FASTWAY Parts Ways With Singer JOHN 'HARV' HARBINSON

Original MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke's band FASTWAY has officially parted ways with its most recent singer, John "Harv" Harbinson (STORMZONE). Harbinson's statement on the matter reads as follows:

"Most people familiar with me know that I'm never usually stuck for words, whether written or spoken, many think I talk too much and others listen and then ignore everything I've just said (those in that category have stopped reading already, haha). It's strange then that I'm struggling to write about the position I find myself in at the minute, mostly because recent decisions have been exceptionally hard to make, but also because I know many will wonder if those I've made are the right ones.

"OK, I may as well tell you what I'm talking about to keep you from dozing off and the crux of the matter is that after six months as FASTWAY singer it has been mutually agreed by both the band and myself that I should relinquish that position. I'm devastated at not being able to join the guys on the summer festival tour and I was genuinely excited about the prospect of playing with the legendary 'Fast' Eddie Clarke at Sweden Rock and Donington, amongst many other huge shows, but for the good of both myself and FASTWAY it was decided in an amicable fashion that the logistics involved in having a singer based in Ireland and all three other band members in London made things too difficult to co-ordinate and I wasn't in a position to fix the problem by, as suggested, moving to London.

"The FASTWAY shows over the summer, although fantastic opportunities for a lad from East Belfast, were low-key in the great scheme of festivals and the appearance fees didn't justify the huge amounts it would take to accommodate my travelling expenses for rehearsals and shows. This would also have greatly affected future arrangements as FASTWAY was generating enough attention to alert promoters to the new line-up and it was inevitable that the festival shows would lead to greater things, including lengthy tours. This would have affected a very important part of my life and the main reason the decision was made to bow out at this point because I just couldn't walk away from my responsibilities with my comrades in STORMZONE. That's why I mentioned at the beginning that there were those who questioned my sanity, including some of those in my band, but we've worked long and hard in putting STORMZONE together and having just released our debut album and (during the FASTWAY schedule) done some fantastic shows in promotion of the CD I just couldn't throw away what we've built over the past couple of years, especially as it's a vehicle through which I can honestly express myself in my own style with my own band and not be simply looked on as a replacement singer in an already established act.

"The guys in FASTWAY have been fantastic and understanding about all this and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity they gave me in reaching a wider audience as their singer. Eddie Clarke, John McManus and Steve Strange are all superb musicians and friends and were capable at the beginning of the FASTWAY reunion of recruiting a vocalist of their stature and standing in the world of rock but chose to give me a shot. Things were working out very well and FASTWAY sounded great, and maybe if the band hadn't have looked as if it had the potential to be big again events wouldn't have led to this decision of mine being so damn hard, but it's been made and I have to live with it. I have so many commitments which were made at the start of the year with STORMZONE that I just couldn't allow success with FASTWAY to put me in a position of disappointing my own band and those to whom promises had been made to perform later on in the year after the FASTWAY summer shows were supposed to have finished. The record deal we made with Escape Music also had to be considered as it was for 3 albums and it would have been very difficult meeting the schedule required to record and release our second album this year. It also wouldn't have been feasible for me to move over to London and then put STORMZONE in the position I was in travelling for rehearsals and gigs etc.

"For those who feel I've missed out on a great life-changing opportunity, yes, it would have been brilliant performing this summer in front of thousands of people, but it's actually more important to me to ensure I'm playing for people as promised with STORMZONE as well, and bearing in mind we're performing at this year's Firefest in Nottingham (with plans to do some small shows in the USA shortly after that) I comfort myself in the knowledge that I get to play in front of a huge audience at Firefest living and dying with our own songs and performance, and although I realise that even this time next year STORMZONE may not be playing every European festival, I'd still like to think we'll have progressed enough to be invited to some of them and therefore this opportunity is only a delayed one rather than a missed one!

"For those who feel I've maybe let FASTWAY down, mmmm, maybe to a certain extent, but my decision was based on a number of factors, most of which have been covered above and it was (very amicably) agreed by everyone involved that this was the best outcome if I felt the way I did and they've certainly got time to get an established singer able to front FASTWAY in time for Sweden and certainly beyond. I had to be loyal to those I felt strongest about, and that loyalty lay totally with my family, band and friends and each of those elements equates to the other as my family are also friends and band treated as family. My love for them all made the hardest decision in my life more straightforward than it might have otherwise been.

"Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully you'll understand the whirlwind of emotions I'm going through at the minute, but just think, now I've double (or treble) the time to devote to STORMZONE. Oh dear, I hear the other guys in the band saying, that's going to make him double (or treble) the complete pain in the ass he already is, haha! Did I say at the start of this I was stuck for words? Dear God I wouldn't like to see me in full voice then!"