In a statement, Gould explained that since their split in 1998, no members of the band had stayed regularly in touch with each other and none had seriously considered the idea of getting back together, particularly as, he said, "throughout our 17 years of existence, the mental and physical energy required to sustain this creature was considerable and relentless".
However, he explained, a recent meeting changed their views of working with each other: "What we've discovered is that time has afforded us enough distance to look back on our years together through a clearer lens and made us realize that through all the hard work, the music still sounds good, and we are beginning to appreciate the fact that we might have actually done something right. ... When it all worked, it worked really well, even if the chemistry was always volatile".
As expected, original guitarist Jim Martin will not be involved, despite reportedly being contacted about rejoining and expressing an interest in doing so. Instead the band's most recent guitarist, Jon Hudson, who played on the band's last album 'Album Of The Year', will re-join the core line-up of Mike Patton on vocals, Billy Gould on bass, Roddy Bottum on keyboards and Mike Bordin on drums.
The band are yet to confirm their exact plans, although Mike Patton's publicist has, as previously reported, revealed that the band are set to play a number of European festival dates this summer. As for anything beyond that, things seem unclear. Gould says: "We can only hope that the experience of playing together again will yield results erratic and unpredictable enough to live up to the legacy of FNM. Who knows where this will end or what it will bring up... only the future knows. But we are about to find out!"
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