Hot Hot Heat's reunion ended just as it was getting going, as they returned with a new single in November 2023 before calling it quits in January 2024, with two of the members posting a statement on Instagram. Now, a year later, singer Steve Bays has spoken out on his decision to pull the plug on the reunion.
In a video statement posted on Instagram, Bays said that he dropped out of the reunion because it became too "intense," and he needed to focus on being a father to his newborn.
"Knowing that we were going to be having a baby," Bays said, "it was a really big time of life. And so we got asked to do some shows, and there was talk about doing Coachella and stuff. And those kind of offers are always coming in, but we kind of danced around considering doing it. But I said I kind of had certain conditions. I just really want to keep it fun and light. I love my life. I don't want it to get too heavy and intense around Maisy coming into the world. I want to be there for the fam still, and it just got really intense really quick. So, before any contracts got signed, I had to pull the plug on it, because I just want to be a dad."
Bays pointed out that his Hot Hot Heat bandmates already have kids who are a few years old, but that it was important for him to be present for the early years of his child's life. He said, "My dad was in the military and the navy, and he was gone for the first couple years. It was just a really critical time. I saw the writing on the wall that it was going to be an extremely stressful thing to really do it well, and I only wanted to do if we're going to do it well."
He added that he can "only do a good job if I'm having fun," and that wouldn't have been the case under the circumstances of the HHH reunion. He concluded, "I hated having to pull the plug, but it was the lesser of two evils, because I just I love how people think of the band right now and I just don't want to wreck that."
See Bays's statement below.
Meanwhile, Bays has been teasing new material, seemingly from a solo project.