Jim Martin from Faith No More became a pumpkin farmer.

Luke Kenny from The Berzerker is now a photographer.

Sean Farber (vocalist of) Daath became some sort of reclusive hippy/potentially opened a restraurant or started his own brewery.

What are some other musical artists that took a distinct U-Turn? More importantly why does one quit music completely without the possibility of returning, obviously there is a strong passion to become a skilled musician, to pursue, refine, and make a career out of it despite adversity. So what is the final straw where music is of no importance?

Is it a lack of money, the people they are surrounded with, the brown-nosing/fake applause, to pursue other endeavors that they deem more rewarding/interesting? And lastly a more personal query for those that make music/are in bands, would you ever up and quit and never make music again?

Alf Svensson from At the Gates: became a tattoo artist and graphic designer.

I emailed him like a decade or so back seeing if he would return to music at some point... said something along the lines of getting bored of music since he only had 12 notes to work with, versus a near infinite pallete in visual art.

Bob Rusay became a pro golf instructor after he left Cannibal Corpse.

This was the first one I thought of as well.

To answer the second part of the OP, the band actually goes in depth with that subject in the Centuries of Torment DVD. Bob is probably a unique case, but the big problem is that he wasn't getting better like everybody else in the band was. Jack Owen got consistently more impressive before leaving to join Deicide, Paul's drumming became increasingly more complex and powerful, and obviously Alex Webster is a ludicrously talented bassist and was definitely leagues ahead of where he was in the Beyond Deth days even back in the early 90s. They explained that by the time the third album rolled around, they had improved enough as musicians and gained enough professionalism to have gotten to the point where they could more or less just enter the studio and hammer out what they needed to do, kill it, and wrap it up. Bob on the other hand was still at the same place he was in the early days, where he was always sloppy and needed a lot of studio time to nail the songs. I guess the story goes that when they were recording the bonus tracks for the Hammer Smashed Face single (particularly the cover of Zero the Hero), they had limited time and Bob just simply could not get his solo right, allegedly after the band had warned him that he needed to be prepared and he clearly wasn't. The rest of the band collectively realized that he simply couldn't hack it anymore and they had to let him go after having Jack record over his parts.

According to the guys, he took it really personally since he had been around since the beginning and was such a huge part of their identity early on (he had a great stage presence, he was a little older than the rest and guided the guys early on, he wrote the iconic Skull Full of Maggots riff, etc) and so he just ragequit guitar entirely and left the music business. They all seem genuinely remorseful of the whole situation and admit that they didn't handle it very tactfully, but according to everybody he cut them all out of his life and disappeared. He's the only former member of the band who refused to be in the documentary. I honestly didn't even know he was a golf instructor until somebody on this forum dug it up a few years ago.

I think the only thing Rusay's ever done in terms of music after being fired from Cannibal was a small interview with Decibel years ago about the early days of Cannibal Corpse, and even then nobody's ever posted it online as far as I can find. His profile on a website about golf instructors does very briefly, and indirectly, mention his time in the band though.

http://www.usgtf.com/profiles/russay.html

Adam Yahiye Gadahn used to be in a death metal band Aphasia before converting to Islam around 95 and joining al-Qaeda.

What a stupid way of looking at music. Although considering it's At the Gates he was with he probably did have little creative freedom.

Biggest and maybe saddest one I know of is probably Syd Barrett. He recorded a few things immediately after leaving Pink Floyd but had basically quit music altogether by 1972. Other than two sightings in the mid-70's, no member of Pink Floyd ever saw him again. He was mostly a recluse living with his mom in Cambridge painting and gardening and only ever talked to his sister, apparently, until he died in 2006. Really tragic.

That is sad. It's a shame when creative, talented minds aren't able to prosper

My favorite is Sarcofago's Wagner Antichrist, who got a phD and became a professor in applied statistics and economics at one of Brazil's top universities. Just the thought of being taught risk-benefit analysis by Dr. Antichrist. I know that's not his real name.

Dan Spitz of Anthrax is a watchmaker.

Ted Pilot of Fifth Angel is a dentist. Warrel Dane told me, some 20 years ago

that nutter who used to sing in Sevenchurch (uk) is a "chef" in one of those all day breakfasts/greasy spoons.

Tuds from Paradise Lost works in PR. does better than behind the drumkit

oh, and some guy who drummed for King Crimson quit to join a monastery.

