Earlier this week, Primus revealed that longtime drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander left the band via email, citing that he "lost his passion for playing." Today, the former member expanded on why he exited to Rolling Stone.
Despite telling the magazine he's "feeling really good," he added that he is "dealing with all the aches and pains, but I'm doing things to strengthen my body and to strengthen my relationships and to strengthen my mind ... I'm the happiest I think I've ever been. I'm not looking at this like, 'I can't function anymore, I got to quit.' I feel good, I feel strong, but I've had to make these changes to get to this point."
"A lot of times, you do something you love for a long time, and sometimes the passion turns into a job, and sometimes that job doesn't feel like it's your being anymore," he went on, continuing:
Over time, I started realizing that it was affecting my physical life, it was affecting my mental life, and it was affecting my family life, and my heart just wasn't in it. When I discovered that I'm struggling with all these things, I had to sit and think about exactly what am I doing. I don't think I've ever chosen my path in life, I think I've just always thought "I'm a drummer, I'm just gonna do music," and things came to me, accepting whatever happens.
As for informing the band about his departure, he said he "wrote this letter from my heart to those guys, to let them know [I was leaving]... It was very heartfelt, it was very loving, I said positive things about how much I appreciated them and how much admiration there was," he expounded. "So it was very surprising that only certain parts would be released to the whole world."
He considered sticking it out for Primus' Oakland shows, but ultimately came to the conclusion that it didn't feel right:
I wouldn't being authentic to myself. I would be doing it with everyone thinking that it's a send-off, but I'm already off. And I really, really don't like playing drums where every time I hit a drum I'm like "Ugh, this isn't where I want to be." It doesn't feel good, it feels terrible on the body.
Alexander's next step is working with musicians through his Stick Academy online drum school. The article ends with his full statement on why he quit the band. Read it below.