Ahren Stringer Seems to Have Confirmed He’s Exited The Amity Affliction
Ahren Stringer, bassist and co-vocalist for Aussie post-hardcore favorites The Amity Affliction, has had a strained relationship with his bandmates for a few months now but never gave any real update on whether or not he was still a member of the band. Well, that all seems to have changed with an Instagram post and comment he made on Sunday which appears to confirm that he is no longer a member of the band.
Stringer’s relationship with the band became a subject of much speculation after the band announced in May that Stringer would be sitting out their North American tour to focus on his mental health and his struggles with addiction. But, while the band was trying to frame the decision for Stringer to sit out the tour as a mutual one, Stringer made some comments on social media that made it clear that wasn’t the case, responding to their post with the comment:
“I was booted from the tour with no warning whatsoever I did absolutely nothing wrong but I wish you guys all the best in the future.”
Whatever you want to say about the whole situation, and it looks like there’s a lot here that we don’t know from the outside, but announcing that a band member is struggling with addiction without getting his approval to announce that (which appears to be what the band did judging from Stringer’s reaction) is a pretty big violation. Stringer made some similar comments on his own Instagram post stating that he wanted to finish the tour with the band.
In September, Stringer shared a statement on Instagram that he was “happy, sober, and thriving” and would be playing a few shows with the band before taking 2025 off to focus on “continued personal growth.” Still, he mentioned in the statement that the band now had his full support to continue on without him and seemed to suggest he was now on good terms with his bandmates again. Unfortunately, that seems to not have lasted.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Stringer announced that he was doing his annual tattoo designs for fans with prints hand numbered and signed by Stringer. But fans couldn’t help but notice that, in the caption, Stringer mentioned:
“Once again these will be the last Amity paintings I’ll ever make so get em while they’re hot.”
This prompted one Instagram user with the username @thenotoriousteb to ask if Stringer was leaving The Amity Affliction, and Stringer seemed to confirm fans’ suspicions when he replied, simply:
“wasn’t my choice”
At the time of this writing, this is the closest thing we’ve gotten to an actual statement on Stringer’s future with the band, as The Amity Affliction has made no actual statement about Stringer since their first statement back in May about him sitting out the tour. We’ll have to wait to see when and if the band acknowledges this publicly.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, you’re not alone! There is help! Call 988 suicide and crisis line for 24/7 substance use support.
