Neck Deep Post Statement About Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Following allegations that were made yesterday (Aug. 22) against several members of Neck Deep, the band has now issued a formal statement about the situation. In the letter, the United Kingdom-based band revealed that they are taking the accusations against guitarist Lloyd Roberts and bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans very seriously and are in the middle of trying to secure all the evidence against them since it is a situation that should be “approached with the utmost regard for all parties.”

In addition to that, they also confirmed that Roberts has decided that it is in the best interest of the band, as well as himself, to step down from the lineup to focus on “on his family, as he does not feel comfortable having his reputation, or that of the band sullied further by these accusations.” While there has been a lot of talk about what exactly Roberts is being accused of, it appears that he and Thorpe-Evans are accused of misconduct with underage girls.

One alleged victim took to her Tumblr account to share her story, with screenshots. She alleges that even though she’s currently 17 years old, all the sexual misconduct including Roberts sending her nude photographs, was done when she was 15. When the allegations first surfaced, Roberts took to Twitter to post a statement which read: “If any one thinks I’ve done something wrong, please tell the police. I’ll be more than happy to help.” He later followed it up with the message: “My previous statement still stands, until the point I hear otherwise I’m going to carry on with my life. Outside the internet.” After that message was posted, Roberts’ full Twitter profile was removed from the social media website.

Read the band’s statement below.

Statement from ND, August 23rd, 2015.

Yesterday, there were some allegations aimed towards our band. We feel that these situations should always be approached with the utmost regard for all parties, so we thank you for your patience whilst we have dealt with this matter internally.

Whilst the full facts of the matter at hand are still unclear, our guitarist Lloyd Roberts has decided to step down from Neck Deep to focus on his family, as he does not feel comfortable having his reputation, or that of the band sullied further by these accusations.

We sincerely apologise to anyone who has been caused distress or been affected by any of these events. As a band, we absolutely treasure our fans, we would not be anywhere without them, and we would never want them to feel disrespected or taken advantage of.

We would, however, like to ask you all to help be part of the solution, to not take part in posting rumours and gossip on the Internet in the absence of clear facts. We also ask that you please refrain from attacking the people making these statements via social media – we do not want anyone to feel victimised in any way.

Further, we cannot emphasise enough that serious allegations of this kind should ALWAYS be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities, and we urge anyone genuinely affected to use those official channels.

All shows will go ahead as planned, and we thank you all for your continued support and belief in Neck Deep.

Evanescene Announce Shift in Line-Up

Now that Evanescence has returned from their long break, the band has revealed some big news having to do with a shift in their line-up.

Earlier in the day (Aug. 7), the Arkansas-based band took to Facebook to break the news that longtime guitarist, Terry Balsamo, was no longer a part of the band. Though they did not elaborate on why Balsamo departed the group, they did “wish [Terry] all the happiness, health, and love in the world!”

With the departure of Balsamo, the band also revealed that they had already chosen someone to fill in the vacancy. Traveling all the way to South Germany, the group found Jen Majura, a singer/guitarist who they claim was the band’s “missing piece.” Majura, according to the letter, “plays like a supervillan, sings like an angel, and laughs like a great friend.”

Check out the complete letter from Facebook below.

“We have big news to share.

After 2 albums, countless adventures around the world and on the stage, Terry’s time with Evanescence has come to an end. As difficult as that is, we stand unified knowing it’s the right thing for all of us. We will ALWAYS love you, Terry, and wish you all the happiness, health, and love in the world!

Now for the exciting part of this announcement: Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jen Majura.

After scouring the globe, I found Evanescence’s missing piece in South Germany. She plays like a supervillan, sings like an angel, and laughs like a great friend. We spent a few days together last week in New York sharing eerily familiar life stories, sushi, artistic inspiration, other people’s shoes, and SO many laughs! (Yeah, okay, and maybe there were a couple of stiff drinks mixed in there)

We are all so excited to play together this fall and bring the show to a whole new level. CAN’T WAIT! I know you will show her all the love and respect a strong, talented woman deserves. I couldn’t be happier to welcome our new sister to the band.

P.S. This is the time to be shouting out setlist requests, we’re working on it now  Anything is possible! So bring it!!!”

