Billboard.com got to the bottom of the Agalloch split, catching up with now former band guitarist Don Anderson and vocalist/guitarist John Haughm. According to the conversations they had, the main source of tension arose from Haughm wanting to tour more with the outfit, while the other members of the group had jobs and family concerns to attend to. Anderson said of that:
“I think the simplest answer is one guy, being John, out of the four of us wanted and was able to do the band full time, and when I say “full time,” [I mean] touring very regularly. It was a substantial income for him, relied on it to pay the bills. The rest of us, we have family, kids, careers. We were all happy and also limited, but we were happy to keep it a part-time thing. It was an amazing experience to just get off spring semester [at Westminster Community College, where Anderson teaches literature] and be like, “OK, I’m no longer a professor. I’m going to be a rock star.” That was great.
John wanted more, and the three of us feel like it was a very business-based decision. He first told us, “If I can’t do it all the time, I don’t want to do it at all.” But I think it had become clear and it seemed that he would have continued on without us if that was possible. Of course, he’s free to do that. We weren’t going to stop him. But I think he saw when he left that door open on Facebook that people reacted very hostilely.”
Though some confusing statements emerged in the wake of the initial split announcement, Haughm insists he never intended to carry on with the band after breaking up:
“I never had any intention to continue the band as a one-man project. Never. If the band were to continue, I would’ve had to find replacements, which obviously would’ve been an uncomfortable and unpopular transition.
Had this happened 10 years ago, maybe it would’ve worked, but not now. The roots were simply too deep. On the other hand, had Don quit or decided to step aside, the band might still be around right now.
Though I don’t want to blame him entirely because there were still a lot more internal issues to iron out. I had started to really hate what the band was becoming, and my chemistry with the other guys had already almost completely faded away.”
Haughm himself plans to busy himself with future musical projects, as do the remaining members of the band, including Anderson, bassist Jason Walton and drummer Aesop Dekker. That trio told the site that they have a new as-yet unnamed project in the works with a fourth member to be named. Anderson said of it:
“We’re very excited about it. We’re currently demoing new material, and we hope to play live and tour… We’re definitely going to try to do something different, [but] we don’t want to soil the Agalloch name. We don’t want to recall it too easily.”
For more from the pair, head to Billboard.com.
