Lost Prophets New Band Loose Drummer

Luke Johnson, the drummer with No Devotion, has quit the band because he was worried “he would be unable to fulfil commitments”. No Devotion were formed out of the remaining members of Lostprophets, the band that split when singer Ian Watkins was convicted of child sex offences. Matt Tong, formerly of Bloc Party, has stepped in to help the group complete their upcoming album. “We wish Luke all the best,” the band said in a statement on Instagram.

“It was sad to hear, because we’ve obviously been on quite the journey together over the past five years. “We didn’t say anything publicly, because deep down we hoped he’d change his mind.” No Devotion’s singer, Geoff Rickly, performs at Soundwave 2012 in Sydney. Their statement also confirms that Phil Jenkins from Kids in Glass Houses will be joining them on their upcoming shows.

Lee Gaze, Jamie Oliver, Stuart Richardson and Mike Lewis make up No Devotion, which was formed in the months after Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison in December 2013. United Nations and ex-Thursday singer Geoff Rickly took Watkins’ place in the new line-up. Ian Watkins is serving 29 years in jail after pleading guilty to 13 sexual offences in 2013 A statement, released last July about the new project, said: “Harshly uprooted from their settled lives and careers, (the bandmates’) own notions of trust and betrayal tested beyond measure, there was never going to be an ending in which everything could simply go back to where it was before.”

The former members of Lostprophets also talked to Newsbeat about their shock and disgust after finding out that singer Ian Watkins was a paedophile. Bassist Stuart Richardson said: “Even though I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be. “The first time, we knew the band was done. You can’t go back from that.”