Former Flotsam man Kelly considered suicide

Former Flotsam And Jetsam drummer Kelly Smith has revealed he considered suicide before he quit the band last year.

Smith walked away from the Arizona outfit in November to deal with family issues including illness, death and drug addiction. According to Blabbermouth, Smith says he and his family are back on track.

Kelly says: “I had at one time in France considered the end. This was not a first-time thought, but it was becoming overwhelming. My sister took herself out in 2004 and occasionally I can feel her reaching for me.

“When I am in, I am all in 100%, holding nothing back. I take things very seriously and this time it nearly took me out for good. I had to let them go and for both our sakes. May seem dramatic – to me, it was life and death. I chose life.”

He adds: “When I made my decision to step away from Flotsam, life was crushing me and my family. We had a lot of weight and burden that was taking my focus on not only Flotsam but my and my family’s own well being as a whole.

“Since my departure, I am happy to say that we are on the road to recovery from all of these. Mother-in-law has since recovered and moved into her new house after selling it during her bout with illness. The two boys are back with their mother after 12 months with us. My son is still working things out for himself.”

Smith is working as a drum teacher, while Flotsam And Jetsam are working Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.