Brothers and sisters, we are sorry to inform you that Solution .45 and Tom Gardiner have decided to go separate ways, due to reasons which Tom himself will give further details about below.
For the record, there is no bad blood or hard feelings or anything like that causing this split. We still very much consider Tom our talented friend and brother and we'd like to thank him for the years in the band and wish him the best of luck in the future (your time will come brother, so stay positive and strong!).
As for the ongoing pre-productional phase and the upcoming album-recording, nothing has changed. In other words, everything will proceed according to plan.
Here follows Tom's statement:
Hey y’all. I regret to say that I won’t be along for the new albums and I’m basically freezing most of my musical activity for the rest of the year! It’s never an easy thing to write a statement like this, but this statement also stands for Hateform, and other bands/projects that I am/was involved with.
My friends, family and basically everybody who personally know me would all agree that I have always put music and my instruments above everything else in life. A mentality like that can’t exist without making sacrifices, risks and tough (sometimes wrong) decisions. Especially in this day and age when it is as hard as it is to make a living as a musician. Not to mention that building an actual ”life” around all the music can be quite a challenge. If you can make ends meet and manage all the musical activity, it can really be a fragile ecosystem. Musicians alike can all testify that all it takes is perhaps a bad relationship, injury or weakening health, unstable living conditions, maybe some crazy complaining neighbors or just bad luck and you can (and will) be set back musically for who knows how long. I’ll keep it out of this statement what it actually is or was that set me back, but all I can say is that it wore me out pretty bad.
I’ve been looking for that new beginning for a couple of years now, and the good news is that there finally is some light at the end of the tunnel.
The bad news is that shit had to go down right at the time when it would have been paramount to contribute to the upcoming Solution .45 albums. As you well know, we all live far apart, some in different countries even, so you can all imagine it is a time-consuming business of sending files back and forth and being alert over the internet giving feedback and interacting that way. The majority of the material is getting ready and I can tell you, it will sound great when it’ll be finished so don’t worry about that! I still can’t feel eager or even happy about doing these albums because I couldn’t interact in the writing process. Generally if there is one thing I am super enthusiastic about, it is to interact with making albums, be it writing or producing/recording or whatever! Simply laying down some guitar work here and there won’t cut it for me this time, as I know I could have made a difference as an artist also. On top of that, I can’t commit myself 100% to be ready for the studios, as they are booked right at the time when I’ve got some of those life changing events, that WILL be given the priority this time! After all, I’ve been a member from the beginning and these were really the albums I was always waiting to do. So trust me, it’s been a tough call deciding to let this one go!
The guys have been super understanding with my situation and decisions, so I would like to humbly say thanks to you Chris, Jani, Patrik and Rolf! It’s been a great ride!
I would also like to thank all the fans and friends and great people I have met during this journey! Stay true and please, support music! I’ll see you around one way or another. Peace & love!
Yours truly, Tom Gardiner
