All Time Low to take “a bit of a break” in 2019

Is All Time Low going on a slight hiatus in the new year? If fans are to believe what frontman Alex Gaskarth said in a recent interview, then it looks very likely. On Friday (Jan. 4), British music publication Kerrang! posted an interview with Gaskarth. During the chat, the magazine and the musician touched on a lot of topics including the band taking a break after touring nonstop throughout the last two years.

“We’re taking a bit for a break. For the last couple of records, we’ve done two-year-long cycles. With Last Young Renegade, it was winding down in the first half of 2018, but then we decided to put out ‘Birthday’ and ‘Everything is Fine,’ which revitalized that campaign and led to more dates on the calendar. That meant another six months was tacked on to what had already been a full album cycle,” he tells Kerrang!

“For us, it feels too soon to be properly thinking about the next record – I need to sleep for at least a fortnight straight! We need to figure out what’s next and what All Time Low should be doing going forward.”

For the four-piece, it does make senses to take a break to revitalize their musical juices. Their last studio album, 2017’s Last Young Renegade, sounded a lot more mature, but earned mixed reviews from their fan base. As for surprise singles “Birthday” and “Everything is Fine,” the two tracks found the band returning to their pop-punk roots, though not entirely.

But, if you were expecting for all four member to go into hibernation for an extended period of time, then you would be wrong. According to Gaskarth, he is interested in working with other musicians especially in the songwriting department during the break.

“I definitely won’t be stepping back from music, that’s for sure,” he shared with the magazine. “I’m looking to do more outside writing for other bands. I’ve been passionate about that for years now, but with All Time Low being what it is, it’s hard to find the time I need to dedicate to it. I’ll be making myself available in 2019 to anyone who wants to write with me, so people should definitely keep an eye out for what I’m up to. There’ll be stuff going on.”

Before taking their well-deserved snooze, the Baltimore-founded band does have one last engagement on their agenda. Back in October, All Time Low was one of eight bands confirmed for this year’s Slam Dunk Festival. The previously announced roster will also include appearances by NOFX, New Found Glory, Waterparks, Story of The Year, Bullet for My Valentine, Saves the Day, and more.

The weekend-long music festival will take place on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26. The first day of the festival will take place at its new Leeds home of Temple Newsam Park while the second day will place at Hatfield Park in Hertfordshire.

The Killers bassist to take a break from touring

The Killers’ summer plans may include a handful of summer music festivals, but don’t expect to see the full lineup at all those dates. On Tuesday (May 24), the band released a statement announcing that longtime bassist Mark Stoermer would no longer be joining the group on tour. While at first it sounds like Stoermer had left the Las Vegas four-piece, the group has reassured fans that it’s not a departure, but more of a hiatus.

In the press release the group sent exclusively to Alternative Nation, they explain that Stoermer is still very much involved with the band’s still-in-the-works fifth studio album. In addition to that they tease that fans shouldn’t be “surprised if you see him on stage from time to time.” Read the band’s statement below.

“Mark has decided to take a break from The Killers touring—but don’t be surprised if you see him on stage from time to time. Everyone supports Mark’s decision to take a break to pursue other educational goals and releasing a solo album. The four of us continue to work on our fifth studio album together, and we’re all excited about the new songs we’re writing. More to come…”

A few publications like NME and GigWise are speculating that American singer-songwriter Jake Blanton may replace Stoermer on tour. Blanton previously filled in for the bassist back in 2013 when Stoermer was unable to play the shows in the far east.

The Gaslight Anthem Announce Hiatus

Sad news for fans of New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem; the band has decided to go on hiatus.

Taking to social media, the band urged fans to read a message they had posted on their official Facebook page without actually revealing the news.

In the message, they announced that they had decided it was in the best interest of the group to take a break from it all. The hiatus will officially begin once they wrap up their European tour dates in August. In a nod to “going out on top,” the band’s last day will be Aug. 30 when they take the stage at Reading and Leeds.

But for those who think the band might put music behind them, don’t worry. In the letter, they confirm that all members will be active in one way or another on different projects.

