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Marcus Mumford “begged” Winston Marshall not to leave the band
In an intensely revealing interview, Marcus Mumford discussed his reaction to Winston Marshall’s decision to leave Mumford & Sons.
Marshall co-founded the popular British folk-rock group in 2007 alongside frontman Marcus Mumford. In March 2021, the estranged banjoist and guitarist faced backlash after tweeting praise for a book by the controversial US journalist Andy Ngo titled Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan To Destroy Democracy.
In a now-deleted tweet, Marshall said the book was “important” and hailed Ngo as a “brave man”. After taking an initial break from the group following the backlash, Marshall officially left Mumford & Sons in June 2021.
Speaking about Marshall’s departure now, Mumford told GQ: “I actually really begged him not to leave.” Despite not sharing his political beliefs, Mumford added: “I think you can disagree and work together.”
He continued: “I just don’t think it’s the job of musicians to have all those thoughts. And I think Win probably agrees. I don’t know. But I should think he probably agrees. Which is part of the reason why he wanted to quit. Because he felt like his priorities couldn’t align in the way he wanted to speak about things and live life”.
Adding: “He wanted to do a different thing. And that’s why I support him doing a different thing. Even though we disagree on a lot. A lot. And more now.”
When asked if he disagreed with Marshall’s politics, he added: “With a lot of it, yeah and the way of interacting. This is why I love [social justice activist] Bryan Stevenson. And this is why I don’t like [controversial academic] Jordan Peterson [who was once pictured with the band at Marshall’s request].
“I think grace matters in the way that you talk to people. I think if you present like a cunt and you are an angry man, particularly at this time, an angry, older, white man – I’m just fucking bored of it, man. We need grace. So, I, you know, I don’t want to get into an argument with these guys at all. It just feels like a zero-sum game. A race to the bottom. Boring. Mostly it’s boring. And mostly, it’s not my job.”
In the same interview with GQ, Mumford also discussed his recent solo track ‘Cannibal’, which deals with his deeply impactful childhood experience with sexual abuse. His eponymous debut solo album will be released on September 16th.
Listen to ‘Cannibal’ below.
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