Lee Gaze, former guitarist of Lostprophets, has spoken about the shock of learning that his bandmate Ian Watkins was a child sex offender. The last time Gaze saw Watkins was in December 2012, when they filmed a music video in London. Watkins seemed upbeat and discussed future plans for the band. However, a week later, he was charged with child sex offences and later jailed for 29 years.
Gaze described Watkins as 'four hours late' for the video shoot, but otherwise normal. 'He was talking about looking forward to the next record – he thought we'd return to being as successful as we'd been five years before,' Gaze said. The band's last gig together was on 14 November 2012 in Newport, south Wales.
After Watkins' conviction, the remaining band members released a statement saying they were 'heartbroken, angry, and disgusted' and had no knowledge of his crimes. Gaze and bassist Stuart Richardson have discussed the situation extensively, but keyboardist Jamie Oliver refuses to talk about it. Gaze briefly ran a coffee stand and spoke with fans who tracked him down there.
Richardson, speaking from his home in Florida, said the band learned of Watkins' arrest a day before the charges became public. 'We heard he'd been arrested and immediately we knew the band was over,' he said. 'The next morning, we started reading tweets about what he tried to do. And we couldn't believe it.' Both Gaze and Richardson said they will never listen to Lostprophets' music again, calling it 'tainted'.
Despite the trauma, Richardson stressed that there are 'bigger victims' in the case. 'There are families trying to deal with this right now,' he said. The band sold 3.5 million albums over their 15-year career before disbanding.
