Nash the Slash
Encyclopedia
Nash the Slash is a Canadian musician. Though a multi-instrumentalist
, he is known primarily for playing electric violin
and mandolin
, as well as harmonica
, keyboards
, glockenspiel
, and other instruments (sometimes described as "devices" on album notes).
Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, then founded the progressive rock
band FM
in 1976. After it recorded one album, he left in 1977 to resume his solo career, which he relaunched in February 1978. (It was not until after Nash's departure that the album became widely issued and promoted, eventually charting and receiving a gold record
award.) He later rejoined FM from 1983 to 1996, concurrent with his solo work which continues to the present day.
Nash's music covers a wide range, varying from instrumental mood-setting music to rock and pop music with vocals. In addition to giving concert performances, he has composed and performed soundtrack music for silent films, presenting these works live in movie theatres to accompany screenings of the films. Another venue for his music is in performances to accompany the viewing of paintings by surrealist
painter Robert Vanderhorst, an audiovisual collaboration which took place in 1978, and again in 2004.
covering his face. "During a gig at The Edge in the late '70s to raise awareness of the threat from the Three Mile Island disaster
, he walked on stage wearing bandages dipped in phosphorus paint and exclaimed: "look, this is what happens to you". The bandages became his trademark." Prior to 1979, Nash performed three times on TV Ontario's Nightmusic Concert, first as a solo artist (a live broadcast which was never re-aired), then with FM (Nash and Cameron Hawkins), then again as a solo artist. In all of these appearances Nash wore his typical black tuxedo, top hat, and dark sunglasses, but wore no bandages.
Born Jeff Plewman (as given in copyright depositions at the Library of Congress), he has attempted to keep his true identity the subject of some speculation. In a 1981 interview with the UK magazine Smash Hits
, Nash's response to a question about his real name was "Nashville Thebodiah Slasher". By never officially confirming or denying his name, some fans came to believe Nash to be an alter ego of Ben Mink
, who replaced him as FM's violinist in 1978. This is a common misconception but he has been photographed onstage with Ben Mink.
, new age
and punk rock
, using electric mandolins, violins, drums machines and an arsenal of effects and sonic devices. He has written, played and produced most of the material on his solo albums by himself, although he has also worked with producers Daniel Lanois
and Bill Nelson
.
Nash has been creating his unique concept of sound and vision for over thirty years. His persona was born of silent film. The name comes from a killer butler encountered by Laurel and Hardy
in their first film Do Detectives Think? (1927), for which he has composed a soundtrack score.
's surreal silent film Un chien andalou (1929) at the Roxy Theatre in Toronto
on March 17, 1975.
(1920). When performing soundtracks, Nash appears on stage beside the screen (using his own projection screen when a full theatre screen is not available), the same format he uses when performing concerts. He has also composed scores for modern Canadian films Roadkill (1990) and Highway 61
(1991), both directed by Bruce McDonald. His other movie score and soundtrack work has included The Kidnapping of the President
(1980), Black Pearls (1989), and Blood and Donuts (1995).
During this time, Nash appeared on record for the first time on David Pritchard's solo album Nocturnal Earthworm Stew (1976) with a short solo track titled "Nash Metropolitan", and on an improvised piece with Pritchard and drummer Martin Deller
, with whom he would later work with in FM. He also appeared on the live TV-Ontario program Nightmusic (before it changed format and became Nightmusic Concert); in this incarnation the show was a televised version of an FM radio show hosted by disc jockey Rainer Schwartz, and had not featured a live performer before. Nash claims he was both the first and last musical artist to appear on the show.
in 1976, initially as a duo with Cameron Hawkins, and later added a third member, Martin Deller
on drums. The group began recording in July 1976, although no performances in its duo format were issued at the time, but they did appear on television and in live concerts beginning November 1976. In 1977, with Deller added to the group, they recorded the album Black Noise which received a gold record award. By the end of 1977, Nash had left FM, and resumed his solo career starting with another television appearance on Nightmusic Concert on February 28, 1978. Nash rejoined FM from 1983 to 1989, and again from 1994 to 1996. During these years, he recorded a further three albums with the group. FM also recorded three albums during Nash's absence (1977 to 1980), with Ben Mink
as his replacement.
