Brent Knopf Leaves Menomena to Focus On Ramona Falls and Other Projects

Can't say I didn't see this one coming. This afternoon Menomena announced on its website that multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf—founding member, skilled keyboard player, and the creator of the Deeler looping system used to create all the band's music—is leaving the band to focus on other projects, including Ramona Falls. I hesitate to call Ramona Falls a solo project, because 2009's Intuit featured over 30 other local musicians, but it was the first work Knopf created without the help of Menomena's other founding members, Danny Seim and Justin Harris. I've got a line out to the band for an update, but for now Menomena will carry on with Paul Alcott (Dat'r, Dykeritz, and also, in a weird twist, the former touring drummer for Ramona Falls) filling in. Still, it's not the same band, as a good third of the band's songs were penned by Knopf and featured his soft vocals and amazing multi-tasking skills onstage. Bummer. Here's the brief post from Menomena's official website:

After 10 years of fruit­ful col­lab­o­ra­tion, Brent Knopf has decided to part ways with Menom­ena to focus on Ramona Falls and other cre­ative pur­suits. We want to thank Brent for his vast con­tri­bu­tions over the years and wish him noth­ing but hap­pi­ness in all of his future endeav­ors. All three of us look for­ward to see­ing you soon!

The March US Tour will fea­ture Paul Acott round­ing out the quartet.

UPDATE: Brent Knopf just tweeted this from his Ramona Falls account:



Link:
Menomena