Singer Jonathon Newby quits Brazil

Vocalist Jonathon Newby is leaving Muncie, Indiana's Brazil. His last show will be in the band's hometown on August 18th at the Launching Pad with friends This Story. The singer posted a statement to the band's MySpace blog:

Strange? Yes. Strange for me to type, strange for me to ponder, and probably strange for you to read. I've spent an amazing seven years of ups and downs with this group of guys (and a few others) building it from the ground up, so it's not exactly a checker's game and a bagga chips to just up and walk away.

"So have you really quit the band to go out and get a real job?"

Well, in a way. I mean, what is a real job? (Yeah, I thought so.) Everything is a means to an end. Sleeping on floors and waking up at 2pm to take my weekly shower wasn't helping me achieve that end. But don't get me wrong, I feel extremely proud of having clocked in almost a decade of the lifestyle.
So now I must monetize. For what? Not a giant house, nor a matching set of solid gold toilet seats. But so I can move forward, both as an artist and as a human being. This is not the end of me as a creator. Far, far from it. It's the beginning of something completely different.

Newby goes on to state that the split is amicable and the band will continue on in his absence. Brazil most recently released The Philosophy of Velocity on Immortal Records.