I am writing to make a couple of announcements. First of all I want to let everybody know that The Secret Machines have begun work on our third album. We expect to begin recording sometime in the beginning of May. Unfortunately, I also must share that after 7 and 1/2 years of playing music together Benjamin has decided to no longer be a part of the band. It is a sad day but also an exciting one as he prepares to focus full time on his new creative venture, School of Seven Bells. He has told me that he expects to be finished with a new record very soon as well as there being plans in the works to play some shows here in New York debuting the band. Of course Josh and I wish him all the best.

Wow,

Good news and bad news! Questions:

How will Benjamin's departure affect progress on the new album? Are there new band members in your plans? When will you tour again? Will Benjamin's departure change the sound and future artistic direction of the band?

thanks for coming here to give us an update, brandon. im sure it will be sad news for a lot of the fans here (and most of us are probably asking the same questions andy did), but i am excited for benjamin and SVIIB, and very interested to see how the band will evolve as a result.

wishing the best for all three of you and can't wait to see/hear what's in store next.

Yeah, that's a big announcement!
Is it for real? Really, really?
Wow!

« Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point »

But.... But....But...........

I'm so confused, I love The Secret Machines but I love SVIIB with all my heart........But TSM IS Benjamin, Brandon and Josh!! ...I continue to support both bands but this just dosen't feel right.....It hasn't sank in yet....

Well I don't know what to say.

Wait, wait. I have an idea. Make little Andrew join TSM. I know he can do it. Then there will still be the Curtis Bros.

I can't believe this.

Oh, Benjamin.

Oh my god.

There CANNOT be a replacement. Just no. aww

Oh. My. Stars.

Literal gasping and mouth grab happening.

I am a very serious fan of School of Seven Bells, but I am just stunned.

Things are going to be very different, but I don't believe that means bad in any way. I'm excited for SVIIB, they are a great group of talented people, I can't wait for an album.

Brandon-
I'm excited for the next era of TSM. I know it will be magical as always.

According to one of my friends, there will be no replacement. Josh and Brandon are going on with out Ben, and I know it will still be great.

Maybe Robert Burns was right...

SVIIB might be excellent... but I am a TSM fan first and foremost, and this comes as really depressing news...

I think James said it best when he said that it hasn't sunk in yet... There will never be an appropiate replacement (who would ever be able to make the exact sounds that Ben makes)... and yet I struggle to see how the band can continue as a two...

I'm obviously still excited to see how the third album will come out... but TSM were always greater than the sum of their parts... and now the house of cards has kinda come tumbling down


still-depressed-edit:

I apologise if my words come across as someone who feels like their favourite band has split up... but that is how I feel. I know Brandon and Josh will go on, but to me it wont really be TSM.

This wont do... TSM, for me, transcended the boundary between fan and band. They were the first, perhaps only, band that I actually felt a personal connection with... and they have had a profound, undescribable, positive effect on my life for reasons that some of you on this forum may realise and other may not.

I normally care little about the coming and goings of bands... but this actually stops me in my tracks.

Well said, Rob. It's true that it will be a difficult adjustment, but I don't believe that it will be impossible. Not with the talent that Josh and Brandon possess. It will not be the same, but that does not mean that it won't be great. I have faith in the genius of these men, they will continue to create songs that will move us, hold us, inspire us, haunt us, and make us feel lucky that we got the chance to hear them in the first place. I believe that.

Oh shit I can't breath. I am being crushed by a two ton weight. I will never see them live again as a threesome? I was counting the seconds till they toured again and now it's changing. Someone give me a reason to live.

The mark that makes me wonder is... you say that you think there wont be a replacement... part of me think they need one.

I cant see them playing a gig and ignoring all the songs they have written for the past 7+ years... but will those songs work with just two of them?

Surely some gaps will need to be filled somehow?

I really don't know, Rob. I talked to The Silent Years manager, who is friends with Benjamin. She said she has known for awhile and that as far as she knows, Josh and Brandon are going to do it themselves.

It's like you said, Rob, how can they ignore the songs, but at the same time, how can anyone replace the way Ben played them?

Kathy: I feel the same. Aren't we lucky, though, that we all got to see them as the trio? I think Brynn (Rabidog) was at their concert in Mexico city, right? She was at their last live show together. That's crazy.

I'm in mourning, that's all. Just completely devastated. The Secret Machines are no longer THE Secret Machines.

What if Josh and Brandon started something completely new?

I guess all three of them have spent their whole life starting something new.

At least this time they have finally earn the respect they deserve and the attentions of many will follow...

In French we often say "personne n'est irremplaçable". Which means nobody is irreplaceable. Do you have the same in English?

It happens quite often in bands: sometimes someone leaves, sometimes someone new joins.
Some bands do not survive, some others become better than never.
That's life , that's all. So just wait and we'll see what happens.

HEY THEY BEGUN WORKING ON A NEW ALBUM!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Kathy:
Oh shit I can't breath. I am being crushed by a two ton weight. I will never see them live again as a threesome? I was counting the seconds till they toured again and now it's changing. Someone give me a reason to live.

i completely agree.
i am stunned.
i'm pretty confused by this, as TSM seem to have just gotten the ball rolling, doing really well and achieving amazing things. why step back now?
i appreciate the effort of Brandon and Josh to continue, and i guess it's a relief that they will be trying. but the live TSM event will never be the same, and i don't totally understand how they will make this dynamic work. i never could grasp how just three people could make such a big sound, and now i'm baffled at how they will make it work with just two.
all we can hope for is that Josh and Brandon blow us away with their abilities and talents (which i know they will) and keep working at it.

Guys, please don't give up. you're among the only things keeping my faith in music alive!!