, which he continues to operate to the present day. A full album, Dreams and Nightmares with the rest of the Nightmusic material, the soundtrack, and a few new songs, appeared the following year. All music from these records was instrumental, and both are now available on one CD titled Blind Windows which also includes the 45 rpm EP playing at 33 rpm as the "Marsden versions", a joking reference to disc jockey David Marsden
who mistakenly played the entire record at the wrong speed on radio when it was released.
Also in 1979, Nash thanked Toronto radio station CFNY for their support of his music by playing electric violins on the station's theme song recorded by various disc jockeys of the station, a strange blend of new wave and country music (with Nash's solo being in neither style). It was released as "Working on the Radio" by the 102.1 Band, as a single on Ready Records
. The B-side has an extended version with a longer solo by Nash, who is not credited on the cover.
Nash's solo career up to this point had only a small cult following, due to his working exclusively as an instrumentalist. His next record, a 1980 single featuring a cover version of Jan and Dean
's "Dead Man's Curve
" with vocals, propelled him to greater public recognition. The B-side, "Swing Shift (Souixante-Neuf)" also featured vocals, and was co-composed with lyricist Toby Dammit
, with whom Nash further collaborated over the next few years. Music videos were made for both songs.
Nash also played on three songs by Toronto group Drastic Measures for their self titled album, including violins on their signature tune, a cover version of the children's song, "The Teddy Bears' Picnic
". Nash's label, Cut-throat Records, later issued a single by the group, the only other artist to appear on his label, although Nash was not involved in its recording. Nash's later soundtrack album for Highway 61 includes tracks by Tony Malone, the lead singer for Drastic Measures.
Nash was invited by Gary Numan
to tour the UK as his support act in 1980 and 1981, and also toured Europe with The Tubes
. He was signed to the Dindisc Records label and in 1981 he released the album Children of the Night in Europe, also released in Canada shortly after. Several British singles were also issued. These records appeared on the Dindisc / Cut-throat label in Europe, and on Virgin / Dindisc / Cut-throat in Canada.
Nash's next album was And You Thought You Were Normal (1982). This included the track "Dance After Curfew" produced by Daniel Lanois
prior to his association with Brian Eno
. The single became a surprise club and radio hit in Poland, which was then still behind the iron curtain
, where curfews and restrictions on western culture were imposed by the government of the time. A 12-inch single featuring a remixed and extended version of the song was issued in the USA on PVC Records.
Nash's next project was an album of American rock classics titled American Band-ages. Nash enlisted the help of his former FM collaborators Cameron Hawkins (keyboards) and Martin Deller (drums), and the album was released in 1984. The album was aimed at the US
market, but due to distribution and management problems, including a change in record labels (to MCA
, after Quality Records
folded in 1985), it never got the exposure Nash thought it deserved. In the same year, Nash released a compilation album (with most tracks remixed) titled The Million Year Picnic on Ralph Records
in the USA, the label which was home to The Residents
.
While working on American Band-ages in 1983, Nash proposed to promote it with a double bill tour with his former band FM. But Ben Mink, Nash's replacement, had left the band that year; therefore Nash rejoined the group, staying with them from 1983 to 1989 (followed by a reunion tour from 1994 to 1996), and retaining the idea of a double bill by performing solo as the opening act. With Nash, FM released further albums: Con-Test
(1985), Tonight
(1987), and RetroActive
(1995).
In 1998, Nash the Slash performed as part of Toronto's Pride Week
, publicly acknowledging that he was gay.
During 2004 and 2005 Nash was again working with Robert Vanderhorst, under the name Two Artists, on the project View From the Gallery, a live multimedia event presenting a fusion of surrealistic visuals with classic stylings in music.
Nash has appeared as a character in several comic books by Matt Howarth
. Nash has also provided original music on a CD for Howarth's graphic novel The Simultaneous Man.
You can see Nash's image in a couple of murals painted by artist, Jungle Ling in Toronto, Canada located in the Leslieville district. Beside a TD bank at Queen St. East and Logan Ave. and below Queen St. E. on Cannaught Ave., a neighbourhood beautification project conducted by the Toronto Transit Commission. He is considered a local hero by many of the artists who reside in his hometown.
To the present day, Nash continues to tour, mostly in his native Ontario
, but occasionally elsewhere, including a late 2008 tour of the UK which resulted in a live CD.
s, including:
Excerpts from tracks on the FM album Tonight, co-written by Nash the Slash, appear
in the movie Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
.
