SKINDRED's ARYA GOGGINS On Split With Founding Bassist DAN PUGSLEY: 'He Wasn't Very Happy For A Long Time'

In a new interview with The Itch rock podcast, drummer Arya Goggins of Welsh ragga metallers SKINDRED spoke about last year's departure of the band's founding bassist Dan Pugsley. Confirming that Pugsley wrote "90 percent" of SKINDRED's upcoming ninth album, "You Got This", with the rest of the band, Arya explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Dan] wasn't very happy for a long time. And it became apparent that we weren't that happy. And like these things, I think it was in everyone's best interests, I think, for us to move forward without him — just for our happiness, his happiness. And we just obviously thanked him for his incredible contribution — for everything."

After the interviewer noted that Pugsley was in SKINDRED for nearly a quarter century, which is an incredibly long time for a band to stay together, Goggins concurred. "Well, that's exactly it. That's exactly it," he said. "And we're all learning as we go. We're all growing. Sometimes you grow together, sometimes you grow apart. Sometimes you grow together and grow apart and then come back together. And we've been through all that.

"I think the worst thing in the world, and that's the what the three of us all felt, was we didn't want to not do this," Arya continued, referencing the core trio of Goggins, singer Benji Webbe, guitarist Mikey Demus. "That was the most important thing for us. We were, like, 'We still feel the same, and we wanna just keep growing and keep putting out music and touring and do what we do.'

"I can't speak for Dan, but it's a sad situation," Arya added. "But we're all in a very good place with it ourselves, the rest of the guys."

Pugsley announced his departure from SKINDRED last November, writing in a social media post: "I've been getting a lot of concerned messages, so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm okay but I am no longer a member of SKINDRED.

"I want to thank my family, my friends, and especially all the SKINDRED fans for the incredible love and support you've shown me over the years. I'll always be deeply grateful for it.

"This band has been such a huge part of my life, and now I'm taking some time to figure out what's next for me. I'm really looking forward to new creative opportunities ahead."

In an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Benji stated about Dan's exit: "We have absolute respect for how long he was in the band. And we have respect for his talent, commitment and contribution — everything. There's no bad blood towards that, but it was very obvious after making ['You Got This'] that [Dan] wasn't happy, and he hadn't been happy for quite a while, and that unhappiness filtered into us. So, unfortunately, a parting of ways seemed the only logical thing to keep this band together and moving forward, because none of us wanted to split up."

The bass duties in SKINDRED are currently being handled by Tommy Gleeson, former touring guitarist with FEEDER, who previously covered for Mikey a decade ago when the guitarist's daughter was born.

"You Got This" will be released on April 17 via Earache Records. It is the follow-up to 2023's critically acclaimed album "Smile", which shot straight into the U.K. official album chart at No. 2 and SKINDRED went on to receive the "Best Alternative Music Act" award at the MOBOs, also winning "Best UK Act" at the Heavy Music Awards.

Production on "You Got This" came from the Grammy-winning Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, URIAH HEEP and STONE SOUR, among many others.

Photo credit: Dean Chalkley