using mistakes and ignorances as an opportunity for growth and understanding.

The guitarist, who also recently dropped a surprise acoustic EP, Grief and Distance, confessed, "Our thing was funny, because we were doing it as a spoof. We were trying to kinda use it in this cynical way, so it's gonna [be] completely misunderstood now. We were using it in a smart-ass way… It's confusing."

He didn't defend Sevendust's past actions though and, instead, turned his attention toward personal growth.

"We're all being educated — everyone's being educated," Lowery went on, explaining. "Things we thought were cool before aren't cool anymore, and I understand why they're not cool anymore. And it's, like, okay, yeah, I didn't know enough about what the situation was to even have a… It was just ignorance. You do things as a younger person — you're, like, 'Oh yeah, this is cool. This is against the grain' — and you realize the sensitivities; you learn about it. And that's what I think that I'm trying to do — is, like, okay, that wasn't cool. That wasn't a decision that was something I'm very proud of."

The Sevendust six-stringer offered an example of how he currently leads his life, stating, "You live and learn, you admit when you do wrong and you change. And that's what everyone needs to do. I can't control anybody. I just do what I do, try to be as open and loving as I can. And that's it."

Further detailing how he hopes to leave a better mark for the future, Lowery said his aim is to educate his children and demonstrate to them how to love people of every background.

Understanding the world is not a place strictly of ideals, the guitarist added, "But then I'm also gonna teach 'em to defend themselves — that people in general can be good; people in general can be bad. But for the most part, you treat people with kindness and respect. And if anything changes — someone's coming at you, verbally or physically — you defend yourself. 'Cause that's gonna happen too. But I really just wanna show them love, and I love that they have compassion in their hearts at a very young age. My proudest moment will be sending two people out in this world that have a good heart. That's really all I want."