Frank Black Speaks Out About Kim Shattuck's Departure from the Pixies

BY Alex HudsonPublished Dec 16, 2013

After Kim Shattuck was let go from the Pixies, the bassist recently spoke out about her disappointment regarding how the situation was handled. Now, frontman Frank Black has weighed in to share his side of the story.

Speaking with Yahoo [via Stereogum], Black downplayed the significance of the lineup change. He implied that, although some of the shows had gone well, he didn't look at the band's commitment to Shattuck as long-term.

He said, "The big question mark is, if it was going so well, why are you changing it up again? I guess it's a fair question, but what I would say is, just because some shows went well or a recording session went well with somebody, that doesn't mean that now you guys are married and this is forever. It's not really how it works when you're a band. And it's hard to explain to people, especially if they get emotionally attached to one person."

In response to those who have asked for an explanation regarding the firing, Black had this to say: "Frankly, you don't want to explain it to anybody — it's a lot of its personal, private shit. It's like politics and sports and people's personal lives have all been smeared together in this modern world. It's a very presumptuous attitude about a lot of things. [People say] 'Oh you're shifting something in your world — we demand a statement as to why.' I'm not the mayor, this isn't the bus service for a town. This is a rock band. There's been a shift in the lineup, big woop-dee-doo…as far as we're concerned it ain't that big of a deal."

The Pixies are now working with Paz Lenchantin, formerly of A Perfect Circle and Zwan. "Paz is really good," Black said. "She's really nice and we played with her a couple of times before. We're very curious about working with her and so we are gonna work with her."

It remains to be seen whether she sticks around longer than Shattuck.

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