Back in June, founding member and bassist Kim Deal unexpectedly announced her departure from Pixies. Less than two weeks later, her former band released their first new track in nine years, with tour dates and a surprise EP following shortly after. So while Deal’s departure didn’t seem to phase the Boston icons much, they’re now publicly opening up about the split.
“We were at a little coffee shop near the studio [in Wales],” frontman Black Francis explained in a new interview with Rolling Stone. “Kim walked in at some point and said, ‘I’m flying home tomorrow.’ She quit the band. It was an awkward moment. We didn’t hug or shake hands or anything. [Guitarist] Joey [Santiago] and I just stood up and said, ‘Okay.’ Then we had to get out of there, so we immediately went to a bar. I had to move from coffee to alcohol.”
Francis added that he realized a dinner the four bandmates had two nights prior was Deal saying goodbye. “I can’t remember the last time we all sat down and had a meal, just the four of us. It was wonderful. We broke bread together, shot the shit and had a nice meal. After the meal, Kim wanted to go back to her lodging, so we all walked her to a cab. Thinking back now, I realize this was her saying goodbye. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think it was meant to be our last supper.”
For her part, Deal has yet to give a reason for her decision.
Though the band was blindsided, they couldn’t remain dazed for long; studio space had been booked, and songs had been written. Drummer David Lovering admitted they were “in mourning” for a few days, but decided to keep going, erasing what Deal had recorded and tapping PJ Harvey’s Simon “Ding” Archer as a replacement. “…We didn’t have time to keep [mourning] because we had this studio booked and lot of overdubs to record,” Lovering says. “We just rolled up our sleeves and said, ‘We might as well finish this.'”
“Everyone was just devastated,” explained the band’s manager, Richard Jones. “But everybody believed in the songs. We decided to just carry on and see what happens.” What happened was EP-1, the first in a planned series of new release. Pixies then picked up The Muffs’ Kim Shattuck to fill Deal’s shoes on tour, stopping by late-night programs and continuing on their new tour as they debut new tunes. Deal may be gone, but there’s clearly still more Pixies to come.
Pixies 2013 Tour Dates:
10/05 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/06 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/08 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
10/09 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
10/10 – Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Music Hall
11/01 – Vienna, AT @ Gasometer
11/02 – Geneva, CH @ Thonex
11/04 – Milan, IT @ Alcatraz
11/05 – Toulouse, FR @ Le Phare
11/07 – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera
11/08 – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera
11/09 – Lisbon, PT @ Coliseum
11/11 – Luxembourg, LU@ Rockhal
11/13 – Copenhagen, DK @ Falkoner
11/14 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
11/15 – Stockholm, SE @ Munchen Brewery
11/18 – Dublin, IR @ Olympia
11/19 – Dublin, IR @ Olympia
11/21 – Manchester, UK @ Apollo
11/22 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland
11/24 – London, UK @ Hammersmith Apollo
11/25 – London, UK @ Hammersmith Apollo
