OUTBREAK haben folgendes Update veröffentlicht:
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Leaving Bridge 9, member changes, falling outs, new EP, eventual LP
The last year has been a really crazy time for me personally and for Outbreak. Anyone who's seen us over the last year has probably noticed we've had member changes and multiple fill ins. We've gone through some rough patches that I feel would be the end of most bands. I'll start by saying that it won't be the end for Outbreak.
June 9th marks the release date of our new single (vinyl and digital only) called "Work To Death". You can hear a song on our MySpace page. We've been working on a proper full length, but in the mean time wanted to get something out sooner, so we recorded a couple songs for my label (Think Fast! Records) to hold ourselves over.
Next week we enter The Outpost (Dropkick Murphys, American Nightmare, The Unseen, etc) with the infamous Jim Siegel to record our new full length album, which will be self titled. As of now, we do not have confirmation on the label who will be putting it out, but we decided we're recording anyway. No, it won't be out on Bridge 9. We fulfilled our contract with Bridge 9 after our last album, so we've been "shopping" for a couple months now. I think Chris Wrenn (Bridge 9 owner) is a good guy with good intentions and smart business sense, unfortunately I can't say the same for everyone else I've encountered at Bridge 9. I'll leave it at that. I don't know, I could talk a whole bunch of shit, but I guess that wouldn't be the "honorable" thing to do. I'm almost over it at this point though...being the nice guy usually means you're the first to get stepped on, period. And trust me, I'm not some idiot who expects the world out of a label for my small hardcore/punk band - I know what's realistic and what's not. We left Bridge 9 on bad terms and after having a lot of time to think over the whole situation, I regret nothing other than biting my tongue and being decent at a time when I wish I would've handled things differently. Live and learn. Anyway, at the end of the day, nothing has been more enticing than doing what many other bands are doing, and putting out our album ourselves. We haven't counted out the idea of signing to a label, but it seems like doing it on our own would be in our best interest. Either way, we're looking at a Fall release date, and heavy touring will take place from then on. In the mean time we're doing a quick West Coast tour with the Cro-Mags with a few headlining shows before, after, and in between. The last year has been a lot of fun, touring Japan for the second time, hitting Canada with Comeback Kid, Bane, Misery Signals (and then again in Europe), doing the East Coast with Agnostic Front and Smartbomb, England with Smartbomb, and even Groezrock and Bamboozle with Rise Against. But It's safe to say that the lifecycle of our last album (and even the more recent Split with Only Crime) has long been expired, and we're ready to get something new out there before we hit the road again.
A lot of people, friends, fans, strangers, press, have been asking "what happened with Cruel Hand?" For those of you who don't know, Outbreak and Cruel Hand previously shared members. To put it simply, most of those guys were no longer excited about Outbreak and clearly "over it". Cruel Hand was relatively new and unlike Outbreak, it was something that those guys (Nate and Chris) had started from scratch. Outbreak was old news to them. It wasn't too much of a surprise to me when they chose to pursue Cruel Hand full time. For over a year they juggled both bands, but schedules were starting to conflict and it was becoming a big headache for me, not to mention becoming a financial burden. It was obvious to me where everyone's priorities were when a recording session for Cruel Hand was chosen over an all expenses paid Japanese tour for Outbreak (the latter of which was confirmed first). That was the final straw for me.
