When last we heard from Hackman guitarist Darryl Shepard, he was rejoicing that departed bassist Jase had rejoined the band. Now apparently they’re done. Bummer. They were one of the first interviews done for this site and a quality group all around. If you haven’t checked out their second and apparently final album, Enterprises, it’s definitely worth your time.

Of course, Shepard will be reuniting with his old Milligram band mates at the Small Stone Records showcase in?Boston this September 26 (more info here), and if anything in music is worth knowing it’s that almost never does “never” mean never. In the meantime though, it’s a shame to see a band like Hackman bite the dust. Here’s what Shepard had to say about it on the StonerRock.com message board:

Finished. Kaput. Over. No more. We had a couple of shows coming up, we have canceled for both of them. No more shows. Totally done. We just recorded three final songs at Mad Oak, we’re gonna finish those up and then that will be it. Thanks to everyone who dug the band and came out to shows and supported us in any way. Over and out.

There are many reasons, but to sum it all up it just became more of a hassle than it was worth. The band was making absolutely no money at all, even at shows, so we’ve been paying for everything right out of our own pocket, and we just can’t do that anymore. Plus everyone’s different schedules made planning anything, including rehearsals, a huge pain in the ass. We don’t hate each other or anything, but it’s just time for it to end before we do hate each other. The band has basically just run its course, and I personally feel like we’ve said all we need to say as a band, musically.

The fact that the band lasted this long is pretty amazing, I?d say. We started back in 2005 after I spent a month in the psych ward. Then we parted ways with Todd, the drummer, and didn’t have a drummer for months, but we still functioned and even recorded. Then I had a heart attack, at practice no less. We kept it going, regardless. But the time has just come to put Hackman to bed, so to speak. I’m personally very, very proud of our two albums as well as the three brand new songs we just recorded.

We’re supposed to finish up the new songs in a couple of weeks, not sure what we’re gonna do with them, but I can hook people up with CDRs, I suppose.

The breakup probably has less to do with the music than with everything else. I mean, we’re fucking broke. Our last show with Stinking Lizaveta we didn’t make a dime. Not that we ever made much money, but we do need to make a little money to help pay for the space, etc. And that’s just not happening at all. We’ve been playing for about four years, and we can’t even get paid in our hometown? Fuck it, you know? I’m not in this to make money, but the sad truth is a band needs a little income to survive, and we’re broke. But that’s just one reason.

Thanks again to those who supported us.

Tags: Boston, Hackman, Sad shit, Small Stone

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.