POP EVIL's LEIGH KAKATY On Drummer HAYLEY CRAMER's Decision To Leave: It Was 'Shocking For Me'

In a new interview with Rocking With Jam Man, POP EVIL singer Leigh Kakaty was asked if he was "shocked" by the recent departure of the band's drummer Hayley Cramer. The U.K.-based musician, who joined the Michigan rockers in 2016, announced her exit from POP EVIL in a social media post last December. Leigh said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[It was] shocking, for sure. We all go through things that we're going through personally. And she's got her family, she's got her friends and she's from another country, so there's a lot of variables for her and reasons for her, why she probably didn't wanna be here anymore. But definitely to lose a band member is always shocking for me. But you've gotta go on. Our personal families, everyone's counting on the band to provide. And the fans wanna see you keep going, so we just knuckle up and face adversity. You've gotta just meet it head on and keep going."

Asked how new POP EVIL drummer Blake Allison is adjusting to the band, Leigh said: "Blake's been incredible. I mean, he's learned the whole catalog in about two months So to have Blake here, he's been so helpful to POP EVIL on and off the stage for the past three or four years now, so now to have him in the band hopefully as long as we can keep him is an honor. And he's just such an incredible talent on and off the stage. And we're looking forward to seeing how long we can run with this lineup now."

When Hayley announced her exit from POP EVIL, she wrote in a statement that "reached a point" where she wanted "to branch out and find new paths and adventures - into the unknown!"

Cramer joined POP EVIL in May 2016 as the replacement for Josh "Chachi" Marunde, who exited the group in April that year.

Regarding how she came to be part of POP EVIL, Cramer told Modern Drummer magazine in a 2017 interview: "It's been crazy. It came about at the end of [2015] through a mutual friend of ours, who knew that I wanted to get back to the States. I was stepping in and out of bands in England and throughout Europe, and I felt like I couldn't find anything. I was like, 'You know what? I'd really like to go back to the States, so if you hear of anything, let me know.' He called me a couple of months later and said, 'POP EVIL are looking for a drummer. You should apply.' So I applied, and through various FaceTime and other online conversations, they took the chance and flew me out. We had one rehearsal and then went straight out on the road. I wasn't playing the shows — the previous drummer was, and I was playing the soundchecks. And I spent a couple of weeks watching the shows and hanging out with them. It was pretty obvious that we hit it off straight away. It just felt really good for all of us. Chachi sort of said, 'You know what, Hayley, it's yours now. I can see that the rest of POP EVIL are happy and you seem happy, so take over.' That was at the beginning of the DISTURBED and ROB ZOMBIE tour, which had some of the biggest shows for both the band and me. So they were pretty important shows, and it was important to do a good job. I'm a great a believer in diving into the deep end and either sinking or swimming. And usually I swim! [Laughs]"

Regarding what she was doing before she joined POP EVIL, Hayley said: "My first real band was called MCQUEEN, and that's were I got to tour Europe and Australia. We did okay, but it kind of ran its course, and we all got sick of each other. I kind of stepped away from original bands for a while because I wasn't ready to commit to one thing. I love so many different types of music, and I love playing with different people. So I was just in and out of bands, and I did quite a bit of teaching. [In 2015] I started feeling that I might want to find a band to commit to. I was sick of being the new guy all the time and thinking at every show, Oh, God. Am I going to remember this song? That's when I started to look to America. I've toured Europe quite a lot and I wanted some new scenery, new people, and new cultures again. And that's when POP EVIL happened."

Press photo credit: Amber Paredes