In a statement on their website, American Head Charge have announced that they have fired their drummer, Christopher Emery, live on stage. The reasons stated were "major irresponsibility", "decreased drumming ability" and "an inflated sense of entitlement".
Bassist and co-founder Mr. H. C. Banks III and founder Martin Cock said, ""It turns out Chris was thinking of leaving anyway, although we only just found out by his posting on our website. Before the show, I pulled our guitar tech into the hallway and said 'Mark my words. If he quits, he'll blame it on the bands drug use and his inability to deal with his own drug use.' Everyone knows our addiction history. Hell, it's part of our bio. And it's common knowledge we're no angels. But Chris was one of those guys that felt like he had to go to rehab every 9 months. We're no worse than when we met him. Drugs aren't the problem. The problem is that his brain and heart were no longer in it, his responsibility level became non-exsistant, and his playing became so drastically inconsistent that I had to fire him onstage at our last show of "The Feeding" touring cycle. I had made a sign in advance that said "I'M FIRED" and held it up to him halfway through the set when I got sick of how godawful his playing and professionalism were that night. It was embarassing and our fans didn't deserve it. He was a major factor in our pulling the last seven songs out of our set. It made me furious, and I'm glad we won't have to deal with it anymore.".
For more information visit the band's official site at www.HeadCharge.com.