"You have no idea the personal battles I was going through." Ash Costello reveals deeply personal reasons New Years Day pulled out of festivals in 2023, fires back at fans who criticised them

(Image credit: Hristo Shindov)

New Years Day vocalist Ash Costello has fired back at fans taking potshots at the band after they cancelled their planned appearance at US festival Welcome To Rockville in 2023.

With New Years Day due to return to the festival this year, Costello opened up in a new interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast about why they cancelled their appearance, and the negative response they received from some fans online.

"We had to cancel all of our festivals last summer," she explains. "And I saw the comments, like, 'Oh, New Years Day's gonna pull out again.' 'I don't trust they'll ever make it.' 'How come they always cancel?' And I just wanna reach out to those people, like, you have no idea the personal battles I was going through that summer."

"I had to really learn to prioritize myself and my health," she continues. "I went through a pregnancy. I went through a pregnancy loss, which was really traumatic because it was like a prolonged — tons and tons of tests, and it just kept getting worse and worse[...] And then a divorce, and moving to another state. There's just so much that happened, and I just wanna reach out to those people and be, like, you have no idea what any artist you're idolizing is going through. We're all human beings, facing battles you know nothing about. That was a big lesson for me - I was never putting myself first, and it showed."

Costello also goes on to talk about the importance of addressing issues, and the difficulty of speaking about them in public.

"It's not something I talk about," she admits. "It's important to have a community of women in the rock world talking about their real womanly issues that go on in our lives. I don't talk about this in general, but this is a girl's podcast. So I feel super comfortable talking about mental health and self-care and prioritizing yourself and not sacrificing your happiness and your mental health just to grind."

Costello's comments come at a time where the discussion around parasocial relationships between fans and bands is coming under increased scrutiny. In January, Corey Taylor released a video about the backlash he had received over cancelling his solo North America tour dates, revealing he had endured a "complete and utter breakdown of boundaries".

Listen to the full episode of The Mistress Carrie Podcast below.

New Years Day are due to appear at Welcome To Rockville on Friday May 10. The band's latest album Half Black Heart is out now. For more info on Welcome To Rockville and to buy tickets, visit the official website.

YouTube

Watch On

Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.