Guards of May have called it a day!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Paul 'Browny' Brown

I should write songs with a title like that haha

Anyway surprisingly sad news for fans of Brisbane alternative rock act Guards of May who have told fans they’ll be ending their journey as a band this Saturday at their final gig ever. A huge shock for the band who only just won the Heavy Category at the 2015 Queensland Music Awards earlier this year and blew us away at Big Sound.

In a statement on their Facebook page they revealed:

“The “Back To The Future Eyes” show at The Foundry this weekend will be the last Guards of May show.

The first thing that seems to be asked in these circumstances is “why?”. As if there was a single, all-encompassing reason that we decided to call it quits. The truth is there’s 101 different reasons, factors and little stressors that take their toll. They’re the same stresses every band puts themselves through to create, record, perform, tour and create again, in that neverending cycle. We’d rival Tolkien if we tried to individually explain them all, but there’s probably a few worth mentioning.

One factor is money. Our musician friends reading this right now will be nodding sagely. They know what it’s like. A band is a money pit. A professional touring band is a fucking financial black hole. The amount of money the hole will swallow beggars belief. We stopped looking at our tax returns as to see the amount of money spent keeping the dream alive would leave you up at night with cold sweats. On the other hand, as Paul Kelly says, you can’t take it with you. We did it for the love of it. There’s no regrets there. We’re intensely proud of what we created and what we achieved. It was simply not possible for us to continue at the level we wanted to be at with where we were at ourselves.

Thank you to the fans we have, new and old. We love you guys. There was zero point doing this in the first place if you guys didn’t show up, so thank you. It really means the world to us, it’s a cliche, we know, but there’s no other words to describe it really.
To our interstate buddies – sorry we can’t come see you one more time. Know that we always had a total blast when we visited your parts, a time was had that’s for sure (All-you-can-eat Pizza Hut in Bendigo, looking squarely at you). Thanks to all the bands we ever played shows with and toured with. Thank you for the opportunities you afforded us. It means a hell of a lot. Big Love.

Come celebrate with us one more time.
Celebrate the songs, celebrate the good memories.
Even if you hate us, come celebrate anyway because that would just be plain hilarious.

Love
GoM xoxo

Another upcoming act ending their time due to the financial strains of being in a touring/recording band becoming too much to handle. It sucks but these things happen, unless there’s an easier/cheaper way for bands to get around, produce music and play shows it can be quite crippling for those struggling to raise the finances needed. We wish the boys the very best for the future and if you’re in the Brisbane area, make sure you get along and check them out one last time on Saturday.