Ellen Departs Los Campesinos!

...and leaves behind an emotional note

Bass player Ellen Waddell has decided to leave Los Campesinos! – leaving an emotional note to fans.

Los Campesinos! have always seemed like a tight knit bunch. All those nights onstage, all those weeks in the rehearsal room… the indie outfit really come across as a collective, as a group of people in love with and united by what they do.

So it's sad when one of them loves. In recent years fans have waved goodbye to Aleksandra, Ollie and Harriet – now, sadly, Ellen Waddell has decided to join their number. The bass player has posted a note on the band's website as a means of saying farewell to fans.

"It is with a sad face I have to report that I am leaving Los Campesinos!. The show on the 15th of December in London will be my last, and I shall spend it struggling not to cry" she wrote. "Please don’t point out my tears if you come along. Simply pretend it is eye sweat".

Later, she opened up about the reasons behind her departure. "There is not a terribly exciting reason for me leaving, (so please start some exciting rumours), I am just going to try something new. Fulfil my ambitions of becoming a failed writer and developing a opium habit. It’s all going to be very retro. I leave with the upmost love and support from the band, but I have requested my replacement not be too cool."

"I would say I am sad to go, but that is too simple a word for the variety of emotions I have swimming around my head right now. I am sad, but mostly I am drowning in warm and happy flashbacks, vinaigrette images of us all laughing in the van on long drives across America. Joe Puleo, tour manager, at the front telling a story, Jason playing quizmaster and hosting a game of 'Guess the Song', from an app he has downloaded, and we all scream out responses. Rob taking photos of the scenery on his lomo, Neil watching gangster epics on his laptop, and maybe later on this long long drive Paul and Tom will play Tiger Woods Golf whilst I work out how long I can hold my bladder for before requesting we stop. I was the most frequenter pee needer on long drives. I am not ashamed of this. I owned it."

Read the full note HERE.

Los Campesinos! are set to play the following show:

December
15 London Islington Assembly Hall

Click here to buy tickets for Los Campesinos!

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