Enabler, photo by Tayler Aubin
Enabler tonight announced an indefinite hiatus for the band and the cancellation of all touring following allegations against front man Jeff Lohrber made by his former girlfriend, former Enabler bassist Amanda Daniels. Daniels, who was quietly dismissed from the band at the end of 2014, has made allegations in a blog last Friday on her Tumblr on page that Lohrber was sexually and physically abusive during their three-year relationship. Daniels’ blog can be found at this link and is excerpted below:
“The Truth Shall Set You Free >
There are many reasons for my silence. They have changed over time, as I have collected and carried these secrets.
I want to say now the largest of these reasons is the desire to move on, for how can we heal from the past if it falling out of our mouths?
But this is a lie, you can never heal from the past if it hauntingly remains inside of you. The real largest reason of all is fear.
Now that all I fought for is lost, my biggest fear is that I will never be ok. Some kind of justice must come to fruition.
I want to say I’m sorry to all of you who were there, wanting to help and not knowing. Thank you for persistently asking me if I’m ok, asking how I’m doing, and asking more specific questions if you were bold enough. I’m sorry for my uncountable bold faced lies, “I’m good, I’m ok”
I’m sorry I never reached out, I’m sorry I never told you, I’m sorry for all of my half truths, parts left out, and I’m deeply sorry that I cannot speak these words face to face.
I never want to upset anybody, I never want to be the cause of negative thoughts and feelings. There are too many of those in this world as it is.
This is very negative and very upsetting thing to talk about and thing for people to hear. It is time for my silence to end. The story is spreading and it is no longer my own to bear.
It hasn’t been for awhile now, it made it’s way into the world a little over a year ago when his violence moved from me unto our vehicle and it’s contents which belonged to four of us…. was that the first time it was obvious to others? I’m unsure of details, I cannot keep every incidence separate or straight.
But I am sure of all the broken promises made to us in the following days, a permanent reminder scratched into my skin in a new jersey hotel room.
The last of these a promise of privacy, one of your request, one broken publicly. I saw it last night, words echoing in my ears, and I’ve been thinking of what to do all day. Where does one start? The above paragraphs as a type of preface and the following response should do.
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Let me begin by congratulating you on the most aptly named release to date. You should in no way, shape or form feel safe.
You think the personal hell you caused and put yourself through is worse than anything that can be done unto you??
That sentiment isn’t going to keep anything away from you or protect you anymore. No one feels sorry for you.
If you are writing lyrics to help people and hope someone may be able to relate perhaps you should be clear in who your target audience is, for only a certain kind of person can relate to your specific brand of personal suffering. Adulterous, manipulators, perverse and predatory sexual molesters, anger ridden abusers, purveyors of violence against women, liers and rapists, to name a few.”
Lohrber then responded, which Enabler shared on their Facebook page:
“Let me start by saying, I do not condone physical violence of any kind to any living thing, period. I do not condone rape whatsoever. Anyone who is aware of anything of that nature going on, I urge you to remove yourself from the situation immediately and contact the authorities if need be.
Secondly, to anyone who would deal with things by starting a witchhunt online rather than deal with them at the source or take it directly to the authorities – you are absolutely in the wrong. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, and in today’s climate it’s very easy to believe everything you read on the internet without knowing exactly what happened between two people.
The last thing I want is to drag anyone’s name through the dirt. I’ve read through Amanda’s post many times, and it’s pretty contradictory of itself. The thing I want to know is if I was truly abusing her and I truly did rape her in the manner that I’m accused of, why did she beg to stay in the band when she had been asked to leave multiple times? Why weren’t the authorities involved? Why come out now when the new album is to be released in less than a month? And why the hell bring up songwriting credits in a post that is accusing someone of rape?
I thought that both of us had moved on with our lives, me continuing my work with the band, and her starting a new life with someone she met while on the road with the band and moving onto future musical endeavors that are more fitting to her abilities. I guess not. This is a blatant attempt to ruin the band’s name, a band that she played in for 3 years and played 200+ shows with. If this was really going on the whole time the way that she portrays it, why would a person put that kind of blood, sweat, and tears into a project with someone that is capable of these things?
Relationships go bad all of the time. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I was in the right all of the time. I was wrong in a number of things I did, for which I have owned up and apologized directly to these people, but the things I am accused of here are not accurate.
As far as Enabler goes, all shows are off as of now and the band is on an indefinite hiatus until this is cleared up. I cannot risk dragging anyone else that I have a close working relationship with into this mess. This is my problem and I am the one who has to deal with it.”
No word on how any of this will affect the expected release of Enabler’s new album, Fail to Feel Safe, currently planned for release by Century Media on August 7th.
