Lincoln melodic hardcore band Climates have announced they have parted way with vocalist Wes Thompson.
As the band explains in a lengthy statement below, they have become frustrated with Thompson’s contribution to the band.
Thompson has also responded with two statements regarding his departure.
All three statements can be viewed in full by clicking read more.
Climates’ debut album, ‘Body Clocks’ was released this past October on Small Town Records.
Statement from Climates:
“As you all know by now, we recently parted ways with our vocalist, Wes Thompson.
This was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make as a band and as individuals, but it was not made without a LOT of thought, consideration and discussion. It was not a decision that we made off-hand and callously, and it was not even something we wanted to talk about openly so soon as we were hoping for a little time to heal and figure things out. But, with Wes making his feelings so public this past week, we’ve been left with little option but to let you all know our perspective.
The truth of the matter is, we as a band have become increasingly unhappy with Wes’ contribution to Climates, not only as a vocalist and frontman but also in terms of attitude and outlook.
In terms of performance, we have been asking him for the best part of this year to improve his abilities as a live vocalist; we even used band funds to pay for vocal lessons for him, but it made very little difference.
Wes was the driving force behind bringing more vocal melody into the Climates sound, and yet he seemed resistant to improving his abilities so that he could actually perform his parts live to a suitable standard, which is not something we really understood as musicians. The four of us all work hard to be the best musicians we can be, and we regularly rehearse our instruments, both separately and together, but Wes did not appear to share this dedication to his instrument.
We raised these concerns with him on multiple occasions, and yet he showed us very little in the way of effort and improvement – it seemed as though he already felt he was good enough, and what we thought didn’t really matter.
In terms of attitude, Wes seemed to be on a very different page to us; he was often a very negative and pessimistic person, who was unhappy with what Climates was achieving. He would regularly draw comparison between us and our more successful peers, and vent his frustration that we are still a band with a long road ahead of us.
It was also becoming increasingly apparent that we did not share the same musical vision for Climates; Wes wanted us to move in a more melodic rock direction and become a band in the vein of Mallory Knox, which is not a desire that we shared.
Wes did not write any of our music. His contribution was lyrics and vocal parts (although Sam wrote about 50% of those), and we do not wish to take away from the elements that he did bring to our songs, we all remain proud of the recordings we made together over the past two years.
However, by the same token, there is a lot more to this band than just vocals, and regardless of who originally formed the band, Climates is just that – a band. Climates is not a solo project, and it does not exist today because of one single person.
We understand that many of you are shocked at this turn of events, but we hope that you can understand our perspective, stand by us through this time of transition and keep an open mind as to what the future holds for our band. Climates is very important to us, and we have all worked very hard on it these past few years – too hard to let is fall apart due to differences with one member.
All that being said, we wish Wes all the very best for his future endeavours, and thank him for the good times over the past few years.
Thank you for reading, we hope to see you all very soon.
Sam, Matt, Chris & Max”
First statement from Wes Thompson:
“It is with great sadness that I must announce my removal as vocalist for Climates. The four other members of the band have decided that they cannot move forward with me, and for their continued success I must be replaced. I created Climates over two and half years ago, and have spent every day since working on and living for my band. Our debut album came out to great reviews and the future seemed very bright. This decision came as a shock, and I am devastated to lose everything I have worked so hard for over the past few years.
For all the fans who have supported us, and who have shown me such love and appreciation, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are the best fans and you will remain a constant inspiration to me. To everyone who came to a show, bought our merchandise, let me stay in their house, became good friends and either supported us or allowed us to support them on our tours, I thank you too. This has been the best time of my life.
Although my time with Climates has come to a premature and unwanted end, I will continue to make music in the future, and I hope you will all be a part of that with me.
With hope for the future, – Wes”
Second statement from Wes Thompson:
“Thank you so much to anyone that has supported me over the past week, it’s really helping me get through this difficult time.
I am shocked and upset by the way I’ve been portrayed in the bands statement. I was always so proud of what we were achieving as a band, and throughout the three years remained constantly positive and excited for our future. During my time in the band I always believed myself to be a passionate, optimistic person who was dedicated to improving my abilities and performance. And I am deeply saddened to learn that the band felt differently.
I have no intention of getting into a slanging match with Climates. At the end of the day, they were my friends. I just hope that those of you who know me or who have met me know the truth about me and my dedication to the band.
This is my last statement about my departure from Climates. Thank you so much again for all your support, it means everything to me.
– Wes”