Regarding Jimmie Strimell
Hi all,
We want to update you on the current situation regarding Jimmie Strimell.
In doing so, we want to be completely honest and transparent.
When we gave him a second chance to once again enter the band as a full time member, our only demand was that he would be totally clean from his drug abuse.
The very drug abuse he himself has written about, and talks quite openly about in general. We reached a mutual agreement on zero tolerance against drugs and alcohol, accordingly.
Additionally, this would only apply on shows when we are to perform as Dead by April. As it is of course up to him, or anyone else, to make whatever choice in life they’d want otherwise, obviously.
The last couple of months there has been several occasion where we have caught Jimmie both high, and drinking alcohol. In fact, the very first tour he did with us as a returning member — he drank alcohol on the tourbus. So he has had multiple chances.
The last two shows on tour, Jimmie actually left us just a few hours before stage time. That’s insane!! 😳 Without saying anything to anyone. That’s so disrespectful towards the DBA fans that bought their tickets to enjoy the show. The rest of us actually stayed to perform the shows as we refused to cancel.
If anyone of you here on AA have any experience what it is like trying to communicate, have a relationship with, or even help (lending money, organizing, just being there when needed the most) with an addict — you’d know that it can be a complete nightmare…There are so many lies, paranoia, manipulation attempts, false accusations, it’s ridiculous. And there is literally nothing you can do.
We cannot be his emotional punching bag for whenever he chooses to use or drink. It’s extremely exhausting, tumoultus, stressful, and incredibly destructive…
We also don’t want to be his enablers and constantly give him new chances regardless of his behavior as he always promise us that this time — is the last time he is gonna use or drink.
As you can probably understand - we have no other choice but to let Jimmie go.. And we can only hope that he will make future choices that will put him on the right path in life. This is beyond our control, and we wish him all the strength, luck, and best we possibly can.
Note: we have a replacement ready. This will be updated in a separate post later today. #dbaforever
35 comments
Looks like the story with Jimmie is repeating itself. This situation is truly sad and hopeless, Jimmie fell back into his bad habits and behaved disrespectfully with his mates.
When Jimmie returned to the band, I was very happy that i could enjoy his voice again, both live and in upcoming productions, but…he fucked the band and the people around him again.
There are people who criticize the band for not helping him, or for firing him again, but I think there is no person blinder than the one who doesn’t want to see, and I think Jimmie, by going back to DBA and going back to show business in general, make you lose willpower to stay clean, the music world is very hard, and for some people who have such serious problems, their only way is to consume to stay stimulated. It seems that the only solution for Jimmie to stay clean is to retire from the world of music
Pontus, Marcus W. and Marcus R. you have made the right decision, even though we, the fans, love Jimmie’s voice, it’s not fair for you to go through all this shit, because I know that in the background of all this, Pontus brought Jimmie for us , the fans, and because he knows that we love him, despite having (again) problems with substance abuse, risking a few years of the band (3 years) to move on, it is also worth noting that at that time Stoffe left the band for no weight, claiming that they were for personal reasons
In conclusion, I would like to thank Pontus, even though the information and the news hurts, all the transparency and honesty he has shown in informing us all
I hope that from today, the band will rise again from the ashes and that soon we will have the identity of the new vocalist, who will surely do a great job
All the best for you guys
Take care
Reading about this problem (again) broke my heart. I’m so sorry guys. I wish you all the best and I hope I see you soon, better and stronger. Love.
Jimmie i wish you the best and if you ever get the opportunity to read this at anytime, i hope you get better man remember that yes feeling the buzz or the high feels as mazing temporary but think of the memories and the times you can have with people who love as nd care about you. To be able to experience that clear minded and live the experience clear minded. I understand how hard it is i went through it but you can do it. Me, your fans, your friends we all believe in you. Hearing you guys sing my first time was an amazing experience you all changed me with your inspiration songs and lyric that helped explain many things i went through and jimmie you were in all of them please get better.
You must be really dense if you did not notice that his substance abuse had caused them to perform without him; a bandmate doesn’t do that to his mates. Jimmie’s addiction had caused problems for them in the past, so it is obvious that when he got back; he is walking on thin ice and can’t do the same crap he had pulled off before.
So he drinks beer/cocktails and smokes the occasional weed-sigarette? OUT-RAGE-OUS. Maybe you guys gotta quit being his second mother and just enjoy life as a band. You guys are away from the music scene for ages due this mothering each other. Rant over.