STAIND Guitarist: 'We Weren't Able To' Make It Work With Drummer JON WYSOCKI

Massachusetts rockers STAIND spoke to Fuse TV about the surprise departure of their drummer, Jon Wysocki, during the making of the band's new studio album.

"Seventeen years being a band together, we went to make the record, and it was tough; things weren't really going the way we wanted [them] to," guitarist Mike Mushok said at this past weekend's Rock On The Range festival in Ohio. "We tried to work through it, and I think it just got to the point where we realized that we weren't able to, and it was time to make a change."

Drummer Will Hunt (EVANESCENCE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, TOMMY LEE) will sit behind the kit for STAIND for the next couple of shows before the group secures a more permanent replacement for Wysocki.

In a 2007 interview with Modern Drummer, Wysocki spoke of his fondness for recording and performing, but admitted he was uncomfortable with some aspects of fame.

"Favorite part of touring? That's easy playing the live show," he said. "The worst part for me is when fans come up to me, sometimes I feel uncomfortable with their excitement at meeting me. People view you a certain way, but we're just like anybody else who happens to be in a position that people think is glamorous. I don't feel any different from anyone else, it's just that I make my living playing the drums. People say certain things and I freeze up, I don't know what to say back. If it's a compliment, I say thanks, but when it's that gawking, worshiping type of thing, it just makes me uncomfortable. But don't get me wrong I love and appreciate our fans!"

STAIND recently regrouped after a year-long break in to begin writing the follow-up to 2008's "The Illusion Of Progress". Singer Aaron Lewis described the CD to AOL's Noisecreep as "the heaviest thing we have recorded in a long time. It's definitely one of the heaviest collection of songs that we have put together."