Ex-Panic! At The Disco Guitarist Talks Split

07/14/09 3:33pm

by Bianca Marcus (CHARTattack)

Panic! At The Disco (yes, the exclamation point is back) had some 'splaining to do after guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker suddenly left the band last week.

Ross — who's teamed up with Walker to "embark on a musical excursion of their own" — spoke to MTV News about the reasoning behind the split and both camps' plans.

According to Ross, his and Walker's decision to leave the emo-rock band was not as sudden as it may have seemed.

"It's been a little while, a few months since we started thinking that this might be the best thing to do," said Ross. "Jon and I had been writing a bunch of stuff on the road, and it just got to a point when we were off tour, when we were talking about getting together and working on this stuff, that it became pretty apparent that we all weren't wanting to go in the same direction.

"There was a period where we weren't really talking to each other all that much, and Jon and I were just living at my house and continuing to write. And we kind of realized we needed to get over not speaking and figure out what was actually going on. So we all sat down and pretty much came to the conclusion that the best thing for everyone was to do what we did."

Ross cites creative differences between himself and P!ATD frontman Brendon Urie as the main reason for the breakup. Urie, who will continue under the Panic! At the Disco name with drummer Spencer Smith, had begun to lean towards a more polished pop aesthetic while Ross and Walker were more interested in a vintage rock sound.

"Brendon's more of a Peter Gabriel fan, and I'm more of a Ray Davies fan," said Ross.

"Brendon has always been a fan of pop music, but that's such a broad term, because I guess I would say I would be too, but in a different way. Jon and I are still very much influenced by the Beatles and Beach Boys stuff and the Kinks and stuff like that. And so that's the stuff we were writing at my house ... that's the stuff we're going to make now. I haven't heard any of Brendon and Spencer's stuff, to be honest."

Smith posted a new song called "Oh Glory" on Panic! At The Disco's website http://www.panicatthedisco.com last week, and it's available for streaming. Smith and Urie have been working on new demos, and Urie said last month the band had been working on the follow-up to 2008's Pretty.Odd. for six months.

Ross and Smith met last month to discuss the issues among band members.

"Spencer and I had lunch and caught up for a while, and then the big question came up, like, 'Well, what do you want to do?' and I said, 'Well, I think it might be best if we kind of do our own think [sic] for a while,' and he said, 'I'm glad you said that, because I was going to say the same thing," said Ross.

"And there was really no argument, which is really the best way that could've worked out. ... I think really everybody will be happy doing what we're doing. Me and Jon are really excited about what we're working on, and those guys are happy too. I guess it got to the point where there might have been too many cooks in the kitchen."

Despite the awkwardness of the recent breakup, Ross said he still believes his and Walker's decision to leave the band was a "good, healthy" thing.

Ross and Walker have been recording with Pretty. Odd. producer Rob Mathes and hope to unveil their songs in the near future.

In the meantime, you can see Smith and Urie as Panic! At The Disco here:

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