As I Lay Dying’s Tim Lambesis gives first interview since split with band members: “I don’t want pity”

As I Lay Dying‘s Tim Lambesis has given his first interview following the departure of his former bandmates.

Last October, the band’s bassist Ryan Neff, guitarist Ken Susi and drummer Nick Pierce, all of whom joined the band in 2022, announced that they were quitting the band, citing “personal morals”.

The following month, longtime guitarist Phil Sgrosso – who had joined the band back in 2003 – followed in the footsteps of his former bandmates and departed the band as well, leaving Lambesis as the sole remaining member.

Speaking about the departures at the time, Sgrosso said that they were due to the band no longer offering “a healthy or safe environment for anyone involved – whether creatively, personally, or professionally. After witnessing some concerning patterns of behaviour, I’ve realised that I can no longer, in good conscience, enable further actions that could negatively affect anyone working within this space.”

That same month, video footage of the frontman and his wife Dany in what appeared to be a tense argument surfaced on social media. Lambesis spoke out about he videos and accused Dany of domestic violence and alleged that she timed “these public attacks” after he served her with divorce papers.

Now, while appearing as a guest on fitness coach Justin Wenzel’s podcast – marking his first interview since the departure of all of his As I Lay Dying’s bandmates and the footage of him and his wife in a heated argument surfacing online – Lambesis opened up about the split explaining that his relationship with Dany had altered his behavior leading to his bandmates to leave.

“I wasn’t going to talk about it because I didn’t want to let anybody know how deeply unhealthy things were because then they would tell me I have to leave the relationship. I wanted to find a way to fight and stay so I just kept it in,” he explained.

He continued: “The irony is that my relationship ended at the same time that those guys sort of gave up, per se. I’m not blaming them, but the solution occurred at the same time that they felt like they no longer were — they didn’t want to stick around because they felt like there was no solution.”

The frontman also reflected on himself, admitting that he tends to isolate himself when struggling with his mental health. He shared that he doesn’t blame his former bandmates for not intervening and acknowledged his past – in which he ended up incarcerated for attempting to hire a hitman to kill his wife at the time – explaining that that was not something that the band would be willing to deal with again.

“I think that’s a criticism that’s warranted because I’ve had plenty of opportunities to take a step back and heal from that, but I never wanted to talk about it,” he said, adding, “Twelve years ago is when I was arrested, and in the last 12 years I maybe acknowledged that loss once or twice.”

After being released from prison in December 2016, Lambesis took to As I Lay Dying’s official Facebook page to post a lengthy statement, “apologising to everyone” for his actions.

The vocalist then reunited with As I Lay Dying band in 2018, who released their first new song in six years with ‘My Own Grave’ and announced details of a homecoming show that summer. Longtime guitarist Nick Hipa would leave the band in 2020, with drummer Jordan Mancino and bassist Josh Gilbert following suit in 2022.

Last year, his side project Austrian Death Machine lost their drummer Brandon Short, who announced his departure on Instagram writing: “For the sake of my mental well-being and personal beliefs, and in light of the recent developments surrounding the As I Lay Dying camp and Tim, this has become an inevitable step for me.”

Short continued: “The repeated promises, the endless cycle of ‘I’ll do better’ – words that once gave me hope – have turned into a broken record that has brought no real change. Instead, I found myself trapped in a pattern that eroded my trust and my well-being. This cycle has reached into my personal life, affecting my mental health in ways I can no longer ignore.”

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