If you were wondering what could go wrong this Friday the 13th, Hey Rosetta! enlightened us of one possibility. After more than a decade of performing, recording and touring, one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s biggest bands is calling it quits, at least for now.
Rumours began to swirl amidst a cornucopia of recent side-projects being taken on individually by band members. In an attempt to get ahead of the rumours the band took to Facebook to announce things publicly, citing the challenges of maintaining a certain pace and lifestyle with a seven-piece band.
Hey Rosetta! say they will be playing out the last few shows they have already scheduled in St. John’s and Toronto, but were less certain about performing their annual Christmas Show in St. John’s.
“We figure it’s sort of the same question as to whether you want to just fade out and ghost from the party, or whether you want to say goodnight to everyone and to hug and thank them all for such a time.”
The band also noted in their announcement that they have no intention to stop making music, and rather that they “see this break as a dose of reality and separation and stillness and stretching.”
Tickets for the Dec. 21 and 22 shows at the Delta Ballroom in St. John’s go on sale Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. Prices are $50.99 in advance, and $55.99 at the door, and can be purchased online or at Orangestores.
Here is the full announcement Hey Rosetta! made this morning via Facebook:
Everyone,
Just wanted to briefly take a tiny slice of an already full-to-bursting internet to fill you in on what’s happening in the world of Hey Rosetta! We thought we ought to drown out the rumour mill and speak from our own mouths for a minute. Cause we have so much love and respect for the community of supporters and friends and fans we’ve had over the years. Its been a dizzying ride. Dizzying like busy, but also more recently, dizzying like when the sand you’re standing on starts shifting and you’re not sure how to stand and act normal. A couple of us in our little family have decided they needed to leave the band and the mad cycle of it. And honestly not for a minute were any of us really surprised. It’s been an all-encompassing thing for over a decade, and don’t we all have this thirst for what we’re not at. And doesn’t life never wait. And despite all the movement and light and love there is on the road, or perhaps because of it, you begin to sort of exist beyond any sense of reality or responsibilty – to family, to friends, to self, to security, to art, to anything – and the pressures build up and pull at you and its kind of a miracle that 7 people can stay together and work single-mindedly towards one end for so long really, even something as beautiful and privileged and cool as making music.
And so all of this is to say we’ll be playing our last shows for the foreseeable future this December. We’ve been debating whether or not to do the annual St John’s Christmas shows, and we figure it’s sort of the same question as to whether you want to just fade out and ghost from the party, or whether you want to say goodnight to everyone and to hug and thank them all for such a time. We’re opting for hugs, and so will be playing our St John’s shows as scheduled, as well as a few shows in Toronto as there are lots of people to hug there too. If we could we’d travel the world hugging everyone that’s ever seen us live, or bought a record, or streamed a song, well we would, but that’s dreams.
But speaking of dreams we still have them and of a future together too, and see this break as a dose of reality and separation and stillness and stretching. And the music certainly won’t stop. So for the time being you can check out everyone’s projects beyond the band. Tim will still be writing and recording his songs, so look out for his solo release in 2018 and follow his tribulations on twitter / instagram at @heytimbaker. Phil is opening a brewery/cafe at the fire hall on Duckworth Street, downtown St John’s, which you can follow on twitter at @phillipmaloney & instagram at @bigdrumphill. Romesh will continue producing, mixing, playing, scoring and teaching under his moniker “tinyemperor” & “tinykingdomstudios” which you can follow on facebook, or instagram. Kinley is going to continue her solo work and activism and you can keep up with her on twitter / instagram at @kinleydowling. Mara is also continuing her solo work with her project Wunderstrands as well as helping run Girls Rock NL. Adam & Josh will both be busy teaching and playing and working and living and loving in St John’s.
Over 10 years ago now, Tim wrote “we’re taking our aging lives, and we’re waving a new goodbye, our arms open wide” – a song we’ve played on every tour since, and a song that seems to fit here again. It’s a song about leaving home and touring across the country and encountering so much more love and support and goodness than you ever expected. It’s about saying goodbye, but not by looking at what is lost, but by embracing what’s coming at you. So it’s our hope that you see this beautiful community we’ve made as not a dying thing but as a spreading and a living thing, and that you’ll come with us as we branch out and continue to do our things as individuals and that you’ll stand by us til we’re all back together again.
TB, PM, MP, KD, RT, AH, JW
~HR!