Shoegaze Guitarist Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Band Cancels Upcoming Tour Dates

Acclaimed shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water has canceled their planned fall tour. The news comes as frontman Doug Dulgarian announced he was diagnosed with cancer.

In a lengthy Instagram post caption, Dulgarian shared the unfortunate news. He found out the same day the band released their new mixtape, KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II. “Damn. Super bummed to have to talk about this. And super bummed to do this,” Dulgarian wrote. “I was diagnosed with cancer last Friday, same day we put out Kool Faith. Crazy day, every possible emotion lmao.”

“We obviously can’t do the tour, as I need to get this figured out,” he continued. “I have treatment in a couple weeks. I have a feeling it will all work out. Been [through] 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 s**t.”

Dulgarian then added, “I wanna make this clear. I’m not seeking pity. 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.”

They Are Gutting a Body of Water Frontman Doug Dulgarian has been diagnosed with cancer

As a result of Dulgarian’s cancer diagnosis, TAGABOW has canceled their upcoming tour. However, they are keeping three December dates: two shows in Brooklyn on December 9th and 10th and one hometown Philly show on December 18th.

A GoFundMe has been started for Dulgarian to help mitigate the financial burden of his medical issues, as well as make up lost income from the band’s canceled tour.

A description of the fundraiser explains where the funds will be going. “Douglas Dulgarian of the band They Are Gutting a Body of Water was diagnosed with cancer last Friday. Douglas needs to undergo treatment immediately, which means TAGABOW has to cancel their tour that was supposed to start next week.”

“The hope is that Douglas will be recovered by their NYC and Philly shows in December,” the description adds. “But everything is up in the air right now. This has left Douglas and the band in a financially precarious spot.”

“Douglas has already paid for thousands of dollars of medical bills out of pocket to get the cancer diagnosis,” The GoFundMe goes on to explain. “There are upfront tour-related costs that can’t be reimbursed, and the profits from the tour was supposed to be the band’s income for the rest of the year. We are praying for a speedy recovery and asking for donations at this time to cover medical bills and living expenses while he navigates cancer treatment and recovery.”

At the time of this writing, the GoFundMe has raised more than its $40,000 goal.

Photo by Samantha Tellez/Rolling Stone via Getty Images

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