Buffalo groove rock band Aqueous is once again looking for a drummer.

Drummer Tom Vayo has left the band to work on local projects. He officially joined the band this past August. The band will begin its nationwide search for a new drummer immediately.

Former Aqueous drummers Nick Sonricker and Ryan Nogle will cover all scheduled and future shows until a new drummer is selected. The two have remained part of the tight-knit Aqueous family and will assist in drumming duties. Aqueous’ New Year’s Eve show at the King’s Rook Club in Erie, Pennsylvania, and New Year’s Day show with Twiddle at Burlington’s Higher Ground will feature Sonricker.

Aqueous is launching a nationwide search for their new drummer. In a statement released by the band, they are choosing to publicize their search in the hopes of finding the right fit.

Full statement from Aqueous:

In an unfortunate turn of events, Aqueous’ new drummer Tom Vayo has decided to step down from the position for personal reasons. In the meantime, we’re pleased to announce that previous AQ drummers Nick Sonricker and Ryan Nogle will come back into the fold temporarily to fill in while we search for a permanent member.

It’s no secret that we’ve had some movement in the drummer department, and it’s getting harder to NOT think of it like the joke from Spinal Tap; but here’s the deal- The band has been through an awful lot in the past couple of years, and this is a truly stressful process to not only find what we hope to be the right player, but also the person that can truly fit in and join our brotherhood of friendship too.

That being said, we’ve decided to go fully public with the search and lay down some parameters to help ensure that no one’s time is wasted and to help us get closer to finding that person- Although being in a touring rock band is truly fucking awesome, it also comes with A TON of hard work and much sacrifice in almost every facet of life; this fact is not something we wish to sugar coat; We are here to work, to put on the highest quality shows possible, and to take this thing as far as we can. Integrity and work ethic are cornerstones in the AQ world, and friendship is everything to us. On the other side of the token, it has been the most gratifying, exciting, and certainly fun journey of my life, and it’s taken us to places we definitely didn’t think were possible when we started ten years ago. So here’s some outlines we’re putting in place, and with that said, DO YOU KNOW OUR NEW DRUMMER? Is it you? Is it a friend? We KNOW somebody has to want this seat, and it’s currently up for grabs!

Here’s what we’ll need from you, to be submitted to aqueousband@gmail.com-

-Playing/Touring experience (This is a full time position, are you available and ready for the road?)

-High Quality video of you playing drums, ideally creating a cover of an AQ song if possible!

-Thorough list of your BIGGEST musical influences and why, and songs you would love to cover in an ideal world

-A brief description of your approach to playing/style and why you think you’d fit in with AQ

-Current line of work/location/availability (Is moving to or near Buffalo a possibility for you?)

At the end of the day, while having “chops” is really important, the real thing we look for is feel, groove, and musical intuition; we improvise/jam a TON, so creativity and style are huge in this band, and we like drummers that play dynamically, but hit with purpose and authority; It’s all about seeing what we can create as a unit and listening as deeply as possible. And ROCKING of course!

So, with all of that, DO YOU KNOW OUR NEW DRUMMER?? Help us get the word out by sharing this post! Much love from all of us over here at camp AQ, and thank you ALL for an amazing year, this is just the beginning!