A problem with my Mac delayed this until after Midnight, but nonetheless ...
August 23rd marked the 2nd anniversary of the death of one of the most
talented musicians and genuinely great human beings I've ever had the honor
of knowing, Dwayne Goettel (of Skinny Puppy/Tear Garden/Download/Duck fame).
The great scourge that is Heroin took Dwayne away from us at far too early
an age. One can only imagine what the output of Download and Plateau would
be like today if Dwayne was still with us. Although best known for his work
with Skinny Puppy and thus better known as an "Industrialist", Dwayne loved
all forms of music including Techno and Breakbeat and IDM, and he was a big
fan of people like Orbital and The Orb and Aphex. He and Phil "Philth" Western
both drove all the way down from Vancouver BC to San Francisco on two separate
occasions (that's quite a haul, for those of you overseas) to see The Orb and
then to see the NASA See The Light tour with Aphex/Orbital/Vaporspace/Moby
back in 1993. Some of my fondest memories of the 1990's are of raving with
Dwayne both here in Los Angeles and in San Francisco, starting back at the
end of 1991.
I'm sure Kurt Cobain's death meant a lot to many peopple, but Kurt mattered
little to me and the loss of Dwayne Goettel was far more profound to me,
both personally and culturally. I don't know if I'll ever have the pleasure
to meet someone with his combination of intelligence, talent, off-beat wit
and genuine open-minded fun-loving nature. I hope he's out there somewhere,
downloading the IDM of today somehow ...
- Greg