Damo Suzuki

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Damo Suzuki
ダモ鈴木
Suzuki in 2012
Suzuki in 2012
Background information
Birth nameKenji Suzuki
Born(1950-01-16)16 January 1950
Kobe, Japan
Died9 February 2024(2024-02-09) (aged 74)
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentVocals
Years active1970–1974, 1983–2024
Websitedamosuzuki.com

Kenji Suzuki (鈴木健次, Suzuki Kenji, 16 January 1950 – 9 February 2024), known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), was a Japanese musician best known as the vocalist for the German

Ege Bamyası (1972) and Future Days
(1973).

After leaving Can in 1973, he abandoned music and became a Jehovah's Witness. Having left that organisation, he returned to music in the mid-1980s and began to tour widely. Over the following decades, Suzuki recorded a large number of albums under different aliases, which he later grouped as "Damo Suzuki's Network".[1]

Career

Kenji Suzuki was born in

busking.[4][5] After Malcolm Mooney left Can following the band's first album Monster Movie (1969), Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit encountered Suzuki busking in Munich, West Germany. They invited him to join the group, and he performed with them that evening.[6]

Suzuki's first recording with Can was "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" from

Ege Bamyası, as evidenced in the songs "Vitamin C" and "Spoon".[1] The band developed a more atmospheric sound for Future Days (1973), their final album with Suzuki.[6][12] However, following the album's release, Suzuki quit the band and joined the Jehovah's Witnesses, taking a break from music for the following decade.[13][14]

Suzuki's free-form, often improvised, lyrics were largely indiscernible, leading many critics to think they were sung in no particular language.[15]

He returned to music in 1983 and led what became known as "Damo Suzuki's Network". As he toured, Suzuki performed live improvisational music with various local musicians, which he described as "sound carriers."[16] Suzuki published his memoir I Am Damo Suzuki in 2019.[15] His career was somewhat revived in 2022 following the well received album Arkaoda, recorded in conjunction with Spiritczualic Enhancement Center.[15]

Personal life

Suzuki met his wife Elke Morsbach in

Jehovah's Witness but left the organisation, considering himself a believer in the Bible without membership in any denomination or church.[18]

He was first diagnosed with colon cancer when he was 33 years old, a disease that claimed his father's life when Suzuki was five years old. He was diagnosed with colon cancer again in 2014 and given a 10% chance of survival.[1][13] He died on 9 February 2024 at the age of 74.[19] The documentary Energy explores Suzuki's battle with cancer and relationship with his wife.[20]

Legacy

Can are widely viewed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.[21][22] According to journalist Jo Vito, Suzuki "had an innovative and inimitable approach to singing, often improvising parts sung in a variety of languages (a blend he referred to as 'the language of the Stone Age')".[3]

The Fall's 1985 album This Nation's Saving Grace contains the song "I Am Damo Suzuki".[23] The Fall's vocalist Mark E. Smith was an early fan of Can and became friends with Suzuki, who in 2019 used the song title for his 2019 biography I Am Damo Suzuki.[24][25] The rock band the Mooney Suzuki takes its name from Suzuki and Can's earlier vocalist Malcolm Mooney.[26]

Discography

Main article: Damo Suzuki discography

With Can

With Damo Suzuki's Network

References

  1. ^ a b c d Strauss, Matthew. "Damo Suzuki, Legendary Can Vocalist, Dies at 74". Pitchfork, 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  2. ^ "Damo Suzuki, Can Vocalist, Dies At 74". Spin, 10 February 20240. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  3. ^
    Consequence of Sound
    , 10 February. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  4. ^ a b c Walmsley, Derek. "Damo Suzuki: Can's free-floating vocalist gave us some of the 1970s' most open-minded rock music". The Guardian, 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. All Tomorrow's Parties
    . Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Damo Suzuki Remembered: 'Life is so short, so face in front of you, not backside'". Mojo, 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  7. ^ Sweeting, Adam (12 February 2024). "Damo Suzuki obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  8. ^ Reynolds, Simon (1995). "Krautrock Reissues". Melody Maker.
  9. ^ Cope, p. 55
  10. ^ "John Lydon: Soundtrack of my Life". The Guardian, 1 November 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  11. ^ Petridi, Alexis. "Happy Mondays, Bummed. The Guardian, 15 December 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  12. ^ Czukay, Holger (May 1997). "A Short History of the Can – Discography". Perfect Sound Forever. Retrieved 6 January 2014
  13. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  14. ^ a b Hughes, Rob (2016). "The Prog Interview: Can's Damo Suzuki". Louder. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021.
  15. ^ a b c Eede, Christian. "Can's Damo Suzuki Has Died, Aged 74". The Quietus, 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  16. ^ "A list of Damo's "Sound Carriers"". Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Damo Suzuki: 'I just don't like to have any kind of a goal'". yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  18. ^ Greer, Robert (2014). "Being Damo Suzuki: The Man Who Practically Invented Post-Punk and Ambient Music". Vice. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021.
  19. ^ Chelosky, Danielle (10 February 2024). "Can vocalist Damo Suzuki dead at 74". Stereogum. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Damo Suzuki Documentary "Energy" Gets Strong Crowdfund Support". 17 July 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  21. AllMusic
  22. ^ Hunt, Elle (23 January 2017). "Jaki Liebezeit, drummer of seminal krautrock band Can, dies at 78". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  23. ^ Johnson, Craig. "Damo Suzuki : HollyAris : I Am Damo Suzuki". Spike Magazine, 1 February 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2022
  24. ^ "I Am Damo Suzuki biography to be published by Omnibus Press". The Wire, 2 January 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2024
  25. ^ Middles, Mick. "The Fall: This Nation's Saving Grace Omnibus Edition – review". The Quietus, 26 January 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2024
  26. ^ Minkovsky, Natalya. "Mooney Suzuki Interview". Kludge. Archived from the original on 9 February 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  27. ^ Stubbs, David (2004). Ege Bamyasi (CD liner notes). Spoon Records.
  28. ^ "Damo Suzuki: Selected discography". Spoon Records. Retrieved 4 March 2024
  29. ^ "Wallace Records catalogue. Wallace Records, Retrieved 4 March 2024

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Damo Suzuki.
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