Alternative rock band Wednesday will officially be downsizing. Well, at least for their future live shows. Yesterday (February 21), MJ Lenderman, the group’s longtime guitarist, revealed that he won’t be touring alongside Wednesday anymore.
During a conversation with GQ, the “Please Don’t Laugh” musician snuck in the announcement. While discussing the five piece’s growing success, Lenderman confessed that he and lead singer Karly Hartzman had romantically split.
Lenderman joined Wednesday in 2020 at the behest of lead singer Karly Hartzman, who had launched the band as a solo project in 2017. The two musicians also dated for a number of years, but they are no longer in a romantic relationship.
That break as well as him losing his home to Hurricane Helene, MJ Lenderman to reflect on his life and by extension his legacy.
“With every new phase of my ‘career,’ or whatever visibility I have, I have to make new adjustments to protect what I am doing,” he said. “It’s easy for an artist to get wrapped up in how you’re going to be thought about, even remembered down the line, your legacy. I’ve had to figure out how to get rid of that noise, because nothing’s going to happen if you don’t write anything at all.”
Although you won’t catch Lenderman on stage with Wednesday, you will hear his contributions to their future releases. In a statement to Pitchfork, sources confirmed that Lenderman still will “make recorded music with the band.”
So, all hope isn’t lost for Wednesday fans.
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