It’s official – Wolfmother split

The official site just sent this statement. No comment from me for now.

Grammy Award winning rock band Wolfmother has announced the resignation of bass/keyboard player Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett effective immediately.

Singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale now plans to find other musicians over coming months and to then begin making a new Wolfmother album.

Wolfmother toured the world virtually non-stop through 2006 and early 2007 on the back of their acclaimed self titled debut album. Longstanding frictions within the group then lead them to take an extended break during the second half of 2007 to consider their future.

In early 2008 they regrouped and worked on new material. Initially encouraged by those sessions, they committed to a handful of live shows to ‘road test’ the new songs and to try to find a way forward.

Those dates concluded with a headlining slot last Sunday at the Splendour In The Grass Festival in Australia’s Byron Bay where rumours circulated about possible lineup changes.

Following that show Chris Ross decided to announce that he was leaving the band due to irreconcilable personal and musical differences. Myles Heskett has also decided to leave the band rather than continuing as part of a changed lineup. The pair has been working together on songs for some time and they plan to focus their energies on that new project in the future.

Wolfmother’s self titled debut album is one of the most successful Australian rock releases this century. It has sold over 1.3 million copies and received multiple ARIA Awards and a Grammy – making them the first Aussie band to receive such an award in 25 years. Other highlights for the group have included appearances at just about every major music festival in the world, sharing stages with Pearl Jam, The Who and The Strokes, and a special performance inducting the legendary Led Zeppelin into the UK’s Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame.

Andrew Stockdale, Myles Heskett and Chris Ross will make no public statements at this time except to say that they are each really looking forward to making their new music over the years ahead.

In the meantime they simply ask all Wolfmother fans to please understand that in spite of their best efforts over a long period of time, they just could not find a harmonious way to work together and that has lead to the decisions announced today.

More ‘break up’ coverage & rumours

Updated: Blimey, the news is being covered all over the place now – NME, Daily Telegraph (Australia), Gigwise and more. Links at the bottom of the article.

Apparently this rumour, whether it was just Triple J’s speculation or not, is gathering legs across Australia and the world. Here are a a couple of other sites covering the news:

Firstly we have Channel V, that also discusses other rumours ‘doung the rounds’, including:

• Andrew Stockdale has been squirrelled away in a studio for months, engineer on standby just in case he comes up with a moment of genius
• The rift started because Andrew only wanted to create ‘long-winded Floyd-style prog-rock epics’, whereas Chris and Myles are keen to maintain the rocking style they have had to date.
• Chris is the driver of the rumoured line up change as he wants to concentrate on raising his young family.

Channel V
Wolfmother, the rocking Sydney-based band that were signed after only a handful of shows together could be poised to morph into a different beast altogether, if the rumours that gathered steam after the band’s Splendour In The Grass show are to be believed.

Star Pulse also covers the story but takes it a bit far, stating ‘Heavy rockers Wolfmother have reportedly split after a bust-up between frontman Andrew Stockdale and fellow founding members Chris Ross and Myles Heskett’, then contradict themselves by quoting the band’s manager (who I quoted yesterday) who said:

StarPulse
Wolfmother’s manager John Watson has also failed to dispel rumours of a break-up, telling Australian website Undercover.com.au: “Unfortunately, I can’t make any comment other than to say that as soon as the band has clear future plans they will issue a statement and we hope to be able to do that in the next week or two.”

My opinion is this. It is clear there are some differences in the band. Andrew has some different ideas to M&C (or Mac & Cheese as one forum member quipped!) and they are working them out. To me this is probably not unusual for a band that is evolving and heading into their 5th year of existence. They are all creative fellas and hopefully they can work everything out.

The more worrying aspect for the band’s future (as it is) is Chris’ (understandable) desire to be with his family. That’s the thing for me from reading all of these rumours that could create a line up change. I guess that if Chris and Myles are particularly good buddies, Myles could go too – but I think a one member change is more likely, if any.

I guess we’ll have to wait for an official announcement, and keep those fingers crossed.

Coverage:
NME
DAily Telegraph
Gigwise
Herald Sun
Take40
Blabbermouth
Contact Music

Hopefully this will kick the management’s arse into getting that statement out.