Joseph D’Agostino reveals why Cymbals Eat Guitars called it quits

In a new interview with Billboard, D'Agostino has spoken about his new project Empty Country, and the reason that Cymbals Eat Guitars decided to split with no real announcement.

D'Agostino said of their split, "We wanted to quietly deep-six it. We could have told everybody that our December 2017 shows were gonna be our final shows, but -- I dunno. It just seemed a little gaudy to do so. We were never people to draw attention to ourselves in that way."

Billboard states that their split was caused by deep exhaustion from touring and their bassist Matt Whipple's decision to go and study interior design.

Speaking about how they were getting towards the end, D'Agostino says, "It was over many years. And it was like, I had to drink to perform. Especially towards the end."

The former Cymbals Eat Guitars vocalist has so far shared two tracks as Empty Country - "Ultrasound" and "Jets". He also shared another track today via Billboard titled "Marian".

In the same interview, Billboard point out that his "Ultrasound" track landed on the same day as David Berman's passing. D'Agostino was due to open for Purple Mountains for two dates on their forthcoming tour. He states that Berman had listened, and gave encouragement, after hearing some Empty Country demos. D'Agostino says, "He was just such a brilliant and kind man. I will forever hold memories and correspondences that I have of him. But I haven’t listened to his music since he passed."

D'Agostino says of his debut solo album, "I didn’t make this [solo] record to be famous or to be a career musician, though that was my ambition as a younger man. I made it to document and honor my human experience and that of my family."