Jerry Fuchs was making his way into a benefit party in Brooklyn early Sunday morning when the elevator he was in stopped near the fifth floor. With the doors pried open Fuchs made the leap to the next floor but was pulled back into an opening in the elevator shaft when his jacket caught part of the unit.
He later passed away at Bellevue Medical Centre in New York.
He was 34.
Fuchs had just returned for a tour with Georgia band Maserati but has played the role of session and touring drummer for several bands over the years including !!! (Chik Chik Chik) and Moss Park’s MSTRKRFT.
This summer Fuchs collaborated with MSTRKRFT and John Legend for an appearance on Letterman to promote Fist of God.
Both Maserati and !!! have previously a lost shared band member to accidental death – also a drummer.
Mikel Gius was killed in 2005 when he was struck by a car in Sacramento while riding his bike.
Details of Fuchs’ his death have been pouring out of New York’s mainstream and alternative media since the Times broke the story Sunday morning. Including that the Berry St. building the incident took place in had formerly been cited for “failure to maintain elevators.”
He grew up Gerhardt Fuchs in Athens, Georgia where he went to school for graphic design. He drummed in a bunch of local bands before moving to New York, where he became associated with indie label, DFA Records.
His reputation developed as something of a musician’s musician, capable of applying his style and intensity in any environment, and compliment it.
Fuchs originally migrated to Brooklyn to enlist in long-time friend and New York writer Jon Fine’s band Vineland. They’d stayed in close contact since.
“His passing puts an enormous hold on the Brooklyn music scene,” Fine told The Times. “The world of independent music has sustained a really significant loss.”[rssbreak]
