Former Shins Drummer Says He Was Fired

Former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval says he was sacked by frontman James Mercer after a 16-year working relationship. Following Mercer's cryptic answers on why the band's lineup, which also saw the forced exit of longtime keyboardist/bassist Marty Crandall, shifted, Sandoval has spilled the beans in a new interview with the Portland Mercury.

"I unequivocally got fired, and it kind of confuses me why [Mercer] has a hard time saying that," Sandoval said. "I understand he's probably doing it out of respect for me reading interviews, it might be hard for him to say it, but ... I got fired. There's no other way of looking at it."

Earlier this year, Mercer told Pitchfork it was "an aesthetic decision". Sandoval -- who has since opened a Portland lunch truck called Nuevo in honor of his New Mexican roots -- was initially hesitant to open up about being discharged.

"We played our last Christmas festival run of shows for radio," Sandoval said. "It was in Atlanta, and in all honestly, I definitely remember walking offstage and calling my girlfriend and saying, 'I don't know why, but I just have a feeling like this is it. I feel like this is probably my last Shins show.' And it wasn't coming from my end, I just had this feeling."

After a long break at Mercer's request following the lengthy promotional efforts behind 2007's 'Wincing the Night Away', Sandoval said he hadn't heard from Mercer so he contacted him. "I'd caught wind from a couple people that James was processing moving further along with the idea of working with other people, but I never quite got the impression that it was going be an across-the-board change." Sandoval said.

Mercer ultimately sacked Sandoval by phone. "You could tell in his voice that it was really hard," Sandoval continued. "He started to explain his thought processes and his reasoning and, of course, I'm shocked. Even though I knew it was going to happen, I was shocked ... There was nothing. There was no follow-up."

Despite all this, Sandoval says he directs no ill will toward Mercer or the Shins 2.0. "I wanted my answers to be out there so every time I do any sort of press for the [food] cart and what I'm doing in my life, I don't have to repeat myself," he explained. "Also something that's been bothering me is a lot of people have been saying, 'I'm never going to buy another Shins album again! How can James Mercer do that?' And I have my reasons to be angry at James, but I don't want to be a part of any sort of movement where everybody's against the Shins."