Bruce Dickinson is so ridiculous that he didn't have to quit music to do something completely different. He just decided that having 63 full-time jobs was better than having only one.

I think i read somewhere that Destruction's old drummer became a police officer, but I can't confirm that or anything. Seems like quite a switch, to me.

As for why people do it -- well, some just aren't really all that into making music. it's an expensive and at times exhausting thing to do and unless you are really happy with what you are doing and, although this doesn't apply to everyone I guess, at least getting better/improving at being a musician, it can be, I think, very dispiriting for some folks. Also of course people who want to start a family and settle down are often persuaded that the music-making lifestyle is one that's just too time consuming and demanding to continue pursuing.

Victor Agnello (R.I.P. 2014), who played drums on four Laaz Rockit albums became a doctor or somehing. Allergist-immunologist according to the bio.

Josh Barohn of Suffocation relocated to Adelaide in Australia and worked as a sound and light technician for a random Adelaide local music establishment. He's still on good terms with the band.

Rod Evans, of Deep Purple (in)fame is apparently a successful physician somewhere on the west coast of America. This has never been officially confirmed however.

Chris Lykins of Atrophy is now a successful ENT.

There was another guitarist out of an 80s metal band of some repute from America, I forget his name, but he became a CEO of a fortune 500 company if I recall correctly.

Double post, but some 10 hours in between posting.

Jeremy Spencer, founding member of Fleetwood Mac, quit music to become a full time cultist. 45 years later and he's still a member of the same cult.

Bill Tsamis of Warlord got some useless arts doctorate, and spends most of his time in academia.

John Arch went into cabinet making.

Nik Napalm became a career student, and now works as an artist.

Kim Ruzz became a postman.

One of the guys in Carnivore became a bus driver in New York

After Roy Khan burned out from Kamelot he worked for a church as a youth minister. As of 2016 he was no longer an employee there. He seemed really happy doing it, so good for him.

Martin Eric Ain from Celtic Frost owns at least one bar, and, as I recall, was involved with something like DVD distribution or something like that.

Jeff "Oly" Olson from Trouble/The Skull works for Allagash Brewing Company

Scott Reagers quit Saint Vitus back in the mid '80s at the behest of his girlfriend and, as far as I know, didn't do anything with music again except for the occasional reunion with Saint Vitus.

Lucky Lehrer, the original drummer for the Circle Jerks, split with the band to finish law school. My understanding is that he failed his bar exam in California (which is supposed to be especially difficult) and went into the family business, which was something like manufacturing sunglasses. He did some occasional music (I know he sat in on some Bad Religion gigs in the mid '80s when they were just performing sporadically) but never did another band full time. Keith Clark, who drummed for the Circle Jerks in the late '80s and early '90s, was a full-time accountant before and after his time with the Circle Jerks.

Ron McGoveny is a carpenter or something like that.

Dezsõ Bartha, of Nasty Savage, was forced to leave the band after his father threatened to take away his inheritance. No idea what he did later in life, as he never returned to music and just vanished into obscurity as far as I can tell. I can't even find any interviews where the band members mention him.

Herb Simonsen, who played with King Diamond during the mid-to-late 90's, ended up becoming a car salesman. I know because a friend and I googled him for some reason after a night of heavy drinking, and found him listed on some dealer website which had his contact info, which led to us sending him a drunken email lauding his guitar abilities .

Coburn Pharr, the singer of Annihilator on the "Never, Neverland" CD, ended up being the president of some Plastic making business called McKechnie Plastic Components. I found a hilarious YouTube video where his nephew came up to him at a family gathering and basically said "COBURN PHARR FROM ANNIHILATOR IS MY UNCLE!!!!"

Roger Martinez from Vengeance Rising went from being a Christian to a Satanist, but now he's....a Satanic real estate agent! He apparently became a real estate agent back in 2002 but there are recent YouTube videos of him where he continues to express his Satanic beliefs (I also read about an encounter that the guy from Tourniquet had with him ).

Some combination of all of these. Most commonly, it's the first one. For the bands that manage to make a living from it, it's probably 2 or 4. Sometimes members grow to hate their bandmates or management to the point that they're willing to give it all up. Some other people just can't handle the lifestyle, and want something more predictable and simple. There's nothing wrong with that at all.


I doubt I'd ever give up music in every capacity. I enjoy it too much to ever totally give it up.

