Brad Smith dumped as band continue to play
An ealier Heroes For Hire line-up. Brad Smith far right.
Sydney pop-punk band Heroes For Hire have dumped their frontman Brad Smith, with guitarist Duane Hazell stepping up to vocalist duties.
The band announced the news on Facebook with a statement posted alongside a new photo of the now-four-piece.
“We've decided to part ways with Brad and have Duane step up to the mic as our singer,” they wrote. “Anyone who has caught us before knows that Duane has got a sick voice and we can't wait to show you the new stuff that we've been working on.”
The band appears ready to move on without Smith and will be keeping their live commitments, which includes a Sydney show at club night Hot Damn tomorrow.
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Smith has yet to return theMusic.com.au's request for comment, but has posted on Twitter about the issue.
“So with in 15 seconds of getting a call from getting off my flight I've been told heroes don't want me in the band anymore,” he wrote.
An hour later he posted, “I just decided that I'm not going to play another show with heroes. Sorry to anyone that wanted to see it one more time… Thanks to everyone that has text me or tweeted me. It's a shitty situation but best of luck to Duane with the future of Heroes!”
The band have had a number of line-up changes throughout their career, but Smith and Hazell have largely been the core duo.
A staple of the Western Sydney pop-punk scene, the band were notorious for partying and spontaneous Blink-182 covers during their early sets. Steadying up in recent years, they've played the Soundwave festival and spent time overseas touring and recording. Last year the band released their third album No Apologies, which was produced by New Found Glory's Stephen Klien, through Halfcut Records.
On top on immediate shows, the band plan to announce UK and Asian dates soon. Their manager Adrian Kelly is partly based in London.
The new-look Heroes For Hire line-up