News about Tapper’s departure, the new drummer, and more

In the hullabaloo of Michael Tapper’s departure from the band, I asked Chris a couple of questions:

Is it true?

Yeah, sadly it’s true, Renee. Fortunately it’s not as sudden as the press release makes it seem — the three of us have been talking about the possibility for a couple of months now, and it was apparent by a few weeks ago that the thing for Michael right now is to do some of the other stuff he wants to do, some of which is musical, some not, and some is just traveling (but not having to spend half of every day in an exotic locale boxed up in a dark, empty club soundchecking). So we had plenty of time to find and rehearse a drummer to fill in this fall, and I don’t think there’s much risk that the quality of the shows is going to suffer — the guy is damn good.

Who is the new drummer and will he be a permanent fixture to W.A.S.?

Adam Aaronson is replacing Michael through December. Adam’s in a Los Angeles band called High Speed Scene, which also counts Max “iMax” Hart among its membership. Does this mean Max is taking over the band? Slowly but surely, it appears, yes. But anyway, Adam’s not permanent — he’s getting married in January to a lovely academic named Rachel, and isn’t looking to spend his first year of marriage separated. So I think the drum chair will probably feature a revolving cast, drawing heavily on talent from following bands: Velvet Revolver, Audioslave. How will we woo away those bands’ drummers? We have a great benefits package, and you receive salary plus tips.

Is We Are Scientists just made up of only Keith and Chris now?

Technically, yes, W.A.S. is now Keith Murray and Chris Cain, and a shadowy team of songwriters, stylists, financial planners, agents, managers, assistants, voice coaches, body doubles, and make-up technicians.

Wasn’t the new album recorded with Michael? Will he still be in the new album?

The album was largely recorded with Michael, yes, and his parts will indeed feature prominently (they will be the drum parts).

And check the official site soon to read another statement from the guys about this!

Oh, and it looks like we can all watch some testimonials of Brain Thrust Mastery:

Nevermind! It looks like the testimonials video was temporarily taken down. I’m sure they’ll have more videos up later.