Brent Knopf Leaves Menomena

Today Menomena finally announced that Brent Knopf will no longer be a part of the trio. After years of tirelessly fighting to reconcile the ideas of three brilliant, talented, and strong-willed artists, Brent finally threw in the towel today to pursue less heartbreaking creative endeavors. Menomena has made no secret of the tumultuous recording process that resulted in 2010's incredible Mines. Even though the push and pull of conflicting personalities and working styles translated into fiercely original music, it did not seem like a healthy or sustainable collaborative environment for any of the people involved. It is sad to see a founding member of such a unique band move on, but I hope that the personnel change will help ease the tension that has been building within the crystalline structure of Menomena over the past 10 years. I wish Brent, Danny, and Justin all the best in their individual and collective pursuits.


Fans of Brent's will be pleased to know that he has finished producing an AMAZING solo album for Ramona Falls' guitarist, Matt Sheehy. Matt is hoping to release this album in early 2011 (band name and album title are still a secret at this point), and if you are a fan of Ramona Falls, I can guarantee you will enjoy this record. It has absolutely blown me away.


Brent is currently in the studio producing the second album for South African band Dear Reader. This currently untitled album will be released in late 2011 on Souterrain Transmissions in Europe. I haven't heard most of the songs yet, but the few I have heard are sounding beautiful.

If producing 3 albums in the last year isn't enough Knopf for you, Brent has also begun preliminary work on a new Ramona Falls album!! RF played a new song (presumably from the forthcoming album) called "Brevony" at their sold out New Years Eve show at Mississippi Studios, in Portland, OR. It was a monster rocker, and left the crowd dazzled and dancing. It is hard to believe this song was originally submitted for Mines and didn't make the cut! Another forthcoming RF song (and Mines reject) "Bowling", might just be the best song that Brent has ever created.

Although it is sad that incredible songs like "Rose", "Monkey's Back", "Wet & Rusting", "Evil Bee", and "Killemall" will never again be performed with Brent's unique and haunting voice in the lead, I hope that Menomena will continue to tour and make excellent music without him. I am hopeful that Menomena and Brent can both thrive in their individual creative spaces, and produce twice as much breathtakingly original material as before!