Mick Karn

Name	Mick Karn
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Andonis Michaelides ()
Born	July 24, 1958Nicosia, Cyprus
Died	January 04, 2011Chelsea, London, England
Origin	Cyprus
Instrument	Bass guitarKeyboardsSaxOboe
Genre	Avant-garde, Experimental rock, Post punk, Punk rock
Years active	1977–2011
Label	Virgin, CMP, Medium Productions
Associated acts	JapanDalis CarJBKNiNaNo-Manthe d.e.p.
Url	MickKarn.net

Antony Michaelides (24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, who came to fame as the bassist for the art rock band Japan, from 1974 to 1982.

In June 2010, he was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer, and died in January 2011.

Biography

Karn was born into a Greek Cypriot family, in Nicosia, Cyprus, as Andonis Michaelides, which was later modified to Antony Michaelides. He had an older brother and sister. In late October, of 1961, the family emigrated to London, England, when Andonis was three years old. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London where he failed academically. Karn remained based in London until 24 May 2004, when he moved back to Cyprus with wife and son, remaining there for six years before moving back to London in late 2010.

1970s – early 1980s: Japan

The band Japan, whose other members included David Sylvian, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen as drummer, began as a group of friends, who all studied at the same school. As youngsters they played music as a means of escape, playing Sylvian's two-chord numbers – sometimes with Karn as the front man, sometimes with Sylvian at the fore, guitarist Rob Dean joined the band later.

in Toronto, 24 November 1979]] They christened themselves Japan in 1974, signed a recording contract with German disco label Hansa, and became an alternative glam rock outfit in the mould of David Bowie, T.Rex, and The New York Dolls.

As the band started to achieve commercial success with the release of their Tin Drum album, and "Ghosts", which reached the top five in 1982, tensions and personality conflicts between band members rose; Tin Drum was to be the band's final studio album. Long-simmering differences among the bandmembers came to a head when Karn's girlfriend, photographer Yuka Fujii, moved in with Sylvian and the individual members forged ahead with their own projects; Karn cited in an interview that as tensions with their record company had abated following Japan's commercial success, band members began focussing on personal differences rather than on the common enemy.

Late 1980s –1990s: session work and solo projects

After Japan broke up, he recorded a solo album before forming Dalis Car with Peter Murphy of the gothic post-punk group Bauhaus, who recorded one album in 1984. In 2001, he worked with Paul Wong on his "Yellow Paul Wong" release.

On 30 August 2010, Peter Murphy disclosed via video message on his personal Facebook profile that he would be reuniting with Mick Karn for a week in London, perhaps in November, to begin writing and recording for a second Dalis Car album. Murphy also added that this would be the first time the two had seen each other since 1983.

Musical style

Karn was essentially a self-taught musician. His first musical instrument was bassoon, with which he attended and passed an LSSO audition. After his bassoon was stolen from him, he purchased a bass guitar for ₤5. It was then he joined up with David Batt (Sylvian), who played acoustic guitar.

Karn was principally the bassist within Japan, but also played all the wind instruments, including the saxophone; on Tin Drum, he played the Chinese suona (credited as 'dida') for the authentic oriental sound. Karn's use of the fretless bass guitar, an unusual instrument in modern popular music, produces a distinctive sound and playing style, which makes his playing immediately recognisable.

Karn played an aluminium-neck Travis Bean bass on all Japan albums up to Gentlemen Take Polaroids. In 1981 he moved to Wal basses, purchasing two Mark I instruments, one with rare African tulipwood facings, the other a cherry solidbody. Karn recorded Japan's last studio album Tin Drum with the Wal and had continued to use these, along with a headless Klein 'K Bass'.

Further education

Mick Karn revealed that he earned two diplomas in psychotherapy from a West London college, entitling him to call himself 'Member of the Associated Stress Consultants, Psychotherapy, and Regression & Hypno-analysis'.

Illness and death

In June 2010, Mick Karn announced on his website that he had been diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer; the specific type of ailment was not mentioned. The website announcement stated that Karn had been struggling financially for some time, and appealed for donations to help pay for his medical care and provide financial assistance for his family. In addition, several people Karn has worked with, in particular Midge Ure, and Masami Tsuchiya,

Musical works

Albums

Titles (Virgin, 1982) – UK #74

"After a Fashion" (1983) – with Midge Ure, UK #39

"Buoy" (Virgin, 1987) – Mick Karn featuring David Sylvian, UK #63

"Of & About" (MK, 2006)

Written works

Japan & Self Existence publisher: MK Music. Biography, covering his life from 1958 to 2006.

References

"Mick Karn: Honorable tension", Interview by Anil Prasad, Innerviews.org

Rymer, Paul "History of Japan", Nightporter.co.uk

Footnotes

External links

Mick Karn.net

Category:1958 births Category:2011 deaths Category:English people of Cypriot descent Category:English bass guitarists Category:Greek Cypriot people Category:British people of Greek descent Category:Cypriot immigrants to the United Kingdom Category:English New Wave musicians Category:Japan (band) members Category:Cancer deaths in England