May 26, 2005

The following note was sent to us via email the other day, so we can’t guarantee if it’s confirmed already: "Some days ago Eduardo Navarrete, manager from Picoroco Records (Chile) was found dead, today was his funeral, Chile lost a cool guy & support to underground."

HEATHEN have just issued the following statement about the loss of their former bass player Michael "Yaz" Wayne Jastremski, who passed away on May 23, 2005: "We are numb and deeply saddened by the death of our brother Mike "Yaz" Jastremski, who passed on May 23, 2005 of a heart attack while going through detox. We are shocked at the news, because Yaz left us, HEATHEN, in June 2004 after deciding to seek rehabilitation. We felt it was more important to have Yaz clean as a friend than have him in the band, so we fully supported his decision. It hurts to know he died trying. It is within these moments we strive for some heartfelt expression or to say something meaningful, but find the loss of such words. How do you put into words the feelings you have about losing someone that has walked beside you for so many years? We always feel we have another day. We don’t think about the words we hope never to have to write. There are so many things to say about Yaz, it could not possibly be said in any one statement. To know Yaz was to deeply love him. To say that Yaz was nothing short of amazing would understate the depth of who he was. No matter what we all remember about Yaz, we all agree on how he made us feel and how he touched our lives with his ability to make us laugh and cry. Yaz made every journey an adventure. We are sure this journey will be no different. Yaz, we will miss but not forget all that you were. We are asking radio stations to play "In Memory Of" off the HEATHEN "Recovered" album, one more time for Yaz."