Shortly after, Chris quit the band via e-mail. In my opinion, this had "broken the ice" and made it a safe move for others to speak out and put themselves in the open - and I respect Chris for that, even if it was through an e-mail. Given Chris leaving, and the scheduling conflicts, I called Nate and told him that I didn't think it was possible for both Outbreak and Cruel Hand to continue sharing members. He agreed, and as expected, chose to pursue Cruel Hand. Outbreak had tours confirmed and lined up in the months ahead, and I knew one way or another I wasn't bailing on what was already booked, I just wasn't sure if the band should continue after those tours. It was a pretty depressing time for me, but quickly became revitalizing after rehearsing with fill ins, friends, potential bandmates, etc. I knew it was a fresh start, and a huge weight off my back since Nate, Chris and I were having less and less in common as the years passed. I'm not saying we hated each other, because I don't think that was the case. I still looked out for those guys, whether they believe me or not. I made sure that Outbreak took them on tour, I mentioned them in every single Outbreak interview, and even individually I looked out for them - I was the one and only person to throw a punch when Chris was getting pummeled by a monster of a bouncer on one of our last tours together. I think it's just a matter of all of us growing up, getting into different things, having different outlooks and personalities. It's easy for me to say "those guys changed - I'm still the same dude!" which I do feel strongly about, but I'm sure they're thinking the same thing about themselves, so who really knows what happened. It's just interesting how you get involved with a band because you're good friends, and then by the end you can't stand each other...it's like becoming roommates in College with your best friend from High School haha, not always a happy ending. Or how about getting married as an example? That seems appropriate since most marriages end up in divorce. I can't remember who said it, but being in a band is like having 3-4 girlfriends all at once...not like Huge Hefner style either, but in a very bad way haha. Okay, enough examples, you get my point. After they left, there was a time when Nate and I pretty much told each other to fuck off, and that was that. It cooled down after some time went by, and the last time we saw each other we shook hands with a smile. My brother Tim (Outbreak's bassist) actually lives with those guys so I thought everything was fine, but I will admit that it's pretty disheartening to recently be in Europe and read shit talk in some random zine...makes me less apt to be "the better man" in press/interviews and more willing to say what's on my mind, even though I've brushed it off in the past because I felt like it was the honorable thing to do.
Outbreak's always been my baby, which is probably why I was too stubborn to throw in the towel when Nate and Chris bailed. I've been the only original member for several years now though, so it didn't make sense for me to give up - I'm not the type of guy who starts something and then gives up, and I wasn't/still am not finished with Outbreak. I am not taking away anything that Chris and Nate brought to the band throughout our Bridge 9 run, but shortly after they left, I knew that I had to continue on with the band, and I knew that I had the motivation to do so. Outbreak started without any of the members of Cruel Hand and Outbreak is moving on without any of the members of Cruel Hand. In the last six months we've been involved with some of the biggest tours/festivals that we've ever been a part of. I'm still not "over it". I'm still excited about touring. I'm still excited about writing songs. I know every band says this, but our new material is our best yet, and most importantly it's allowing me to get a lot off my chest (and not necessarily based on the falling outs listed above, but stretching well beyond that - it's been a wild year) which is the same reason I started Outbreak in the first place. It would have been a big mistake for me to throw in the towel and I regret nothing.
To end this gigantic rant, I will say that I'm really excited about my band right now, and it's truly great to feel a sense of passion from my bandmates. It's no secret that Outbreak has always been a band that is plagued with member changes...I can't even count the number of bassists and drummers we've gone through since the beginning! But right now I feel we're in a good place. Having everyone excited about writing songs, going on tour, and the general future of the band is something that I had almost forgotten about. Everyone has so much energy and pours so much into the band that it was a blessing in disguise to have the Cruel Hand guys put their focus and attention into Cruel Hand. There's no more scheduling conflicts, double-booking or inner-band drama. And it's cool because I've got my brother Tim in the band with me. Tim use to fill in for Outbreak before we had a permanent bass player, so it makes it much more than a "scab lineup", which I don't support. I don't want to be known as the band with a revolving door for a lineup, I want bandmates who I can count on. I feel good about my group of guys right now, and trust me, over the last year we've tried out several guys to find who is now permanent. You might recognize Erik (drums) and Billy (guitar) from No Trigger/Smartbomb, and Brian (guitar) formerly of Grave Maker. We've got a great group of guys and are really excited about the new songs and of course, touring worldwide. A big thank you to all of my friends, family, and bandmates for believing in me and giving me the motivation to continue on when everyone else would have probably given up. Most importantly, thank you to all our friends/fans who have stuck by us and continue to come out to our shows. We're looking forward to seeing all of you soon.
Ryan/OB "
