While Pelican's Laurent Schroeder-Lebec retired from the touring circuit sometime in 2010, opting to only play shows near their Chicago home base, the post-metal guitarist has apparently pulled out of his writing duties as well.
A lengthy blog post from the group broke the news about Schroeder-Lebec's departure and explained that the founding six-stringer will be focusing on his family full time, with the band describing the musician's departure as an "indefinite hiatus."
He had been performing with the group since 2000.
Apparently, the guitarist delivered the news to the rest of the group as they began prepping a follow-up to this year's Ataraxia/Taraxis EP, as the group explained: "Laurent confided that his heart wasn't fully in it and, rather than deliver music that was half-hearted, he would rather sit it out."
The group continued, "Laurent is our friend and our brother, while his decision is disheartening, we completely respect it. We don't yet know what the repercussions of his departure will be, but we're thrilled by the strides made on [Ataraxia/Taraxis] and excited with the direction of the new material composed since its recording."
On the live front, Pelican will continue performing with current fill-in guitarist Dallas Thomas, but it looks as if the band will forge on in the studio as a trio.
"We are currently working as a three piece since we're not looking to significantly alter the DNA on the compositional front," they wrote. "We've said since day one that Pelican is and always will be the four of us -- we stand by that statement. Laurent is an integral part of this band whether or not he is standing on stage or composing with us. His unique musical voice and confidence of purpose have impacted us all and is present in every show and note we play. Our best wishes are with him in everything he does."
A lengthy blog post from the group broke the news about Schroeder-Lebec's departure and explained that the founding six-stringer will be focusing on his family full time, with the band describing the musician's departure as an "indefinite hiatus."
He had been performing with the group since 2000.
Apparently, the guitarist delivered the news to the rest of the group as they began prepping a follow-up to this year's Ataraxia/Taraxis EP, as the group explained: "Laurent confided that his heart wasn't fully in it and, rather than deliver music that was half-hearted, he would rather sit it out."
The group continued, "Laurent is our friend and our brother, while his decision is disheartening, we completely respect it. We don't yet know what the repercussions of his departure will be, but we're thrilled by the strides made on [Ataraxia/Taraxis] and excited with the direction of the new material composed since its recording."
On the live front, Pelican will continue performing with current fill-in guitarist Dallas Thomas, but it looks as if the band will forge on in the studio as a trio.
"We are currently working as a three piece since we're not looking to significantly alter the DNA on the compositional front," they wrote. "We've said since day one that Pelican is and always will be the four of us -- we stand by that statement. Laurent is an integral part of this band whether or not he is standing on stage or composing with us. His unique musical voice and confidence of purpose have impacted us all and is present in every show and note we play. Our best wishes are with him in everything he does."