After a lifetime of recording music together, Gene Ween unceremoniously dissolved he and musical brother Dean's band Ween in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview, leaving Dean to hear about his own band's demise in the media. Not content to leave his solo pursuits on the sideline, Gene announced he was striking out on his own. The split initially caused a fair amount of drama. Dean reacted to Genes public split with, Its news to me, causing a swirl of rumors and speculation: is Gene back on drugs? Did the two of them have a falling-out? Is it even real? (Who can tell with Ween?) Fans and friends of the band alike were confused for several days about what was actually going on, but it looked like Gene's ambitions had swelled above the unique mix of chameleonic pranksterism and catchy songwriting of the band he formed in high school. For Gene, leaving Ween was like finally quitting a job hed felt restless in for years. He now records under his real name, Aaron Freeman, while Deaner stays busy with his family life and other projects. Itll be interesting to see what the two of them do without one another, but hopefully theyre pulled together again someday by the forces of nostalgia, friendship, fan demand and brotherly love.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