Evanescence is set to perform three United States show this Fall before their huge “welcome back” gig at Japan’s Ozzfest on Nov. 21.

Panic! at the Disco Frontman Breaks Silence About Drummer’s Departure

It’s been a couple of weeks since Panic! at the Disco fans were given the sad news that original drummer Spencer Smith had extended his leave from the band, indefinitely.

Since Smith’s official announcement on the band’s website, remaining original member and lead singer Brendon Urie had been quiet about the departure, but as it turns out, the leave did not come as a surprise to him.

Speaking to Billboard recently, Urie finally broke his silence about Smith’s departure which according to the interview, he know shortly before it went public.

“[The decision] didn’t take me by surprise,” admits Urie.

“It wasn’t talked about a lot. We had minimal conversations about what he wanted to do. Any time we’d hang out we were just hanging out as friends. There was never any business or band meeting. We still hang out all the time. It’s nice to have a friend instead of worrying about band and business stuff. I knew shortly before [the announcement]. We had a few discussions and he told me what he wanted to do and I backed that 100 percent. Obviously I’m going to miss him in the band, but I’m proud of him. I love him to death.”

Even with Smith’s departure, it doesn’t sound like Urie and the rest of Panic! will be stopping anytime soon especially on the new music front.

“I’ve really never stopped writing. I’m picking through demos that I’d been working on for the last couple of years,” he said.

“Every day I’m writing something. I write an idea a day. Even if it’s 10 seconds of a melody or a lyric. I love it too much to not work. It would drive me crazy to not do anything.”

When asked what are the chances new Panic! music will be heading our way in the near future, he responded with “If I had to guess, I’d say this year.”

You’ve got about eight months to make that happen, Brendon.

Spencer Smith Officially Leaves Panic! at the Disco

For anyone who has been to a Panic! at the Disco show over the past two years, they would instantly notice that a key and original member of the band was no longer sitting at the drums, but now, that absence has become permanent.

Today, now former-Panic! drummer Spencer Smith took to the band’s website to reveal that he has officially left the band. In a lengthy post, Smith writes to fans how grateful he was to be in the band, to be with his “family” and all the things that came with it, but felt it was the right time to leave especially since he is still recovering from the addictions that had plagued him.

Back in 2013, the band had unveiled that Smith had been battling alcohol and prescription drug addiction and would be missing their arena tour for their latest release, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die. In the post, he writes that he has now been “two years sober from prescription medication” and is now “working on a year sobriety from alcohol.”

Read a small portion of the post below or click the link under to read the full letter.

A MESSAGE FROM SPENCER…

To our fans…After 10 years of being a part of this unbelievable journey it saddens me to say that I will be leaving Panic. This was not an easy decision to come to, but after a lot of thinking it became clear that this is what’s right for me and the band. I love this band with all my heart, and getting to see it grow from 4 kids in my parents garage to what it is now has been incredible. I loved it all. But, at a certain point, I realized that I wasn’t able to be there for the band the way I wanted to be, and more importantly, the way they needed me to be. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been surrounded by the people I have been all these years.

To read more click here.

The Devil Wears Prada Guitarist Leaves Band

A couple of hours after announcing they had officially resigned with Rise Records for the release of their upcoming new EP, The Devil Wears Prada had the sad task of informing fans that they were down a member.

Taking to Facebook, frontman Mike Hranica revealed that founding member and guitarist Chris Rubey had decided to leave the band.

In the post, he writes that Rubey’s decision to leave the band had been made back in October after they concluded their Mexican tour dates. Rubey explained that he wanted to spend more time with his wife and daughter as opposed to constantly being on the road; a very understandable reason.

Unlike the departure of many founding members, Hrancia reveals that Rubey’s exit “couldn’t be more amicable” and that they already had asked a friend of theirs to fill in his vacancy during the “Zombie 5 Tour” which kicked off this past weekend.

Read the full statement below and keep an eye out for the release date of Space.

The Used Guitarist to Take Year-Long Break

The Used have just revealed that one of their member will be leaving the band. But before everyone gets up in arms about it, said member will just be leaving the band for a year.

The Utah-based band took to Facebook a little while ago to post a statement that founding member and guitarist, Quinn Allman will be taking a temporary, year-long break from the band.

