Gavin da Blitz

 Photo pinched from Here and Now Friendface page.

Aw, man. I've just heard that Gavin Da Blitz passed from this world into whatever comes after. Sad sad news, man. Now, I didn't know Gavin personally, it was through his music as keyboard and synth wizard with the legendary Here and Now band I knew him, though that said the sadness I feel today at his passing is as if I did know him. It's weird, you don't often know the musicians you listen too, though spend such an inordinate time in their company that they have a genuine effect on you that a sort of weird friendship develops, as if you did know them. During the 80's we saw Here and Now countless times, and we listened to their albums and bootleg tapes almost religiously, for a while to the detriment of expanding our listening. It was a mainstay in the soundtrack to my formative years, and their albums/bootlegs still get regular plays. I loved them then, and still do now. Here and Now's 'All Over The Show' still gets a weekly play. Gavin's synth wizardry played a major part in their sound, I remember at gigs watching fascinated as he twiddled knobs to create the finest of spaced out sounds that elasticized your mind. He'd not played with the band for some years (other than Keith's 60th, possibly), his role assumed in recent times by the equally talented Andy Roger, though when ever you play one of the older vinyl albums there he is doing his magic. So he's gone, though still here, and will be fleetingly every time you spin a Here and Now waxing. I don't like the phrase 'rest in peace', I'm hoping there's something more beyond, and if there is, then I hope that those who've gone beyond are experiencing what it may have to offer to the full. Thanks for the music Mr Da Blitz.