Former Sum 41 Guitarist Dave Baksh Forms Brown Brigade

Guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh went through 30 months of hell before announcing last week that he was leaving Sum 41.

"The past two-and-a half years for me have been very strange and very eye-opening," says Baksh, who pondered quitting the band numerous times over that period.

Baksh didn't go into detail, but alluded to having problems with his marriage and his family, which spread to the road with the band. He believes that his decision will help him strengthen his family ties and make him happier, which he values more than the cash that he could have made from staying with Sum 41.

"I'd rather not be wiping my tears with money," he says.

Baksh says that he received songwriting credits and earns royalties for some of the solos that he contributed to Sum 41 albums, but not enough to allow him to be rolling in dough.

"The main songwriter in the band is and always will be Deryck [Whibley]," he emphasizes.

Whibley reinforced that point with this message that he posted on the message board on Sum 41's website:

"the fact is dave lost interest a long time ago. not to take any credit away from him, but he really didn't have anything to do with this band creatively for a long time. i wrote all those riffs and played most of them on the albums. so from a creative stand point nothing is going to change with sum41.

"we will miss dave a lot. and we don't plan on replacing him. we are in the middle of making our greatest record yet. it will definitely be our most exciting and important record we've ever made. and we plan on touring more and longer on this album than we ever have before.

"this may sound weird but this is the best thing that could have happened to sum41 right now. because in order to make a great record everyone involved has to be excited. and daves excitment was gone after all killer. so don't worry, sum41 is still sum41 and will sound the way we always have. we're just bummed we won't get to share the same stage with dave anymore."

Baksh says he practises playing his guitar eight hours a day and wants to try something different from what he was doing in Sum 41. He's formed a band called Brown Brigade with some local homeboys that he hopes can help revitalize the "P-town" music scene in Pickering, Ont.

"The main message of Brown Brigade is peace, love and positivity," says Baksh.

He's joined in the group by his cousin, Vaughn Lal, who plays bass and shares songwriting duties with Baksh. Lee Fairlea pounds the drums while The Craigulator accompanies Baksh on guitar. He won't divulge many details about Brown Brigade's music, except to say that he expects Iron Maiden comparisons.

The group are putting songs together and looking at potential singers, and may play a few shows this summer. Baksh is looking at a fall release for an album, though the band have no record company affiliations at this point. He wants to tour in support of the record, and emphasizes that he still loves playing live despite his unhappiness on the road with Sum 41.

"There were 22 hours and 45 minutes of sheer and utter depression and then an hour and 15 minutes of a great rush when we were on stage playing," is how Baksh explains his recent touring experiences.

Baksh admits that he differed from his bandmates when they weren't on stage. "I've never been a huge drinker, I was way more of a marijuana smoker.

"There were no substance abuse problems contributing to Baksh's split with the band. And when asked if Whibley's fiancee, Avril Lavigne, might have played a Yoko Ono role in trying to break up the group, he says, "No, no, no, 1,001 times no."

Sum 41 have taken an extended break since touring in support of 2004's Chuck album, and Jason "Cone" McCaslin has apparently been brushing up on his golf game. While Baksh says that he hasn't had a lot of recent direct contact with the guys whom he's spent much of the last 10 years with, and hasn't had any input into the new Sum 41 material, he's fully supportive of them and wishes them well.

"Stay positive and don't worry about me," says Baksh, who adds that fans can email him at dave_brownsound@yahoo.com.