Read the complete message from them below.

“Hello All!

We wanted to let everyone know that we’ll all be taking a break from The Gaslight Anthem after this next European tour in August. We’re all going to do other projects and stay active in some way or another, both in and out of music, but we’d like to step away from the band until we decide what we’d like to do next.

We’d like to recharge and take a step back until we have something we feel excited about rather than going right back to making a record just for the sake of making the next record. We all feel this is the best decision we can make and it feels like the right one for us.

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our band for the last eight years and we’ll see you down the road!

With love and respect,

Brian, Benny, Alex and Alex.”

The Gaslight Anthem have had a busy year, touring in support of their latest album, Get Hurt, which was released last August.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs On ‘a Bit of a Hiatus’

Karen O. officially released her solo album a few months ago, but for fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, she has some bad news for them; there’s currently no new music on the horizon.

During an interview with NME, the songstress revealed that the group are currently on “a bit of a hiatus.” When O. announced plans to release a solo album, understandably, fans began to panic that it would be the end of the “Heads Will Roll” trio.

But, O.’s solo record isn’t the reason that the band have decided to go into hibernation for a while; it seems that the inspiration bug just hasn’t bitten them in a while.

“We have to wait to get the urge, get that itch,” she said.

“The time needs to be right and we’re OK waiting for that, I think.”

Some speculation arose that the reason a new album was not in the cards for the near future might have been attributed to their last album, 2013’s Mosquito getting a lukewarm reception when it was released, but O. makes sure to nip that in the bud by defending last year’s release.

“All you can do is try to make albums you can stand by and be proud of, that are a snapshot of where you were at the time. It won’t stop us, nothing like that.”

O.’s seems to be OK with the hiatus and even reassured fans that the break will not affect the band.

“It’ll be like muscle memory,” she said. “This unspoken thing between the three of us where it all just…locks in.”

See, it’ll be like nothing changed.

Lamb of God to Take a Break

Last year wasn’t exactly a very good year for Lamb of God especially when frontman Randy Blythe was being accused of contributing to the death of a fan during a show. The court case went away when it was proven that Blythe had nothing to do with it and the band went on to continue touring.

Now, after weeks of speculation among fans in the metal world, Blythe has come out and confirmed that the band will in fact be taking a break after the end of their current tour which ended a few days ago.

Blythe released a lengthy letter to fans on Instagram alongside a photo from their recent show in Johannesburg, South Africa. The letter reflects on Blythe’s journey and his plans for the future.

View this post on Instagram

And so another album cycle comes to an end. This has been a very eventful, at times VERY STRESSFUL, album cycle, & it's been about three years since we started on this one in our practice space- I need a break. Tomorrow is a 19 hour flight back to the USA, & then another one home to RVA, & except for two festival shows in 2014, I will not be thinking about lamb of god, touring, playing heavy metal, writing new lamb of god material- NONE OF THAT STUFF- AT ALL- for a good long while. Time to do other things for a bit, & let my brain regroup, & be a somewhat normal human being. This has been a pretty wild ride though, & to end it in AFRICA of all places still amazes the crap outta me. So thanks Johannesburg for an awesome end to the Resolution tour cycle, & to all you other bands, hear this: the game has been stepped up, & the ante has risen. You are not a REAL G until you come to South Africa & your fans throw one of THESE to you on stage- a warthog skull. Takes the cake for the strangest thing throw at me on stage ever, & I've had some weird shit thrown at me- I named him Jeff. Jeff, the South African warthog. Top that, y'all. Don't front like your ballin' if you ain't rockin' that wart hog shizzy. I figured I'd finish up the cycle with a nice self-portrait. Me & Jeff are outty. Peace, & one love.

A post shared by D. Randall Blythe (@drandallblythe) on Jan 25, 2014 at 6:01pm PST

“And so another album cycle comes to an end. This has been a very eventful, at times VERY STRESSFUL, album cycle, & it’s been about three years since we started on this one in our practice space- I need a break.

