Last week, tragedy struck in the Dance Gavin Dance camp when longtime bassist Tim Feerick suddenly passed away. The news was confirmed from the band themselves in a post they shared on social media, describing his death as a "heartbreaking and untimely loss." While his death would've been gutting under any circumstances, the band were left in a particularly difficult situation given that they were slated to announce their new album this week and then head out on a month-long tour beginning with their very own Swanfest festival on Saturday April 23rd. Today (April 18th), in a detailed statement, Dance Gavin Dance have shared that they'll be proceeding with the shows and announcing the record in honor of their fallen brother.
"This past week has been the most challenging time in Dance Gavin Dance's history," the statement reads. "On Thursday, April 14th, we found out that we had lost Tim. While he was the bassist in the band, he was also our brother and best friend. Losing him is devastating.
"We were preparing to meet up this past weekend ahead of Swanfest and the subsequent tour, when we heard the devastating news that he was no longer with us. After the initial shock and sadness, it wasn't long after that we were faced with some challenging decisions about the immediate future and our upcoming plans.
After many internal discussions with our team and, most importantly, Tim's family, we have decided to perform this year's Swanfest and do the subsequent tour in honor and dedication to Tim. We will also move ahead with the announcement of our forthcoming album, later this week.
The main factor of this decision came from knowing who Tim was as a person and what he would have wanted. We are confident that he would be very disappointed if we were to postpone or cancel these dates. We received furtehr affirmation of this from Tim's parents, with their encouragement to perform these dates.
In addition, music is our way of healing, and we, as the remaining members, desire to be together during this time and perform on stage to our fans the songs that he helped create. While no one can ever replace Tim or what he has brought to the band, we have asked Sergio Medina, a close friend to all of us and someone who has worked with Tim, to perform the bass duties for the upcoming shows.
We are planning a memorial to Tim at Swanfest, and the entire festival will be in dedication to him, as weill all the following shows on the tour. We look forward to celebrating his life with the fans. While this is an immense tragedy for everyone that loved and respected Tim, he would want everyone to come out, be together and enjoy the music. RIP Tim."
— Dance Gavin Dance (@DGDtheband) April 18, 2022
