You know how when all your friends are in relationships, sometimes it seems like there is one week where everybody breaks up? That's kinda what this week feels like but for bands. In the last few days, a bunch of dudes quit The Faceless. A few weeks ago, Veil of Maya lost their frontman.
Today, there are some lineup changes to discuss.
First, everybody's favorite band to hate, Attila, lost their guitarist. But it's actually for a noble reason, he doesn't want to enable a lifestyle that will lead to alcoholism and drug use. Gutiarist Nate Salameh posted this message:
"I'm making this post to inform everyone that the boys in Attila and I have decided to go our separate ways. I have no bad blood against the guys at all. It was apparent to the people who are close to me (including the guys in the band) that I wasn't happy. I couldn't keep lying to myself. It just took some recent events for me to realize it. I had recently decided to make a lifestyle change to clean myself of all drugs and alcohol and it is obvious that this was not the environment that I needed to be in to ensure that I live a clean, healthy and happy life.
"I'm blessed to have made so many friends and I am truly appreciative all the life lessons that the road has ttaught me. I wish the best for ATTILA in all future endeavors. This is not the end of the road for me. This past year I have found a new passion for recording so I will be perusing this strongly. I love all you and thank you."
Meanwhile, A Skylit Drive have similar problems to The Faceless, losing their rhythm section:
“A message for our fans and friends, from Brian and Cory: First and foremost, we want to express our gratitude towards our fans and friends who have believed in us enough to support the music we love to play. Whether you have been with us since the beginning of A Skylit Drive or have started listening recently, and regardless of how you showed your support (by coming to a concert, buying our CD or merchandise, or spreading the word about us)…thank you.
After careful consideration and having spent a significant amount of time making our decision, we will be parting ways with A Skylit Drive. The life-shaping experiences we have had as individuals, with our band mates/fellow touring bands and especially with our fans and friends is what makes our departure weigh so heavily on our hearts. While we arrived at our decision to leave A Skylit Drive separately, our reasons for doing so are very similar.
Unfortunately, the same passion for our band that once fueled our success has changed. How a person values their art and the creative process is their own right, but for the two of us it has gotten to the point that we do not want to lose our love of writing, playing and preforming music because our values and ideas are no longer aligned with others.When we started this band, we could have never imagined that our dreams to travel and perform on stages across the world would come true.
Thankful is an understatement for the way we feel about the opportunities we have been given to live our dream for the past eight years. That being said, we hope that you—our fans and friends— will continue to follow your dreams, whatever they may be. Do what makes you happy; otherwise there is no point in doing it at all. Music and performing will always be a part of us, and so we look forward to embracing new opportunities. We will not stop dreaming and we hope you will continue to dream with us.
With the sincerest love and gratitude, Brian White and Cory LaQuay“
Not to be outdone, the ENTIRE band Anti-Mortem decided it's time to throw in the towel:
“Corey Nevada Rado Levi and Zain.. Anti mortem had the greatest times. We all learned alot. We all gained a lot of life experience. Everyone in this band tried their very best. We all love music and we love all the fans we ever made. Thank you so so much for all the help to get us here. Please check out everyones personal artist pags, I promise you we are not done with music.
If you felt the fire of anti mortem you know it burned in all five of us and it always will, so please find it in your hearts to support and love Levi and zain‘s and vada and rado‘s new endeavor. We will be making music till the day we die. We love every single one of you. Thank you for the best ten years.”
We knew touring was rough but this is sort of crazy. Being in a band takes a lot of commitment, patience and the ability to eat a lot of shit as you go. Some people are just not cut out for it (myself included).