Arlequin lets go of drummer Tamon

Arlequin announces that they are letting go of drummer Tamon after losing contact with him. After being told by Tamon that he was going to see a doctor due to a fever on January 20, the band hasn’t been able to reach him ever since. Arlequin confirms that they will continue as a four-person band.

It is not the first time the band has lost contact with the drummer. A similar situation happened last year in September, when they lost contact with Tamon due to a problem regarding a woman he was dating.

The news, unfortunately, comes at a rather joyous time as 2023 marks a significant milestone for Arlequin in the form of its 10th anniversary.

The band has already announced the release of fifth album “δυσ-τόπος ~Dystopia~” for April 5, about a year since the last album titled MONSTER. Arlequin also released a best-of album 10th Anniversary Best “- Anthology -“ in late 2022.

The official band announcement and members statements go into further detail regarding the decision and feelings toward the situation of drummer Tamon. You can read our translation of these statements below.

Official band statement

We appreciate your continued support for Arlequin.

We are informing you about our decision to let go of drummer Tamon.

After his disappearance last September, Tamon assured the other band members and the management that he would remain available. However, ever since he notified the band on January 20 that he “developed a fever and would be going to see a doctor”, he has dropped off from contact and furthermore was absent from public events.

Taking this into consideration, after a thorough discussion with all the members, we’ve decided that Tamon would no longer be part of the band.

We’ve made music thus far thanks to the warm support from our listeners. We deeply apologize to all our fans and partners for having to bear this unfortunate news.

The upcoming shooting of our live music video at GARDEN Shinkiba FACTORY will proceed as scheduled on January 24. There are no other changes to our announced schedule.

We will continue our activities as a group of four. We appreciate all your support.

January 23, 2023

Vocalist Aki

My mind is scattered with a sense of loss and the question, “why?”.

The news hits our fans who’ve come to love him the hardest, I’m sure. I can’t help but feel shame in having to relay this situation to you all. I’m so sorry.

For 10 years we’ve had one another’s backs. We fought together. We marched onward, looking at one another in the eye…or so I thought. In the end, I never really found what lay in his heart’s depths. But if this is what he really wanted, I suppose we were meant to head down different paths.

Remember when we decided to tour again in September as a group of five… “with our determination set”. At that moment, I saw nothing but the truth.

That’s why I’ll never stop.

We take each step to keep moving onward.

It won’t happen now, but one day we’ll be able to look back and smile.

I’ll turn all this into our fuel. Our sound. And keep Arlequin alive.

To stand tall with our music.

Guitarist Kuruto

Since “that incident”, the five of us vowed to stay strong and stick together. We truly regret letting down all our fans and supporters yet again.

I’m sorry for leading you all to disappointment and anger. I too believed in him. I’m speechless. This betrayal has taken me beyond the point of rage. I’m just befuddled now.

All this to say: Nothing changes about me or the future of the band. We have our ambitions. Setbacks will come, and we’ll just work even harder to overcome them.

I’m not too good at retrospectives or commenting on things that already happened, but I know that the time I got to spend with him was still a precious moment in my life. To the fans who believed in him and feel left behind: Don’t worry, I’ve got you. All of you. We’ll move onward together, with all our might. We’ll take all this sadness and turn it into a fresh coat of smiles.

Please continue to cheer on Arlequin.

Holding onto the love that you all reaffirmed on the night of December 27 at Nippon Budokan, I will fulfill my role with everything I’ve got.

Guitarist Nao

As you all saw from the announcement, Tamon has left Arlequin as of today [January 23].

We’d first like to express our deepest apologies to all our fans and staff for having to deliver the regretful news.

Since our founding, we’ve come this far assuming we’d always remain together. But it seems those dreams weren’t meant to be.

I’m grasping for the words to describe the sadness welling up from hanging onto Tamon’s oath to regain the trust that he lost from his last mishap. Moreover, thinking about the blow of his departure to all our fans just crushes my heart. I always believed that Arlequin wouldn’t be the same with any one of us absent; this outcome now leads me to question the very existence of our band.

Faced with reality, I’ve told myself that we can’t let this take away something so important to us. Arlequin is a special space for me, the other members of the band, and each of our fans.

Accepting this change will surely take time to sink in, but time will never stand still. So, I really think it’s on us to take point and lead all of you there. This is our obligation to our loyal fanbase.

We have no intent on stopping Arlequin and we’ll continue looking out to the future.

Thank you for your understanding and for your support.

Bassist Shohei

The situation is a hard pill to swallow for everyone, and I especially regret to inform our supporters who cheered on our comeback since last September with love and warmth. I am truly sorry.

We decided once again to put our faith in his commitment to the band and poured everything into seeing eye to eye and standing by his side, but no matter what we did, we couldn’t keep his heart tethered to us.

“We’ll never let you down again”. Looking back to my words from our ninth-anniversary tour finale at Toyosu PIT, I only feel shame.

I had questioned and grappled over the meaning of this band without all five of us present, but we might just be at the end of our rope here.

But the one thing I’d never do is take away from all of you this special space that we’ve nurtured together. I’ll continue to move onward, taking this as one of life’s opportunities for me to grow and mature, so that one day we can meet again, with smiles.

I hope we can continue to keep counting on all your support for Arlequin.