Doug Dulgarian, founder of Philadelphia shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water, has revealed he has been diagnosed with cancer. As a result, the group has canceled their upcoming US tour except for three dates in December: two shows in Brooklyn on December 9th and 10th and a hometown show on December 18th.
In an Instagram post, Dulgarian said he received the diagnosis this past Friday, October 16th, the same day that TAGABOW released their new mixtape, KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II. The project features mashups of songs by Dulgarian’s favorite artists, including Hotline TNT, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, RXKNephew, Horse Jumper of Love, and Greg Mendez.
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A GoFundMe has been launched to support Dulgarian and TAGABOW. It has apparently cost him “thousands of dollars of medical bills out of pocket to get the cancer diagnosis,” along with unreimbursable upfront tour costs and the loss of the band’s touring income.
“Damn. Super bummed to have to talk about this. And super bummed to do this,” Dulgarian wrote in his note. “I have a feeling it will all work out. Been thru a lot of things in my crazy and (atp) relatively long existence and I’m no stranger to putting my best foot forward and facing some difficult shit.”
“I wanna make this clear. I’m not seeking pity,” he continued. “I do not want to sway your emotions to feel bad for me. I just want to inform you. I genuinely believe this will work out just fine. There are many people with much worse problems and my life has been so infinitely blessed and privileged & I never lose sight of that.”
Dulgarian added, “I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Most of the time I don’t understand why at the time, but it always makes sense in the end. I’m sure this situation is no different.”
“The fact that I got the diagnosis the same day we put out a massive compilation featuring as many friends as I could muster, well that symbolism that is not lost on me,” he concluded. “I’m scared and unsure of how this will all go. The prognosis seems to be pretty good.”
To further support Dulgarian and TAGABOW, pre-order a physical copy of KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II, available on November 20th.