When news broke last week that AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd had been arrested on a now dropped murder-for-hire charge and charges for threatening to kill and drug possession that still stand, the rest of the band released a statement to Rolling Stone that said they “only became aware of Phil’s arrest as the news was breaking.” The band is now starting to open up about the situation in some new interviews.

Speaking with USA Today, guitarist Angus Young said that during the recording process for their upcoming new album, Rock Or Bust, “it was tough to get [Rudd] there in the first place.” He continued: “It put us in a spot where we couldn’t move forward. Does the guy show up? Is he reliable to do his job in good shape? We’ve always been a solid, reliable unit.” (Rudd didn’t show up to the shoot for the music video of the band’s lead single “Play Ball,” which was released earlier this week. They had to use a substitute drummer instead.)

In an interview with The Daily Mail, Young laid it out a little more simply: “We haven’t had contact. But he has his people that represent him. He’s got himself in a pickle.”

AC/DC will continue to promote the new album without Rudd: “We were resolved for us to go forward and I think Phil’s got — it’s something he’s got to do himself. He’s got to sort himself out I think,” Young told The Daily Mail. “But we were resolved to go forward. So at this point it’s kind of a question mark. But if we’re touring, there will be a drummer in place, put it that way.”

Rock Or Bust is out 12/2.

[Photo of Rudd giving the finger to the media, via The New Zealand Herald.]