Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) has issued a statement following last month’s news that he would be retiring his alias, thus putting Ween on indefinite hiatus. “It’s time to move on,” Freeman told Rolling Stone in an interview. “I’m retiring Gene Ween.” Freeman has been fairly quiet about the break-up since he made the announcement, but has now issued a statement that offers some insight into his decision.

I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your kind words and support,” he writes. “It means a lot. My decision to leave Ween, however interpreted, was absolutely not made in haste. It’s evolved over a decade’s worth of internal and external struggle. Know that I am extremely proud of all that is Ween. And while Mickey and I are going our separate ways, I wish him only the best. I will always have nothing but love and respect for what we created together. I need to now move on for myself and for my family. I still, as always, look forward to a future filled with music as Aaron Freeman.