Sleater-Kinney‘s Carrie Brownstein has responded directly to questions about veteran drummer Janet Weiss’ departure from the band last month on Instagram, as Uproxx notes. “What am I supposed to say? She left. We asked her to stay. We tried,” Brownstein’s comment, in response to criticism from a fan for the band’s non-response to Weiss’ choice to leave, begins. The comment notes the confusion, disappointment, and stress Weiss’ choice to leave the band before the release of the band’s upcoming St.-Vincent-produced album and its attendant fall tour caused Brownstein and the group’s other remaining member, guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker.
Brownstein also implied that if Weiss had objections about the direction of the album, they were not made sufficiently clear to the band. “She’s left us with a job to do, a job we also expected and wanted her to be a part of,” she wrote. “Her playing on this record is amazing and she’s raved about this album to us and to Annie. But we have to keep looking to the future.” She continued: “Four amazing women worked on this record and we are going to honor that work. So, what’s up? The usual….Women picking up the pieces when someone quits, because we have to and want to.”
Weiss’ original statement noted that the band was “heading in a new direction and it is time for [her] to move on.”
Sleater-Kinney’s new album The Center Won’t Hold is due out on August 16. They have put out two pre-release singles, “Hurry On Home” and “The Future Is Here,” prior to Weiss’ departure. Read Brownstein’s full comment below.
