Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard on Chris Walla’s departure: “We knew this was coming for some time”

In the new issue of DIY, Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard gives an honest account about Chris Walla’s departure from the band, stating that “we kinda knew this was coming for some time.”

“I think that, knowing this was something that was coming - for years, honestly - there’s a particular kind of relief that comes when you know that the outcome that you’ve expected on the horizon is finally here, and you can finally move on with your life,” he tells DIY’s Sarah Jamieson. “I’m certainly not overflowing with joy that Chris left the band,” he adds, “but at the same time, just having - finally after all these years - the catharsis of somebody who’s had - in some ways - one foot out the door for years, finally leave the band, it comes with a particular sense of relief.”

“I mean, honestly, I found it very bittersweet,” Gibbard offers up, on just how Walla’s news affected the process, “but also, frankly very liberating. I think that when you’re making a record with a band and you’ve been doing it as long as we have, sometimes you do have to tiptoe around people and make sure you don’t hurt their feelings if you tell them that something’s not working. You know that you’re gonna be living with this person for the next year and a half, playing these songs.

“Particularly Chris and I’s relationship has been a complicated one over the years and I think that sometimes neither of us have said the thing we needed to say at the time because we were fearful of setting one another off,” he continues.