July 20, 2005
Do you listen to Silkworm? Really, you should. They've long been one of my favorite bands, all the way back to my most formative year of music - my sophomore year of high school (1995? egads.) Since that time, many of my favorite bands either broke up or just stopped giving me compelling reasons to listen to their music. But not Silkworm - even with the albums of theirs that weren't favorites of mine, I knew it was either a matter of time before I came around and realized how great the album was (Developer, when it first came out, was not immediately recognizable to me as the masterpiece I now know it to be, for example), or else it was still something worth hearing multiple times.
This is truly rare - I can think of maybe one other band from this formative period of my music life that this applies to. My personal love for this band and their music would be reason enough for me to be so greatly saddened to hear that Silkworm's drummer, the inimitable Mr. Michael Dahlquist, was just killed in a completely senseless car wreck.
But also from a few personal experiences, I can say that the world, both of music and at large, has lost a great, great man, far too soon.
A few quick tidbits of history: Joel RL Phelps was initially a member of Silkworm, alongside Michael Dahlquist, Tim Midgett, and Andy Cohen. Phelps left the band after their second album to pursue a solo career. In 1997, Phelps rejoined Silkworm for a one-off show, at a venue called the Sit 'N' Spin. At this time, I was 18; the venue was 21 and over, only.
Seattle is notoriously lousy with regulations for all-ages venues. Unlike Los Angeles, clubs that serve alcohol are unable to allow minors in at all - no wristband systems, no triple checking IDs - if you serve alcohol, no minors, period. If a band playing your venue has a minor, said minor has to wait outside until the band plays, and then leave immediately thereafter.
I was distressed that I wasn't going to get to see Silkworm, especially with this special reunion line-up. I wrote an email to Michael, asking if there was any chance they'd find an all-ages venue to play the show again. It, sadly, was not in the cards, but he asked me for my address, and said he'd send me something to make up for it.
About a week after the show, two cassette tapes (pre-widespread CD-R recording, after all) arrived in my mailbox, accompanied with a short letter in Michael's chicken-scrawl, relaying his hope that the tapes of the show might be a small substitute for my inability to actually be there. As you can imagine, this was far beyond any obligation a musician might have to a fan, and it delighted me to no end.
It wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles that I finally got to see Silkworm. I've seen them three times now, making sure to catch them every time they passed through. Siana was never a big fan of Silkworm until she saw them live, and this was primarily due to Michael's drumming (not to take anything away from Andy and Tim, the band's two singers and guitar player and bass player, respectively, as the band's chemistry certainly cast its spell upon her, too). Apart from being an amazing drummer, Michael was always an absolute joy to watch, because he pounded away on his drums like a big kid, with an incredible, infectious enthusiasm. Between songs, he'd pop up to have quick conversations with the audience, which usually resulted in unintelligible responses from a half-drunken audience. Even when the crowd was not amused, Michael clearly was. His exuberance always seemed unshakeable.
The band has always been extremely accessible in person at shows, and via their website and its message board. They've always been a grateful, generous presence on stage and in print (online and off), truly appreciative of their devoted fanbase. I'd spoken briefly to both Michael and Tim at the last few shows I saw them at, at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, and they were never anything less than kind, and always obliged my requests for songs, no matter how old or obscure(ish).
Though there's really no such thing as a sensible accidental death or murder, Michael Dahlquist was killed in a particularly senseless manner. According to all news reports, Michael and two of his co-workers were sitting at a red light, returning from a lunch break, when some 23 year-old girl, upset after a conversation with her mom, decided she was going to "end it all" by running three red lights before eventually crashing into their car at 70 mph. Michael and his co-workers were killed on impact; the woman who hit them had only minor injuries, and now faces three charges of first-degree murder.
Tim has said that Michael is irreplaceable, and that Silkworm doesn't exist without him. He is, and it doesn't.
Though I did not know him besides his gift to me, our brief e-mailed correspondences and a couple of words at shows, I will miss him. And my condolences go out to his family and friends, including the network of fellow Silkworm fans.
Update: Joe Sepi has posted a tribute featuring a wealth of information about the 3 friends lost in the car wreck.
Posted by starlen at July 20, 2005 2:12 AM
