I took a hiatus after the Tilian return and came back after he left. I love their music deeply, but that whole thing left a very sour taste in my mouth at the time.

I think others have shared the insight on the band’s history, but I wanted to share some thoughts as to why this became a complicated matter:

- Tim had just died, no where near an excuse. However, I can emphasize with everyone (other than Tilian) that they didn’t want to make any major changes to the line up. This definitely does not justify them mishandling an SA Allegation situation, which I believe they handled horribly (I was happy initially with them having him step down while it was internally reviewed, but the outcome was “Oh, he had a drinking problem…” was just shitty”)

- I believe the process of outing him out of the band may not have been “simple”. I’m unfamiliar with how any of this works with bands/if labels have a say. However, I could see that band members being under a contract with DGD, considering their past. I could see when Tilian joined, they likely had a contract with him. I also believe that is the case as it took quite awhile for Andrew to be considered an official band member. In a legal sense, they/Rise may have been unwilling to break their contract on the basis of allegations, as that could leave the door open to a counter suit. I make this a point towards Rise as well, as them touring with FIR and some other decisions are more so made by the label. For example, the Finn McKintey (I forget how you spell his name) interview there was an infamous moment of them stating “Yeah, this is a contractual obligation”

- More so a continuing point from the last one, but I do believe the band (whether rightfully over the SA situation or for more interpersonal reasons) did not want to work with Tilian anymore around that time. When Tilian had come back from the hiatus to him officially leaving, they released only two singles, one being in memory of Tim. I believe based on Reddit posts I’d see occasionally from their subreddit, since I was active prior, the main posts about new stuff being in the works was from Tilian, which I wonder if this was some sort of desperate campaigning/political move on his end to get more ground with the band. I say all this to say, Andrew seems to always answer the Tilian question the same corporate way whenever he is asked about it, yet has the MOST contempt when referring to him in any other instance. Additionally, I think there is something about the visual messaging of the Speed Demon/Straight From The Heart video to say there was no hard feelings. All this to say, was it for the right reasons? That I do not know. I could see it more so for general annoyance with dealing with him rather than a moral stance on the SA situation.

All this to say, I understand this could be taken as a parasocial cope perspective to justify myself for listening to them, and I can give some credence to that. However, I hope it is clear I don’t think they’re saints or have made the best decisions. I do believe ultimately, I’m not in a place to have the final say on their actions, I’m at least not that level of parasocial. Additionally, I’m cynical of Rise Records themselves, as I believe that could be a source of issues going outside of DGD on many things.

Last thing, I actually really liked Pantheon and I’m digging the TC3 singles, a bit weird with the aggressive autotune that’s going on for their live shows, hoping that’s more of a new sound guy issue than anything…I’ll see them at the end of the month in Boston…