Of Mice & Men ex Carlile expands on why he quit

Carlile, centre, with Of Mice & Men
Carlile, centre, with Of Mice & Men

Former Of Mice & Men vocalist Austin Carlile has explained further reasons why he quit the band in December.

Carlile, who suffers from Marfans Syndrome, announced his departure at the end of last year, saying: “This is what I love, music is where I found myself, but these three tears in my spine, plus a fourth that occurred the year prior, were signs that I was absolutely not able to scream any more.

“My team advised me that if I continued to do so, it would cause ‘permanent and irrevocable damage’ to my spinal cord and nervous system.”

Now he’s expanded on his decision – and says his former bandmates played their part in his eventual choice.

Responding to a fan who asked if he would contribute to a new Of Mice & Men record on Instragram, Carlile says: “No, I will no longer be writing with them – one of the reasons I left.

“They weren’t going to let me write what I wanted on next record. That’s not gonna happen. I will write what I want despite what that means giving up.”

Of Mice & Men are continuing as a four-piece with Aaron Pauley, Alan Ashby, Phil Manansale and Valentinio Arteaga.

In the run up to Carlile’s departure, the band were forced to cancel their planned Australian tour with A Day To Remember because of the frontman’s ongoing health issues.

The dates were due to take place in support of their fourth album Cold World.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.