Ex-Lostprophets members have formed a new band called No Devotion.
The band will continue under the new name, without singer Ian Watkins, after he was jailed for 35 years in December last year for a string of child sex offences.
Geoff Rickly, formerly of metal band Thursday, will take on the role of frontman and the members admit they weren’t sure if they could carry on after Ian’s court case.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said: "We didn’t know if we would ever make music again or if people would look us in the face. Everything felt like it was over."
No Devotion release their debut single ‘Stay’, backed by ‘Eyeshadow’, on Collect Records today (01.07.14) and they will head out on tour later this month.
Speaking about their decision to move on, Stuart said: "We didn’t know what else to do – we just wrote music. I didn’t know if anyone would ever want to hear it. I just needed to occupy my brain. We just needed this."
The band also features guitarists Mike Lewis and Luke Gaze, drummer Luke Johnson and keyboardist Jamie Oliver and Geoff admits he "hadn’t really listened" to Lostprophets but that he liked the musicians.
He said: "You don’t really grow out of punk, you grow with it. To my mind, post-punk was about taking a more sophisticated approach to that sound, and I think we all have a shared respect for that era of modern music."
Speaking of the Ian being jailed and the affect his sentencing had on the band, Geoff added: "I didn’t think it was fair, what was happening to them. And, well, the music was too good to pass up."
The band will play the following gigs from this month..
July 22 – Cardiff CF10
July 23 – Manchester Sound Control
July 25 – London O2 Islington Academy
July 26 – Glasgow O2 ABC2
Ex-Lostprophets form new band No Devotion
