Kerry Kompost No Longer in Mars Hollow

I am sorry to hear that Kerry Chicoine (aka Kerry Kompost), is now the ex-bassist of Mars Hollow. I had the pleasure of seeing Mars Hollow at Terra Incognita two weeks ago and the band rocked on stage. Kerry was energetic, running all over the place, playing great, and having a fun time with the band and the audience. I also had the pleasure of meeting Kerry on the day before the show. Kerry grew up in Vermont and is the same age as I, and I learned that he used to come often to Montreal to see bands play at the old Forum. We realized we had seen pretty much the same bands at the same time.

So it is with surprise that I read the following on the PE forum under the title Mars Hollow Implodes:

"To all my PE friends and supporters of Mars Hollow; it is with a mixture of sadness, frustration and regret to inform you Mars Hollow — as you’ve come to know us — has ceased to exist as of yesterday. While I will NOT go into the reasons — they are highly personal — I will say the band dynamic has changed for the worse due to external pressures over the past six to eight months. At some point things became unbearable and I felt I had no choice but to draw a line in the sand. Sometimes, you have to be the Daddy, you know? Someone has to make the hard choices and I’ve never been afraid of doing that.

As you guys know, I’m not a bull-shitter and I don’t take a lot of crap from anyone. A rock band is supposed to be a fun and creative outlet and over the past several months, this band has been anything but fun. Since this is my hobby, and since it’s not my source of income, I feel it’s a no-brainer to extract myself from the situation, to cut out the cancer if you will, so that I can move forward in a creative fashion without any attendant external pressures.

I wish the guys in Mars Hollow all the continued success in the world and hope everything works out for them, including the upcoming Celebr8 show and the gig with CIRCA: in August.

Dejected but still kickin’,

-k-"

It also seems that the band's publicist couteracted with a Facebook post:

"It is with deep regret that Mars Hollow announces the departure of bassist Kerry (Kompost) Chicoine. Please be assured that the band is striving to continue delivering good music to you, our public. Please watch this page for official statements and news from Mars Hollow."

To which Kerry replied that he did not leave but rather was fired from the band. 

Mars Hollow were to appear at the Celebr8 Festival and tour a bit in the UK. Now the future of the band seems a bit uncertain. I will post more as I learn more about the festival gigs and I wish all concerned the best for the future. In the meantime here is a video of a new song called Sound of Shadows performed at Terra Incognita that was posted on Terry's Facebook page. The song was premiered in Quebec during the festival, so this might be the last time we get to hear this version of it.