Gary Young, Original Drummer for Pavement, Dead at 70 – Rolling Stone

Gary Young, The original drummer for the indie rock band Pavement has died at the age of 70.

Frontman Stephen Malkmus Certain Young’s death on social media Thursday. He wrote: “Gary Young passed away today.” Gary Pier’s drums were a “one take and hit record”….they pulled it off really well”.

Malkmus and guitarist Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg formed Pavement in 1989 in their hometown of Stockton, California. That year, they recorded their first instrumental album in a small studio in Stockton owned by Young, a colorful local who would soon become the band’s first percussionist.

when they were making Italic and enchantedIn their influential 1992 debut, they returned to Young’s studio. “Gary deserves a lot of recognition when it comes to this album,” said Bob Nastanovich, who joined the group during this time. Rolling Stone in 2015. “It just pulled it all together. Pavement was really lucky to stumble upon this guy.”

Called Louder Than You Think, Young’s studio was a somewhat temporary environment. “It had a 16-track machine, but one of the tracks didn’t work, so… [Slanted] It’s probably one of the greatest albums ever made on a 15-track machine,” said Nastanovich.

“You can completely relax and be yourself,” Nastanovich added.

Italic and enchanted He got a place in Rolling StoneThe 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. “Pavement was the quintessential American indie-rock band, and this is the quintessential indie-rock album. The play is loose, the production is laid-back and primitive, the lyrics are quirky and playful, and the melodies are sweet and seductive… Italic and enchanted is one of the most influential rock albums of the 1990s; The obscure recording style can be heard in the music of Nirvana, Liz Phair, Beck, The Strokes and the White Stripes”.

Young’s wild onstage antics helped establish Pavement’s reputation early on, with the drummer distributing cabbage, mashed potatoes, and cinnamon toast to fans and doing headstands while the group performed live. “This guy was from another planet,” Nastanovich said. “He could drink some of the largest quantities of the worst vodka ever.”

while Young left Pier after 1992 My home water EP, he returned to produce two tracks on the finale major leagues EP in 1999, and reunited with his former bandmates for two shows in 2010.

In subsequent years, Young has released solo projects including hospitalAnd The things we do for youAnd Gray album under the name Gary Young Hospital. He also worked with recording engineer Richard Sileseth in 2016 to record Damage.

This spring, a documentary about his life titled Louder than you think Premiered at SXSW.