Mike Joseph Clampitt has left VCTMS after five years, and he did not leave quietly. Lambgoat has published a long statement in which he sets out why, and the reasons are allegations about how the band has been run.
He writes that the most recent tour showed him a line had been crossed long ago, and that he could no longer be a bystander to what he describes as a constant level of abuse aimed at the band's crew, at other members, at other bands on the same tour packages and at himself. He names drummer Meredith Henderson, alleges that she berated people, threw objects, humiliated crew publicly, refused to pay people and used band money inappropriately while keeping management in the dark, and says the rotating line of members and crew over the years exists because everyone eventually reaches the same conclusion.
He also puts part of it on himself. He and John, he writes, enabled it by never finding the courage to stand up to her, and he says he held his tongue while it continued. His closing line asks forgiveness from people he let down with that silence.
The statement ends by saying it is not meant to ruin the band's reputation, and that nothing can change until repeated behaviour is named. Neither Henderson nor the band had published any response when the statement went up, and these remain one departing member's account.