The bassist for “fake” band Threatin spoke out in support of frontman Jered Threatin, after their European tour collapsed amid accusations of forgery.

Threatin appeared to have created a false fan base and full industry profile – including management, agent, record label and award – in order to persuade venues to accept his bookings. That led to a string of shows in the U.K. and Europe, which fell apart after almost no one bought tickets – despite Threatin’s assurances that hundreds had been sold.

Drummer Dane Davis recently explained how he’d discovered the rumors and quit the band along with guitarist Joe Prunera. Bass player Gavin Carney decided to stay on until his parents expressed concern, as he explained in a video statement.

“Myself, Joe and Dane were just hired guys, session players,” he said. We didn’t know much about the logistics or anything like that.” He went on to say he didn’t “necessarily” feel conned, adding, “I have no reason to believe he’s responsible for ticket sales… however, I don’t have any evidence to prove he isn’t. I never physically met management or people in charge of marketing, venues and all that. I never met any of those people. Thought it always felt like there were people overseeing everything. [Threatin and his wife Kelsey] made calls to management and stuff. It seemed legit.”

You can watch Carney’s statement below:

Addressing his colleagues’ departure he said he “didn’t have the money on me to leave” although he could have called his parents for help. He continued, “Jered and Kelsey also offered, if I ever felt like I wanted to leave, I could leave, and they would pay for my ticket home. And they also said they would pay for food if I ran out of food money or anything like that.” Looking on the bright side, he said, “We still had a good time sightseeing and everything, so it was still a fun time.”

He said he’d finally left because his parents became concerned about the statement Threatin issued, in which he said, "If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion." “I never felt uncomfortable or anything,” Carney said. “There were a few uncomfortable moments, as in like, when everyone started receiving the news about all this… but there was a mutual understanding about those situations. It wasn’t awkward; it was very professional.”

He described Threatin as “a very good musician, very talented” and said even his audition had been “a lot of fun.” He added, “I can’t imagine why he would need to fake his way through anything. He has the skills and talent, obviously, to not have to do that… He’s also recently had some physical ailments that have made it painful for him to do basic things. The fact that he went on tour like that doesn’t seem like something somebody with a con-artist mentality would do.”

He said his conclusion was that, if the rumors were cleared up, “I would work with him again, no problem. I enjoyed my time with him.” he added, “If it’s all been a facade I’ll be very distraught and disappointed and sad… Regardless, it was the experience of a lifetime – it was actually my first ever tour at all.” He concluded, “I also want to thank Jared and Kelsey for a very interesting tour experience that I’ll never forget, regardless of the outcome of all of this.”

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