Ex-LEAVES' EYES Singer Slams Former Bandmates: They 'Should Be Professional Instead Of Being Destructive'

Former LEAVES' EYES singer Liv Kristine has given her first interview since parting ways with the group earlier in the year.

Kristine and the remaining members of LEAVES' EYES have offered different accounts of the circumstances behind their split, with LEAVES' EYES claiming the decision to part ways was amicably made in January and Liv saying she was dismissed from the group three months later. Her former bandmates then attempted to back up their claims by posting the the minutes of a band meeting that was held in early April in which they revealed that Liv had gotten engaged to her therapist after her marriage to LEAVES' EYES' co-vocalist Alex Krull broke down.

Speaking to Spain's Empire Zone online magazine, Kristine stated about her former bandmates' decision to publicize private details of her personal life: "I really disliked that. What's the meaning of this? First of all, I found it utterly unprofessional to post a band protocol I had never seen. It was neither signed by me, nor does it tell the whole truth. What the hell is going on? This is the property of the band, not of the rest of the world. Yes, it really hurt."

She continued: "I never thought any of my ex-band members would find it reasonable and cool to talk about my son and my private situation in interviews, and then post the bullshit on all LEAVES' EYES' pages. This doesn't make the situation for the band and their new singer any better. To me, it was a shock. I wonder what's the point in attacking me privately?

"The most important thing is the safety of my son. That's why it upset me so much.

"I have stayed away from press for months now. This is my first interview after the breakup on both personal and professional level early this year.

"LEAVES' EYES should concentrate on their career and be professional instead of being destructive.

"I just had to stop caring. The best way is to ignore the negative, to accept the past and concentrate on the positive.

"I love LEAVES' EYES music, what we once had together. However, I will be moving on for sure and I am not taking negative influences from anybody. This is also what I can say to any singer being a replacement for somebody who was there first."

Kristine also talked about how she has dealt with all the negativity that came out of her split with LEAVES' EYES and her determination to move forward.

"I am so glad and relieved that my life has gained new daily life structure and there's a brand new positive feeling towards my own situation," she said. "I can't deny it — times have been utterly complicated and tough. What a year! I have been busy finding a new home, having temporary different jobs to settle financially after I had to leave LEAVES' EYES. Moreover, it has been of vital importance for me to find my own way and accept what happened in the past.

"Life is a never-ending learning process. Experience is everything, next to a loving heart.

"I have tried to define 'love' and 'passion' through experience and I am so grateful for this new chance.

"In my opinion and own experience, you are alive when you feel real and honest love.

"I am living much more in this very moment with my son and all the wonderful, special people around me. I also would like to thank my fans for being a constant, steady strength and platform for me."

LEAVES' EYES guitarist Thorsten "Tosso" Bauer defended the band's decision to go public with the details of the band's split with Kristine, telling Russia's Rock Cor: "When Liv and Alex split up personally early January, Liv wanted to leave the band right away. But Alex convinced her to stay with the band and they both made a very good agreement with each other for their private life and business. So the band situation seemed to be solved at that point of time. But since February her new fiancé/therapist tried to interfere in a lot of band matters. He talked very bad about LEAVES' EYES and that shows, tours and interviews shouldn't happen without him anymore. Her fiancé/therapist even told Liv to step aside from the band. In March, things went far beyond after Liv moved to her engaged therapist and it became very clear to everybody in the band that we will go separate ways in the future. Liv also wanted to be involved in picking the new singer for LEAVES' EYES. We told her that we want to decide ourselves who will be our new singer in the band. So there has nothing been happening behind anybody's back.

"Beginning of April, we had a band meeting to talk about how things go on. In the meeting, we decided together to go separate ways immediately. Liv told us she is not able to fulfill her touring commitments with the band anymore for personal reasons. Moreover, Liv's lawyer wrote in a letter to Alex that a further cooperation including the live shows with the band is not possible for Liv anymore. So Liv was relieved not having to play any future shows with LEAVES' EYES. As a result of the meeting, we also set up a press statement together with Liv, to inform the fans and media. To the surprise of everybody, this first press statement we set up together was attacked soon after by several additional posts and statements from Liv. Suddenly other people and 'trolls' started to spread nasty rumors and lies on the Internet. That was the reason for the confusion and anger in April."

LEAVES' EYES' new singer is Elina Siirala, a Finnish vocalist who lives in London, England.

The band's latest EP, "Fires In The North", was released in Europe on October 7 and was made available in the U.S. on November 4 via AFM Records. The title track is a brand new song, featured in a regular and an acoustic version. In addition, the EP includes three songs from the band's latest album, "King Of Kings", in new versions, featuring Siirala. The cover artwork was created by Stefan Heilemann.