Modern Baseball’s Brendan Lukens has been very vocal about his recent mental health struggles, a part of his life played that a big role on the band’s excellent 2016 LP Holy Ghost, which landed on our best rock albums of 2016. Nonstop touring has specifically be a major contributor to his negative tendencies, and today it was announced that Lukens will not be joining the band on their upcoming European tour in the interest of focusing on bettering himself and trying to find methods that will allow him to continue touring and making music in the future. Lukens explained his decision in a lengthy post to the band’s Facebook page:
Hello fam – Bren here,
I have some unexpected news. I will not be joining Modern Baseball on the upcoming Europe / UK tour. I am okay — but I need this time at home to focus on my mental and physical health. The band will continue on with the tour thanks to help from mega friends Thins Lips, Superweaks and all the MOBO crew. This was an incredibly hard decision for me, and it was even harder confronting myself and the band about how I am feeling. Still, I know this is what I need right now. I can never thank MOBO and our crew enough for taking on the roles they have to support me.
I love y’all very much.Mental illness is very serious and should never be taken lightly. It’s a long journey to understanding and coping with your illness but I have so much faith in y’all, and myself. If you or a friend ever feels lonely, depressed, sad, confused, whatever here are some crisis hotlines you can call. Again, I love y’all very much — talk soon ????
Check out all of Modern Baseball’s upcoming tour dates here.
