Vio-lence's former guitarist Bobby Gustafon explains why he left band

Bobby Gustafson's departure from Vio-lence last October was due to financial challenges associated with touring, as he revealed in a recent interview with the "Metal Mayhem ROC" podcast (linked below). Initially, the band cited "logistical difficulties" without further explanation, however, Gustafson gave a different perspective.

Below is an excerpt taken from the almost hour-long podcast.

Yeah, (the cross-country commute) was hard. And with the economy, the way it was, everything started to get more expensive. I mean, the flights had doubled since I first started going out there in 2020. And to go back and forth, it was a strain on me, but it was a strain on the band as well, to try and keep themselves going. You can't be selfish and be the only one they're wasting money on like that. But they wanted somebody with a name , and they asked me to do it, and I was, like, 'Yeah. This'll be great.' So it just got to be where it's so expensive, and it's affecting every band, basically. Between diesel for the bus, hotel rooms, flying to Europe. I'm hearing now that they're taking a lot in Europe — they're taking money from your t-shirts.; they are taxing those bands that leave Europe to try and come here to play. Everyone's got their hands in your pockets. It's so hard to make anything… It's not cost effective anymore. It's, like, are you doing it doing it, or are you doing it to make a living? 'Cause you still have bills to pay at home, so you've gotta make something. And, yeah, the worst part of it is really the gas and those buses, and everything over there is diesel, and that just went through the roof.

So, it is what it is. There's no hard feelings or nothing. And it's just… move on.