The Fumes' drummer quits; bandon hiatus

Thu 10th Feb, 2011 in Local News

Since 2004 Sydney duo The Fumes have belted out their bluesy rock riffs, loud drums and gutsy vocals in venues across Australia, America and Japan, including sets at Fuji Rock Festival SXSW and support sets for Queens of The Stone Age, Clutch and Calexico.

However, the band’s management has now informed FasterLouder that ” Joel Battersby drummer for The Fumes has decided to leave the band and therefore… the direction of The Fumes is uncertain at this time until Steve Merry finds a replacement. The Fumes as we know them will be on hiatus for now.”

Worries that the band had broken up were raised earlier this week following a post on band’s Facebook wall which announced “The Fumes R.I.P”, but was deleted soon after publication.

Merry has since updated the band’s status and apologised for the original post – “ALRIGHT! Sorry kids ,just going through a minor overhaul, and in a moment of darkness thought I’d look for some guidance in the general consensus… THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT AND PROMISE WE’LL BE DANCIN LIKE SMUT AGAIN SOOON! love SLEEEVE FUMES XXXrated.”