It would be difficult for me to describe the unique personality and force that was Charles Gocher, who passed on peacefully last night after battling cancer for the past 3 years. That he landed in and helped form one of, if not, the most enduring and uncompromising "underground" bands is no accident... he lived hard, played hard, told a great story and lived one too.
Since John Schuller has said it better than I could, I'll borrow some of his words to convey something of Charlie's playing... "He did everything from scare the shit out of me to make me just about piss my pants with laughter. I understand some people might say Charlie had the beat of a cop – that is as far away from the truth as you can get. No one could touch the drums like Charlie. He could do everything from playing full on straight ahead no filler slabs of lean drums, insane bursts of improv fury on a level that I have seen no one else do, to pure time bending and time melting pulses – is he behind the beat? in front of it? speeding it up? dragging it?– wait – he’s doing it all at once!!!! Once, I saw his entire drum set fall apart about 20 times during a set. Somehow, he made that his sound that night. And he fucking destroyed."
There is no question that no drummer could have taken Charlie's place in a band that continually challenged the boundaries of on stage (and elsewhere) performance and musicianship, and there's a lot to show for it... 25 years worth.
Since John Schuller has said it better than I could, I'll borrow some of his words to convey something of Charlie's playing... "He did everything from scare the shit out of me to make me just about piss my pants with laughter. I understand some people might say Charlie had the beat of a cop – that is as far away from the truth as you can get. No one could touch the drums like Charlie. He could do everything from playing full on straight ahead no filler slabs of lean drums, insane bursts of improv fury on a level that I have seen no one else do, to pure time bending and time melting pulses – is he behind the beat? in front of it? speeding it up? dragging it?– wait – he’s doing it all at once!!!! Once, I saw his entire drum set fall apart about 20 times during a set. Somehow, he made that his sound that night. And he fucking destroyed."
There is no question that no drummer could have taken Charlie's place in a band that continually challenged the boundaries of on stage (and elsewhere) performance and musicianship, and there's a lot to show for it... 25 years worth.
The above fotos are from a show at The Triple Door (Seattle), November, 2004
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