Haste The Day have given Altpress.com an interview regarding their return and plans for a crowdfunded new album. Speaking on their original decision to breakup some years back, bassist/vocalist Mike Murphy offered:
“I always loved being in Haste The Day. But there was a point, after so many member changes—especially when my best friend, [guitarist/vocalist] Brennan [Chaulk] left the band—it was really tough. Trying to keep things on track without him was difficult. We made Attack Of The Wolf King, which, in my opinion, turned out to be our best record. But after that I lost a little bit of the love for touring. It was still great. But it became more of a chore. It started to feel more like a “job,” and I never wanted to have that mentality. It spoiled it. As soon as I wasn’t feeling as much joy from going on the road, it felt like the band had run its course.
As a band–the members who finished Haste The Day – I felt proud of Wolf King. It just felt like it was time to do a farewell tour. It felt natural. If we had just kept going, I felt like I would have just been holding onto it, with a death grip. I don’t know how Stephen felt…”
Vocalist Stephen Keech followed that up his own take:
“I was just tired. And I knew Mike was tired, too. All of the other guys were eager to keep on going, but Mike and I just had this feeling that it was time to go. I remember a conversation where we said that if [longtime manager] Mark [LaFay], Mike or myself ever quit, the band would be over. We felt we’d crumble without those pieces. So, when Mark emailed us to say he was leaving artist management–I remember, we were in the van. Mike and I just looked at each other after the email, like, “Well, it’s been a good run.””
Murphy also addressed why they have now went the crowdfunding route and what fans can expect:
“This is not a moneymaking thing. It’s not something we have to do. It’s something we became re-inspired to do. We all caught the itch again. Our passion is pure about it. We really do think we have all the right pieces in place to make the best Haste The Day record. I mean, I don’t know what the album is going to sound like, but I feel like… we don’t know what bringing all these pieces together is going to sound like. We’ve cooked with these ingredients independently of one another. But we’ve never put them all together. We don’t know how it’ll taste, but it’s probably going to be delicious.”