Tomorrow is a 19 hour flight back to the USA, & then another one home to RVA, & except for two festival shows in 2014, I will not be thinking about lamb of god, touring, playing heavy metal, writing new lamb of god material- NONE OF THAT STUFF- AT ALL- for a good long while.

Time to do other things for a bit, & let my brain regroup, & be a somewhat normal human being. This has been a pretty wild ride though, & to end it in AFRICA of all places still amazes the crap outta me. So thanks Johannesburg for an awesome end to the Resolution tour cycle, & to all you other bands, hear this: the game has been stepped up, & the ante has risen. You are not a REAL G until you come to South Africa & your fans throw one of THESE to you on stage- a warthog skull.

Takes the cake for the strangest thing throw at me on stage ever, & I’ve had some weird shit thrown at me- I named him Jeff. Jeff, the South African warthog. Top that, y’all. Don’t front like your ballin’ if you ain’t rockin’ that wart hog shizzy. I figured I’d finish up the cycle with a nice self-portrait. Me & Jeff are outty.

Peace, & one love.”

For a band that started in 1990 and to still be going and having the amount of fans that they do is an incredible thing. Nowhere in the letter does it say that Lamb of God are no more, so if you’re a fan and are sad over the hiatus news, it’s not the end.

Mumford and Sons to Take a Long Awaited Break

Sad news for the indie world concerning one of their favorite bands calling it a day.

This weekend, Mumford & Sons revealed that they will be taking “a considerable amount of time off” once they wrapped up their current Babel tour this past Friday, September 20..

The news came out when keyboardist, Ben Lovett, told Rolling Stone that “there won’t be any Mumford & Sons activities for the foreseeable future following Friday’s show.”

But not being able to leave well enough alone, the magazine grilled the keyboard player about what he exactly meant by that statement and how long exactly the band will be taking off in the meantime.

He went on to explain, “we have no idea. We just know we’re going to take a considerable amount of time off and just go back to hanging out and having no commitments or pressure or anything like that. It feels like the last week of school right now, before school holiday when you’re in high school. The atmosphere on the road is one of… I think everyone’s excited about being free of schedules.”

The band released their debut album, Sigh No More back in 2009 and went on to released the hit Babel last year which launched them into mainstream success, sold out tours and several awards. The band though, have been touring non-stop since 2009 in support on both album.

Showing how much they love their fans, it pained them to have to cancel tour dates back in June when bassist, Ted Dwane, had to undergo emergency brain surgery to get rid of a blood clot on his brain.  Right after Dwane was given the okay from the doctors, they were back on stage for Glastonbury.

“We’re just going to rest up. I don’t think we’ve had actually much time in the process to be with other people and living a life outside of the band. I think that’s what’s in place at the moment, to do very little – especially when it comes to Mumford & Sons,” Lovett said about what is in the future for the band as they rest up.

Richie Sambora to Sit Out the Rest of the Bon Jovi Tour

Richie Sambora will not be joining Bon Jovi for the rest of their “Because We Can” tour which is currently on the road. The band’s website vaguely cites “personal issues” as the reason behind why the famed guitarist would be sitting out the tour. While he will be missing, the band will continued with their tour, but that’s all the information that had been given about the sudden departure from the tour.

Speculation have already started that the “personal issue” could have something to do with Sambora’s past substance abuse; he had been sent to rehab several times to kick the habit. TMZ is reporting that an inside source close to the band revealed that the real reason Sambora is bailing on the tour is because of a feud between him and frontman, Jon Bon Jovi.

The source claims that Bon Jovi belittles Sambora and that they are arguing over money. There has been so legitmatie statement made about what the “personal issue” is, but Bon Jovi was quoted as saying yesterday, “I had two choices: pack up and go home or give you everything I got … Richie Sambora won’t be performing for a while. If there’s ever a night I need you, it’s tonight, Calgary!”

Just yesterday, Sambora had tweeted that he was watching cover videos that fans made of his solo track, “Every Road Leads Home To You.”

The “Because We Can” Tour is currently schedule to continue its stops all the way through to April 25 where it will wrap up in San Jose, California.