Over the past two years our band has become five of the closest friends any of us have ever had, a fully-fledged pride if you will, sharing some awesome experiences together and making some music we are all very proud of. Last month, Ross decided that he wanted to take up the incredible opportunity to work for the BBC in Northern Ireland, which we are sad to announce, means that he has had to leave Likes Lions. Ross is the best drummer and friend we have ever played with, and it’s safe to say that without him our band would never have existed. We will of course miss him hugely, but we’ve had an amazing time as Likes Lions so far, making the music we love and playing some fantastic gigs, which is why we decided that we needed to continue this band. Without doubt we will play with Ross again, not as Likes Lions, but as friends who love music. He is no longer our drummer, but he will always be our friend. He will always be a lion.
Of course, we wouldn’t want to carry on with the band without knowing that we had the best possible replacement for Ross, which is why when we knew that Martin Ruffell was available, we knew that we needed to get him onboard. Some of us were already aware of Martin’s phenomenal abilities as a musician in Will and Greg’s hometown, primarily as the former drummer for The Joyous Kaput, who played with, amongst others, Bloc Party, Pull Tiger Tail, Bombay Bicycle Club and Twin Atlantic. We were delighted when he agreed to take up the sticks and become our new full-time drummer. As we’ve got to know Martin further, he has floored us with not only his drumming, but his stellar personality. It didn’t take long for us to realise that Martin is one of the coolest dudes around, and would fit in perfectly as both a musician, where he has already added so much to our sound, and as a friend. He even gets our in-jokes! Now as a group, we can’t wait to take Likes Lions even further, with new and better songs already in the pipeline that we’re totally psyched for you to hear.
We also want to wish Ross the very best in his media career. Good luck dude!
LL