Though the statement the band released about Allman’s temporary departure does not explain exactly why he had chosen to leave, though they do write something about “upcoming endeavors,” but they do reassure fans that everything is O.K. and that Saosin’s Justin Shekoski will be filling in for Allman during his absence.

Read the band’s full statement below:

The Used will be heading out on a headlining tour with Every Time I Die, Marmozets, and the Eeries beginning on April 3 at the House of Blues in San Diego and wrapping up on May 2 at the House of Blues in Cleveland.

Tom DeGone: Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker Speak Out

Guess Blink-182 aren’t staying together for the kids.

After all the drama that unfolded yesterday afternoon between the band members, we thought the inner band turmoil had reached an all time high and it couldn’t get any worse. Turned out, it could.

Late last night, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker responded to Tom DeLonge’s claim that he “didn’t quit” the band in a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, they unveiled that DeLonge’s claim that he didn’t leave the band was all a ruse.

In actuality, DeLonge didn’t quit the band; his manager did the quitting for him via and email.

A lot of information was revealed in the interview including Barker and Hoppus questioning the reason behind the band getting back together after Barker’s plane crash.

“When we did get back together after my plane crash, we only got back together, I don’t know, maybe because I almost died,” Barker admits to the publication.

“But he didn’t even listen to the mixes or masterings from that record. He didn’t even care about it. Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable.”

They also reveal that they did everything that they could to keep DeLonge happy just so they could go forward with the new record that should have been recorded two years ago.

Apparently, everything appeared to be going as planned in December, but then, out of the blue, DeLonge’s manager sent the band an email telling them that DeLonge has no desire to work on the new Blink album, and better yet, not be involved in any Blink-related engagements.

The final email that did it in for them, according to Hoppus, was one that simply read “Tom. Is. Out.” an exact replica of the one sent before the band had gone on hiatus in 2004.

Barker, who is not one to mince words, called DeLonge, calling him disrespectful and ungrateful after all the hard work the people in their camp did in order to meet his demands including getting a record label to released the new material. (Apparently DeLonge did not want to foot the bill and use his label.)

“So everyone does hella amounts of work to get a record deal and now Tom isn’t part of Blink-182. It’s hard to cover for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful. You don’t even have the balls to call your bandmates and tell them you’re not going to record or do anything Blink-related.”

At the end of it all, Hoppus and Barker say that their goal is “protecting the legacy of Blink-182.”

Maybe the best way to protect the band’s legacy is to simply put it to rest and let the fans remember them as the quirky, funny guys who would run around naked in their music videos instead of his hot mess of drama behind the scenes.

Major He Said/He Said Going on In the Blink-182 Camp

We all know that blink-182 and its members have their issues, but for once we though that all the drama had been put behind them so that they could work on a new album, peacefully.

So much for that.

Earlier in the day, it was revealed that blink-182 would be performing at the 8th Annual Musink Festival in California; a big deal for drummer Travis Barker who would be curating the artists for the second year. When the official flyer was revealed, fans were quick to notice that blink-182 were listed, but right under their band name it said “with Matt Skiba.” (Matt Skiba is the vocalist/guitarist for Alkaline Trio.)

Almost as quick as that flyer was posted, fans began to speculate that frontman Tom DeLonge had once again left the band and the band would soon after confirm that with a long statement in which they reveal that DeLonge’s manger contacted them claiming that DeLonge no longer wanted to participate in any blink endeavors, including a new album and this festival.

Check out the “alleged” statement from the band.

“Matt Skiba of the Alkaline Trio will join Blink-182 in replacement of Tom DeLonge at the 8th annual Music and Tattoo festival.  

“We were all set to play this festival and record a new album and Tom kept putting it off without reason. A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email from his manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavors.”

Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus plan to honor all Blink-182 commitments including the Musink Festival and are excited to have singer/guitarist Matt Skiba join them for this project.  

“No hard feelings, but the show must go on for our fans.”

Additionally, Skiba will continue to make new music and tour with the Alkaline Trio.”

But now that this has hit the web, DeLonge has gone ahead and rebutted the statement from the band claiming that he had quit the band.

He reveals that he was actually in the middle of a phone conference about a blink show in New York when the news started to pour in that he reportedly left the band. He went directly to Instagram and posted his own statement, which can be read below, about this.

