The ever reasonable Ted Leo just posted a level-headed response to a "classic journalistic hissy-fit" that he's retiring at the end of the year. He's specifically mentioning a post on Buzzgrinder, which quotes an interview where he says the life of a touring indie musician ain't paying the bills anymore.
Although "the energy we have inside us is not as boundless as it once seemed," Leo adds that he isn't planning to stop altogether.
The important part of what I said in the particular interview that was re-quoted without full context by Buzzgrinder, is that we’re completely booked through the end of 2010, but that yes – by next year, you will see some changes – it simply can’t go on like this forever; followed by “I’M SURE I’LL NEVER STOP MAKING MUSIC,” which is a statement I stand behind, but as I said in Spin a while ago (just to make sure you understand that this doesn’t come completely out of left field), pretty soon, I have to start figuring out what comes next.
What comes next? He's not sure, or he's not saying. Either way, he sounds a bit like Trent Reznor these days—maybe they could collaborate in a new, non-touring band? It'd probably be a whole lot more interesting than that new How To Destroy Angels EP.
By the way, did you see Ted Leo's version of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" in A.V. Undercover?