Yellowcard Band • Page 199

more than any band besides maybe B**** N** (and prob not anymore, honestly..scared of what we'd find out) I want a tell all book or oral history or something about this band's drama.

 

Yeah, dude still sounds super bent about the whole thing. Obviously I don’t know his life, but he said variations of “I’ll never forget/I’ll always remember” a few too many times for me to believe that 15 years of pent up bitterness isn’t making him remember things a little differently

 

Well now I’m curious what actually happened...

 

That checks out pretty well with the rumors that had been flying around for a while

 

Which rumors?

 

Rumors I remember hearing:

-Ben got cocky from the fame and from his record label.
-Ryan and Ben didn't get along.
-Ryan and Pete didn't get along.
-LP was asked to leave the band due to substance abuse while Ryan and Sean were going through some personal battles. Sean's thyroid cancer and Ryan's now ex-wife's accident. Im not even sure If the timeline adds up, tbh.
-Also heard LP left the band because he wasn't into the direction they were going.

I still don't really know what all happened or whats true/false haha.

 

The story about Ben’s departure

 

As bummed as i was to hear of ben being replaced, ryan mendez brought something above and beyond what i expected. Also the guitar tones on paper walls were top notch.

 

27 minutes ago

Ryan Key's retelling is much closer to what I remember hearing from all parties at the time.

 

Incredible. I feel like I wasted time listening to Ben now. Always nice to support Mike Herrera though lol.

 

Ben didn’t really ever give a reason for he and LP falling out for a few years. Ryan’s post kind of seems to make sense of that.

It’s wild to finally hear both sides comment on it publicly after all the YCMB rumors and drama back in the day lol.

 

There were 5 of us in the band and 4 of us, including LP unanimously voted to let him go. He didn’t say anything on the podcast about the intervention we had with Bob Timmons (Addiction and intervention specialist, look him up) as a result of a good deal more than smoking pot. There were family members present who traveled from Florida to California to be there. He was admitted to rehab and walked out in one day. Between that, his only showing up to the Lights and Sounds sessions maybe 10 times in 8 weeks, his conspiracy theories that Capitol Records and our management company were stealing all of our money, that we should move the whole operation to his record company (Takeover Records), and a list of other stories that I don’t need to disclose here, we all agreed it was time for a change. People can continue to put it all on me, as they have for the last 15 years if it makes the story work for them, but these are the actual facts. I’m comfortable with my role in it, as I was part of a group decision that was made in the best interest of everyone involved.

 

Thanks for the transparency

 

Thanks Ryan!

 

Battle of the B-Sides has to come down to "Bombers" and "Promises", no?

Not counting complication or soundtrack songs.

 

I'm a huge fan of "Hey Mike" and "Telescope (Acoustic)", but I gotta give the title to "Bombers".

 

I've grown to love "In Time" over the past few years (even more so than "Promises") but Bombers has to take it for me. "Hey Mike" and "Three Flights Down " deserve mention too

 

Yes

 

I love all of these songs. Three Flights Down has always hit hard for me too. But Bombers and Promises are in a different league for me. I listen to Bombers regularly, I would say its in my top 15 played Yellowcard songs easily.

 

I know it’s obviously pretty unlikely at this point, but I really hope one day we’ll get acoustic versions of Paper Walls or Southern Air. I wish Ryan would give the whole discography this treatment to be honest.

Also, really hope we can hear that version of Here I Am Alive with Patrick one day. Could Ryan release it as a Bandcamp release with all proceeds going to charity or do you think there would still be legal issues with releasing it?

 

Ben (I assume it's him) responded to Ryan in the news thread

 

Just discovered that Ryan Mendez is doing professional mixing now. When I clicked through his audio samples I saw those Big If songs and they really still hold up in my opinion (Ryan Mendez produced them and also played lead guitar). I still wonder what could have been with that project. Sean O'Donnell is such a good songwriter and the writing chemistry between him and Ryan Key was definitely there. mixing — ryan mendez

 

Ryan was on Chris Demakes podcast a few weeks back. Most of the conversation was around the writing process of the song Ocean Ave. Really good listen. I enjoy hearing the evolution of the songs in the writing process. Hard to believe this song almost never made it onto their major Label debut. Also cool to hear him talk about the influences of song, Neal Avron, the band, label, and Less Than Jake.

 

It was indeed a really good listen. I'd loooove for him (and maybe Ryan Mendez / Sean Mackin) to do a podcast about all their albums and the early times (like Story of the Year are doing now)!