Firstly, we would like to assure you that we are not splitting up. However, our rhythm guitarist, Matt Frobisher, has expressed his intention to retire from music this summer. We are still available for gigs, and it’s going to be business as usual for the next couple of months at least. Email us at harlequinskiss.band@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us as a rhythm guitarist or multi-instrumentalist.
We’ll leave you with Matt’s own words:
“It is with a heavy heart that starting now, over the summer I will be stepping away from music for the foreseeable future. Recent events in my personal and professional life have put me under intense and relentless stress, and this has left me both emotionally and physically drained. This has made committing properly to my music very difficult, if not untenable as I lack the time or energy required to be proactive not only in writing and performing but in the admin too. I need to rearrange my work-life balance to ensure I feel well in myself to tackle some difficult and fast-approaching challenges head on as my current hectic lifestyle is beginning to do more harm than good and at some point I will burn out or worse, make myself ill. I fear that time is quite close.
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Harlequin’s Kiss will of course continue following my departure however I would like to say that getting you guys back on the road to success has been amazing. From being on almost hiatus with no guitarist or drummer when I joined to being a full blown 5 piece has been an amazing new chapter. I will not, however leave hastily and leave them in the mire in order to search for my replacement. I will stick around until mid-summer so that someone is found and I have shown them the ropes, so to speak, in order to allow the band to keep gigging.
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This is not a decision I have made lightly as the last four or five years of performing have been incredible and have played a huge part in my life, and in some ways saved it. I would like to sincerely thank all of the promoters who have booked myself or my bands during this time, the many artists and bands I have drawn strong friendships with and had the immense pleasure to share a stage with, and all of the fans who took me/the bands into your hearts, especially those who actively supported us with buying merchandise, CDs etc. It means a lot that people love and care about the hard work put into everthing I have done, either by myself or with my amazing bandmates. I would like to say that you guys rock, and keep live music alive and well!
There is a chance I may come to regret my decision when times become easier, and if that may be the case you will undoubtedly hear of my resurrection. Until then you might catch me at the occasional open mic night as I will probably need to unwind once in a while.
But until then, keep supporting live music, keep rocking, and stay safe in this mad, mad world!
Matthew Acton-Varian a.k.a. Matt Frobisher”
The rest of us wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
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