Chris de Garmo of Queensrÿche became a Jet (City Woman) pilot

For a while, Michael Sweet of Stryper was a campground attendant and part-time cranberry farmer somewhere in Massachusetts

Shortly after he quit Deep Purple for the first time, Ian Gillan opened an hotel and a motorcycle shop. Luckily, he failed.

In between his stints with VoiVod, Snake owned a catering company along with his wife or girlfriend.

actually he wrote a lot of the first 2 albums.

Mick Pointer, the original drummer of Marillion, was fired in 1983 after the first album and went on to work as a kitchen designer before finally forming another band, Arena, in 1995.

The Baron from Amebix went to Scotland to learn the craft of sword making for 25 years.

He's back now.

Billy Corgan pretty much stopped with all that music stuff with Smashing Pumpkins and whatnot, and went into... Pro Wrestling.

Yeah, I know it's not Metal, but it is pretty funny.

Blacky from Voivod started a ballet company or dance company after leaving Voivod the first time.

Let's not forget shitty, boring ambient modular synthesizer noodling set to the book on tape of "Siddhartha". And I say this as a huge fan of what most people would consider shitty, boring ambient modular synthesizer noodling.

Try not to view this as shitting on your comment, but overly loving something is exactly the kind of thing that leads to burnout. You get so into it, it gets to be all consuming, and before you know it, you're shooting John Lennon in the fucking head.

Most of my interests tend to go through cycles and periods of intense support, then waning interest while I get into something else. A quick glance over to my name shows I've been around here since 2004, but have not been visible for a very long time. My interests revolve around Video Games, Transformers, and The Metal.

My gaming interest has been waning for a while, especially the classic collecting part of it. Transformers have seen some of their best years recently for collectors (I will not use the words "nerd" or "geek" if I can avoid them--I remember when they were slurs), and despite the shitshow of 2016, Seibertron considered it one of the best ever for the brand. Which has been so much fun, my kid also got wrapped up in it. Come on, giant new Devastator, Fort Max, and Trypticon? What collector says no to those guys?

Lately, my interest in Metal has come back pretty strong after a painful realization of just how much stuff I've been missing out on, and in a need to add some fresh stuff to my library and playlists.

My point is that, I get really into the stuff I like, but there are these main things, so it cycles. I tend not to get completely burned out on something--I'll come back around at some point. But when something is an all-encompassing obsession? That's when people do risk burn-out. I used to be huge on all sorts of paranormal bullshit, especially UFOs. But there was another element there, in that, they were bullshit. The more I got into this stuff, the more I learned, the more cracks formed in the foundations. On top of which, eventually, skeptics were appearing in what I read and watched, and that broke down more of the facade. I burned out on being a Nintendo fan in a similar manner. Spend so many years strictly with Nintendo and defending a company that repeatedly makes bone-headed and confounding decisions, and eventually, it takes a toll.

It's not a guarantee, of course. Just saying that sometimes that deep obsession and fascination is what leads to the eventual disinterest.

Tim Calvert of Forbidden/Nevermore is a pilot with SkyWest

Chris Lykins from the 80s thrash band Atrophy is a highly respected ENT doctor.

Matt Barlow of Iced Earth is now a cop in Maryland.

Nasty Suicide from Hanoi Rocks got a PhD in pharmacology and is now a respected drug researcher in Finland

Terry Chimes from The Clash is a chiropractor

Mike Sus of Possessed is a counselor for messed up kids in SF

Tory Castellano from the all-girl rock band The Donnas is in Harvard Law School. Whatever she does that degree will be a license to print money.

Pete Willis of Def Leppard became a realtor

Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins is the CEO of a tech company focused on live concerts.

And while he is still in music, Blitz from Overkill co-owns a confection/sweets shop with his wife in New Jersey. It does quite well, too.

The one everyone talks about, though, is Jason Everman, who was a member of Nirvana and Soundgarden. Realizing he needed to change his life, he went into the Army and served as a Ranger and Green Beret, two of the toughest groups in the Army.

Jim Sheppard of Nevermore/Sanctuary is now working as a chef.

Vibeke Stene(Tristania) left the band to become a singin teacher.

Lisa Johanson left Draconian after he became a mother and due to her job(dont know what kind of job she has).

Both were a great loss for the scene.

Kittil Kittilsen from Mayhem and other, he left the scene and became a Christian fundamentalist.

