Catfish And The Bottlemen guitarist Johnny “Bondy” Bond has shared a statement online in which he confirms that he left the band last year.
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Bondy’s post claims to end speculation about the band’s current status, line-up and the circumstances that led to such changes, which he alleges had stemmed from “behaviour constantly re-occurring that I found to be intolerable”.
In the Instagram message Bondy claims that the band was operating “in ways in to which I agreed”, adding that the “breakdown of the band was unpleasant to say the least”.
“To put it simply, I feel that both the professional and personal relationships had become entirely dysfunctional,” he added.
NME has approached representatives of Catfish And The Bottlemen for comment.
Currently, it appears that Van McCann and Benji Blakeway are the remaining members.
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Bondy goes on to explain that he played four summer shows with the band last year as a session musician “as there was nobody else ready to do so”.
“I have had no contact or affiliation of any sort with the remaining band members since then (Neighbourhood Festival ’21),” he wrote. He added that he “assumed” the group would have informed fans about his departure as well as drummer Bob Hall’s, but that “as far as I’m aware this has not happened yet”.
Bondy’s comments follow fan rumours five years prior that the band were on the verge of splitting, which NME later learnt was false.
Ex guitarist Billy Bibby left the band in 2017 and spoke to NME about his departure as well as his pursuit of a solo career.
Catfish And The Bottlemen’s last album was 2019’s ‘The Balance‘. It’s not known if another album is in the works.