Alt-J bassist quits band

Alt-J bass player Gwil Sainsbury has quit the band he founded citing personal reasons for his departure.

Alt-J made the announcement via their Twitter page.

With regret, Gwil is leaving alt-J. This is purely a personal decision and as our best friend we support him completely.

Sainsbury formed Alt-J with Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton and Thom Green as students at Leeds University in 2007.

In 2012 Alt-J released their debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’. It reached no. 13 in the UK and no. 9 in Australia. The album won the Mercury Prize in 2012, earned them three BRIT Award nominations and three tracks ‘Something Good’, ‘Tessellate’ and ‘Breezeblocks’ made the Triple J 2012 Hottest 100 at number’s 81, 64 and 3.

Alt-J songs have also been used in the TV shows ‘Weeds’, ‘Suits’, ‘CSI:NY’ and ‘Homeland’.

Gwil is the first original member to leave Alt-J. A replacement is yet to be announced.

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