I was surprised to hear about Billy Corgan buying a wrestling promotion. I thought he'd be the arty farty type who'd consider something like that beneath him.

Fredrik Andersson of Marduk is a carpenter.

Taneli Jarva is a tattoo artist.

Legion of Marduk is a tattoo artist and biker.

You'd be amazed at how much of the wrestling fanbase is that "arty farty" crowd. Hell, pro wrestling is actually most popular in more liberal areas, and those are known for being artistic hotbeds. He didn't buy a promotion, per se, but he bought the IP rights to the National Wrestling Alliance, which is basically a loose collective of different companies. It's like buying a financing firm that owns tangentially related subsidiaries all over the world.

Not only did he buy the NWA IP rights, it's his third attempt at running a successful wrestling company. He financed Chicago-based Resistance Pro for a few years, was in a shit situation with TNA Wrestling where he was making moves to purchase it before ex-owner Dixie Carter screwed him over (TNA sold the majority of shares to Anthem Sports & Entertainment not long after), and now he's making moves to own the oldest property in the industry (which has been virtually worthless since 1992).

To add to the list, Danielle Stampe, best known as Slymenstra Hymen of Gwar, now does the rounds with touring freak shows while also operating an interior/exterior design company called Wrapt in Comfort.

WHUT

That's like an adorable old couple retirement job. That's fucking awesome. I love those places. We have them all over this state due to the number of "quaint little tourist towns" dotting our many rivers and lakes.

PLEASE TELL ME IT'S NAMED AFTER AN OVERKILL SONG.

I literally thought the same thing when I learned this.

This thread is awesome.

Surprised I'm the first to mention Gerald Preacher from Running Wild.
His successor Majk Moti deserves a mention as well.

Sorry nope. And I was wrong, his store is in NY, not NJ.

http://noisecreep.com/overkill-valentin ... chocolate/

Overkill singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth isn’t just the frontman of one of the most revered thrash bands of all time. He’s also a businessman, as he and his wife Annette own a chocolate shop in Nyack, N.Y.

“Annette and I met in the Netherlands in 1999 at the Dynamo Open Air,” Ellsworth told Noisecreep about their romance born of metal. “The idea was to bring a little bit of Europe with her to the US. “We opened Chocolaterie in 2004. The shop is located in Nyack and boasts some of the world’s finest chocolate imports. Belgian dark chocolates are my fave! They are the drug of the chocolate world.”

In honor of Valentine’s Day, which is of course a chocolate-friendly holiday, Chocolaterie is offering a ‘Blitz Picz box.’ “It’s filled with my favorite obsessions, and we offer traditional heart shaped boxes and trendy Valentine’s gifts,” the singer said.

You can visit the store on the web, but Ellsworth also cordially invites you to stop by. “I’m there all day on Feb. 12.”

Chocolaterie of Nyack is located at 6 South Broadway, Nyack, N.Y. If you want to indulge in the addictive drugs of the chocolate world and hang out with a legend while picking up some tasty treats for the chocoholic in your life, then stop on by.

I love the whole Jason Everman thing. He gigged with Nirvana and Soundgarden and then decided that he wanted to be a proper renaissance man. Benvenuto Cellini says that a well rounded man is an "artist, warrior and philosopher". Figuring out he'd already nailed the artist (kind of debatable I guess), he decided to go off and join the freaking special forces.

Bit of a dude either way.

Tygers of Pan Tang had a few guys that moved onto noteworthy endeavours. Jess Cox went on to run Neat Records, the famous NWOBHM label. John Deverill became a stage actor.

Marty Friedman is a media identity in Japan, both as a tv presenter and a columnist.

Kev Bower from Hell left music to become a sales rep, and left music behind entirely. He never let anyone know that he was in music earlier in his life. One year, he won a sales award at the companies end of year celebrations. His boss hands him the award, and also requests that he sign a recently acquired copy of Save Us. Kev nearly shit himself when he saw it.

Well, that seems like a missed opportunity. I mean, Under the Influence of Chocolate. The Years of Chocolatier. You get the idea.

But now I have a reason to visit New York.

Like Legion, former Emperor drummer Trym is a tattoo artist.

^ This. You have to have a life outside of your main career/passion. Most balanced people do. You occasionally come across people who are experts in their chosen fields, or very dedicated to them, but who don't really have a life or interests outside of that area, and it's kind of sad to see that.