The Getaway Plan Split With Drummer Aaron Barnett

Melbourne rock outfit The Getaway Plan have announced their long-time drummer Aaron Barnett has left the band.

The news was confirmed on their Facebook this afternoon, with Barnett absent throughout their recent summer tour.

"As some of you may have noticed, we have been touring with a new drummer this past month..." the statement began.

"At the beginning of the year TGP made the decision to part ways with Aaron. This was an extremely difficult decision to make especially after Aaron being a part of the family for so long, but at the end of the day the band needed to do what was right to continue functioning the way we need to and felt we were left with no other option. We all love Aaron dearly and wish him all the best in all future endeavours."

Drummer Dan Maio has been confirmed as Barnett's replacement.

Early last month, the band cancelled the first two weeks of the recent tour, blaming "internal factors within the band". Barnett is the second member of TGP to leave in the past 12 months - original bassist Dave Anderson left the band last July.

Barnett spoke with us in April of last year about the band's well-documented 2009 break up and eventual reformation in 2010.

“Coming back, that was the first thing we said... We said, 'Okay, if we're going to do this, we're going to do this properly'. No more bullshit. Just knuckle down and hit it as hard as we can. "You know, there was no point to us going through all that bullshit and bringing it all back together if we were just going to half-arse it."