“To all the fans, I never quit the band. I actually was on a phone call about a blink 182 event for New York City at the time all these weird press releases started coming in… Apparently those releases were ‘sanctioned’ from the band. Are we dysfunctional- yes. But, Christ….. #Awkward #BabyBackRibs”

Now, we will admit that each member of the band has their own faults, especially DeLonge, but if they continue to go this way, we’re pretty sure this new album they’ve been trying to work on for months is never going to get done and an inevitable split is on the horizon.

And no, we don’t mean split like “we’ll be going on a hiatus; we’ll be back in ten years.”

Asking Alexandria Issue Statement About Frontman’s Departure

Several hours after former Asking Alexandria frontman Danny Worsnop announced he had left the band he fronted since 2008, the rest of the band members, more specifically guitarist and founding member Ben Bruce has spoken out about Worsnop’s departure, reassuring fans that this is just a new chapter for them.

In a long post on Facebook, he reassured fans, like Worsnop, that the band will continue with a brand new lead singer who will be fronting the band during their time on this year’s Vans Warped Tour during the Summer.

Instead of pointing out to everything Bruce said in the post, it might be better to read the entire thing below.

“It’s with heavy heart that I must announce, yet I am sure comes as no surprise to you all, that Danny has decided to leave Asking Alexandria to pursue other musical interests.

Before you lose your composure and think this is the end I would like to say that myself, James, Cam and Sam have all been in this since day one.

We love Asking Alexandria and we love every single fan/AAFamily member around the world. As with any family there are ups and downs. There are good times and hard times. A family is there to support you and help you in your darkest hours. We have been and always will be there for you guys and just this once we ask for you guys to help us out. Be our strength and our shoulder to lean on.

Asking Alexandria will not be slowing down. We are going to tour harder than ever and we are going to write the greatest record of our career.

We are extremely excited to announce that we will be spending all summer touring the European festival circuit and across North America on the Vans Warped tour with our new singer, playing a set list FOR THE FANS. We know you are here for us and we know this might seem like a scary time for us all, but we will be fine.

We will stand tall and prove to the world that Asking Alexandria is bigger than just one person. It’s bigger than just myself, James, Cam and Sam. Asking Alexandria is a family made up of the most dedicated fans around the globe and nothing and no one can hold us down. This isn’t the end, this is the start of a whole new chapter.

This is where we come together and make history. We want to thank the key people who have stood by us: Ash Avildsen and Sumerian Records, Kevin Lyman and Warped Tour, our management team Kyle, Diony and everyone at 5B, and most importantly YOU reading this.

Yes you, because without you, Asking Alexandria would not be possible. I cannot wait to share our new songs with you and I’m so SO excited to get back on the road and see you all again. Stay tuned to find out who the new singer of AA is.

Take care of yourselves, stay positive and we will see you all very soon. 

Ben”

In other news, someone had started a petition on Change.Org to have Riff Raff become the new frontman for Asking Alexandria. We are not even sure if this was intended as a joke or if Riff Raff started it to legitimately be considered to front the metalcore band, after all the rapper is going to be on this year’s Warped Tour alongside the group.

Asking Alexandria Lose Significant Member

Asking Alexandria fans were given some serious news last night when frontman Danny Worsnop announced he had officially left the band.

The frontman, who has fronted the band since its reformation in 2008, revealed the news on Twitter (via Twitlonger).

In the message, he explains that he and the band had moved in different directions with the best decision for the band being his departure.

He does reassure fans that Asking Alexandria will continue touring as well as continue working on a new record.
Funny enough, Worsnop’s side band (now new band, we assume) We Are Harlot will release their self-titled, debut album on March 21 through Roadrunner Records.

Check out the full message below.

“To all of my friends and fans:

I would like to let you know that Asking Alexandria and I are moving forward in separate ways. Over the last eight years together we’ve done some amazing things and created something truly special. I now, same as then, want what’s best for the band and at this point in time, that isn’t me. Asking Alexandria will continue to tour throughout the year and will be working on a new album. I will always support and love Asking Alexandria and cannot wait to see what the future holds for them. I am excited for the next chapter of my life with We Are Harlot and will see you all on the road!”