Whitechapel Drops Off Latin American Tour Dates While Phil Bozeman Focuses on Mental Health
Sad news for Latin American deathcore fans, because Whitechapel just dropped off their Latin American tour with Thy Art is Murder that they were supposed to start tonight as vocalist Phil Bozeman needs time to focus on his mental health. Thy Art is Murder will continue the tour without Whitechapel, though, so you can get a single dose of deathcore instead of a double.
Bozeman posted a video on his personal Instagram account explaining the cancellation with the following caption
“To all of our Mexican, Costa Rican, Colombian, Chilean, Brazilian and Argentinian fans. We regret to inform you that we will not be embarking on this tour due to mental health concerns regarding myself. I will be ok but I need time to get right for myself, my fiancé, family, friends and all of you. Your support is immeasurable. Thank you all so much for everything. Here’s to strengthening and healing. Take care of yourselves and never stay silent on your mental health. It is our foundation for life ????????
“OUR FRIENDS IN THY ART IS MURDER WILL STILL BE PLAYING THESE SHOWS. YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THEM. GO AND SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS!”
In the video (that was transcribed by The PRP):
“What’s going on everyone, Phil from Whitechapel here. I was wanting to make this video — this unfortunate video — to address our Mexican, Costa Rican, Colombian, Chilean, Brazilian and Argentinian fans. We unfortunately will not be embarking on this South American tour that we had planned.
“And a lot of you may know, I have had a traumatic childhood; I’ve been on mental health medications since I was a teenager. I started to come off of them because I wanted to. I wanted to try to not rely on medication months back.
“And it has had a very bad effect on me. I [have] been having mental health issues. I’ve been on Zoloft ever since I was a teenager. For those of you that don’t know, the childhood I’m talking about is my dad passing away when I was 10 years old, and then my mom passing away around five years later from drug abuse and…
“Yeah, and from an early age, I was put on Zoloft. And that basically numbed me for 30 years. And I had tried to come off this medication before, and that didn’t go well. I tried to stop to cold turkey, and that just did not work at all. But I tried to do it again recently, and I did it the right way. I tapered off.
“And, yeah, it seems as if… It it’s not making me necessarily worse, but I’ve just haven’t felt… because I’ve been numbed for 30 years, and coming off of it like the way I have, has been the healthy way, but it’s also come with consequences.
“And I have not felt things that I should have felt in those past 30 years. And it [has], you know, really affected me [I’m] very, very emotional. And I’m gonna try not to choke up on you guys here.
“But I don’t want to make this too long winded, but in a nutshell, yes, I’m just dealing with some mental health issues, and I just need time to to correct all of this.
“And to all our South American fans and Mexican fans and, yeah, getting on a plane and traveling over and over and over every day just seems like hell to me right now. I’m just coming to you as just a normal person. I’m just a normal person, just like all of you. And yeah, I just… With the love and support of all the guys in the band, my family, my fiancée, I’m going to correct this.
“And [I] want to get better for not only myself, and my family, and friends, but also for you guys, so that I can continue to perform at the level that is expected of me. And, yeah, it’s, you know, in this metal community, we, a lot of us, found metal because of, you know, having our own mental health issues, and that was the same for me.
“And yeah, it’s, it’s a real thing. And I encourage all of you who may be dealing with stuff like this —or whatever mental health issue that you’re dealing with — is that you, you do seek help, you do talk to people you don’t just keep it in. I’ve made that mistake a lot, and just don’t make that mistake.
“Talk to people in your life, professionals. Mental health is the foundation of our life. It is what dictates our quality of life and the overall well being of, of life in general. And yeah, I don’t want to sit here and lecture you guys on everything.
“I’m sure you guys already know. It’s just, I just think that you guys in Mexico and South America as a whole deserve to understand and know why that we aren’t coming down there. And just to everyone around the world that are fans of us, that you know what is happening right now.
“And I appreciate all your guys’ support, and we’ll get through this. And thank you guys so much for the support. It’s just… it’s on the top of my pedestal as to what I appreciate, you know.
“So, yeah, I don’t want to take up any more of your time, [I’m] just gonna go through a mental health journey right now and get better. And [I] appreciate you guys. Love you guys. And again. Just, just talk to someone, if you need to, and don’t ever hide it or hold it back. It’s not worth it.”
As someone who has struggled with mental health issues my whole life, and who has been on antidepressants for most of my life as well, I can absolutely sympathize with Bozeman’s struggles and I’m glad he’s taking time for himself. But, while it’s entirely his choice, I want to remind everyone else that, if you need psychiatric medication, take your meds. There’s so much rhetoric in our society that shames people for being on medication and pressures them to stop taking it. But if I didn’t have my meds, I wouldn’t be alive anymore.
If Bozeman says that he feels numbed by Zoloft and he’s stopping medication with the supervision of a licensed professional, which it seems he is, it’s not really my place to tell him what to do. But if you are someone who needs psychiatric medication, please don’t stop taking yours just because you heard that Bozeman stopped taking his, and certainly don’t stop taking them just because of social pressure to not be on medication, and definitely don’t stop them without talking to your doctor. There’s no shame in needing help. Like the old saying goes: if you can’t produce your own serotonin, store-bought is fine.
Meanwhile, the following dates in Latin America will now feature Thy Art is Murder without Whitechapel:
11/27 Monterrey, MX @ Cafe Iguana
11/29 Guadalajara, MX @ C4 Concert House
11/30 Mexico City, MX @ Circo Volador
12/02 San Jose, CR @ Peppers Club
12/04 Bogota, CO @ Boho Room
12/06 Santiago, CL @ Teleton Theater
12/08 Sao Paulo, BR @ Cine Joia
12/10 Buenos Aires, AR @ Groove
