| For those
familiar with the electro-pop movement of the late 1970's, Nash the Slash is
the zapped-out Canadian violin/mandolin soloist shrouded beneath rolls of
bandages and a white tuxedo, surrounded by half a ton of synthesizers, gadgets,
drum machines and other electronic sound processors, and accompanied by an
inventive light and slide show. The end result is an enveloping wall of sound
to do Phil Spector justice. It's all-rock fantasy theatre. The New York Times
wrote that "his show is quite impressive and he does have a sense of
humour", and Canada's Globe & Mail concurs "this radioactive
mummy has an amazing act."
Nash has toured the world with
the likes of The Tubes, Gary Numan and Iggy Pop and has performed with a
variety of artists such as Elvis Costello, Ramones, The Police, Mediaeval
Baebes, Devo and The Who (in front of 70,000 people). In the early 1980's, Nash
the Slash was the front man for the innovative, progressive pop-electronic
group FM. He left that band as it was moving towards a more commercial Yes-like
sound. "Virtuoso music turns me off", he says. "Jimi Hendrix was
a lousy technician, but he knew how to make sounds like nobody else. That's
what I'm working to do. And to entertain with my presentation. The stage is a
place for theatrical happenings."
Nash has composed the music for
scores for such recent cult films as Roadkill and Highway 61,
both directed by Canada's Bruce McDonald. However, he is no stranger to the
silent film world; he was born of silent film. His name comes from a killer
butler encountered by Laurel and Hardy in their first film, Do Detectives
Think (1927).
His body of silent film
composititons includes the Luis Bunuel-Salvador Dali 1928 surreal Un Chien
Andalou, the 1919 classic German horror The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,
and Hollywood's 1925 Jurassic Park, The Lost World. Nash has also
composed a soundtrack to F.W. Murnau's expressionist classic, Nosferatu.
This 1922 German film was loosely adapted from Bram Stoker's Dracula and
recently re-popularized in the filmShadow of the Vampire. The Toronto
Sun writes, "Nash's neo-classical symphony of shudders weaves synthesised
strings and a primitive drum machine together with his trademark electric
violin and mandolin. With passages from Faure's Requiem, Saint-Saens' Danse
Macabre and snippets of a Romanian Eastern Orthodox choir, the sound is spooky,
familiar, as if it were written at the time of Nosferatu, but recorded in the
early '70s."
Nash has released numerous solo
albums over the years, including Bedside Companion, and Nightmares,
Children of the Night (with the hit single 'Dead Man's Curve),
Decomposing (the first record playable at any speed), and American
Bandages (a collection of all-American classics as We're and American Band,
Who Do You Love? and Psychotic Reaction). In 1997, Nash's Cut-Throat label
compiled a c.d. of his first two recordings, Blind Windows is a collection of
all-instrumental music textured with early analogue synths and Nash's
distinctive electric mandolin and violin riffs. The c.d. has been distributed
throughout the world and reached # 3 on the Canadian Indie Charts. Nash then
released Thrash, a c.d. of all-new material in 1999. There were rave reviews
from College Radio, and the c.d. reached the top ten on many charts. In April
2001, his original soundtrack to Nosferatu was released and showcased live with
the film at an 800-sold out Bloor Cinema in Toronto. In August 2001, Cut-Throat
released Lost In Space, a collection of early demos and live recordings from
his legendary FM stint.
A young Nash graduated with a
university degree in Ethnomusicology (way before the advent of the term 'world
music'), and went on to become a pioneer in contemporary electronic music. His
talents over the past 25 years have been recognized with several awards. And in
perhaps the clearest recognition of his notoriety, his likeness was featured
without his approval in a Pepsi commercial, a move that in 1983 resulted in an
undisclosed out-of-court settlement after he sued. Needless to say, the
mummified man has been persistent
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