He also has a cameo in the Spoons
video "Tell No Lies" (1984).
Nash also released some live performances on video tape, which are out of print.
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, he is known primarily for playing electric violin
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, as well as harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, and other instruments (sometimes described as "devices" on album notes).
Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, then founded the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band FM
FM (Canadian band)
FM is a progressive rock band from Toronto, Canada which existed from 1976 to 1996, with a brief return in 2006, although they had a period of inactivity between 1989 and 1994. Their music has been categorized as space rock, and lyrics are dominated by science fiction themes...
in 1976. After it recorded one album, he left in 1977 to resume his solo career, which he relaunched in February 1978. (It was not until after Nash's departure that the album became widely issued and promoted, eventually charting and receiving a gold record
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
award.) He later rejoined FM from 1983 to 1996, concurrent with his solo work which continues to the present day.
Nash's music covers a wide range, varying from instrumental mood-setting music to rock and pop music with vocals. In addition to giving concert performances, he has composed and performed soundtrack music for silent films, presenting these works live in movie theatres to accompany screenings of the films. Another venue for his music is in performances to accompany the viewing of paintings by surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
painter Robert Vanderhorst, an audiovisual collaboration which took place in 1978, and again in 2004.
Identity
Since 1979 Nash has always performed with surgical bandagesSurgical tape
Surgical tape is a form of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape used in medicine and first aid as a bandage to hold a dressing onto a wound. It will generally have a gentle hypoallergenic adhesive, and be breathable to allow air to reach the skin. Breathable tapes like Kinesiology Tape, and other...
covering his face. "During a gig at The Edge in the late '70s to raise awareness of the threat from the Three Mile Island disaster
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
, he walked on stage wearing bandages dipped in phosphorus paint and exclaimed: "look, this is what happens to you". The bandages became his trademark." Prior to 1979, Nash performed three times on TV Ontario's Nightmusic Concert, first as a solo artist (a live broadcast which was never re-aired), then with FM (Nash and Cameron Hawkins), then again as a solo artist. In all of these appearances Nash wore his typical black tuxedo, top hat, and dark sunglasses, but wore no bandages.
Born Jeff Plewman (as given in copyright depositions at the Library of Congress), he has attempted to keep his true identity the subject of some speculation. In a 1981 interview with the UK magazine Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, Nash's response to a question about his real name was "Nashville Thebodiah Slasher". By never officially confirming or denying his name, some fans came to believe Nash to be an alter ego of Ben Mink
Ben Mink
Ben Mink is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer.Born of Polish parents, Mink was raised in Toronto Ontario. He got his start performing with the rock/country group Mary-Lou Horner, which became the house band at bar and nightclub....
, who replaced him as FM's violinist in 1978. This is a common misconception but he has been photographed onstage with Ben Mink.
Career
Nash's music is a complex blend of new waveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, new age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, using electric mandolins, violins, drums machines and an arsenal of effects and sonic devices. He has written, played and produced most of the material on his solo albums by himself, although he has also worked with producers Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
and Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson (musician)
Bill Nelson is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter and experimental musician...
.
Nash has been creating his unique concept of sound and vision for over thirty years. His persona was born of silent film. The name comes from a killer butler encountered by Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
in their first film Do Detectives Think? (1927), for which he has composed a soundtrack score.
First group
Before working as a solo artist, Nash recorded an unreleased song called "Slasher" with a group called Breathless which also included his (and FM's) future producer, Michael Waite on bass guitar. The song appeared on a various artists promotional album titled Concept (after the Toronto based management company, Concept 376; this was one of a series of such albums), but was not issued to the public in any form. The promo album does not list the group's personnel, or even a songwriting credit, but Nash is clearly heard singing a song which begins with "Hear the children of the night" (although it is a completely different song from his later work, "Children of the Night"), and playing electric violin. The song also has a complex organ solo which is not in Nash's usual style (nor that of Cameron Hawkins of FM), and was almost certainly played by someone else. Other instruments include electric guitars and drums.First solo career and film work
Nash's first solo performance, and his first live presentation of music to film, occurred when he played his soundtrack to Luis BuñuelLuis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's surreal silent film Un chien andalou (1929) at the Roxy Theatre in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on March 17, 1975.
Silent film composition
He also composed music for other classic silent films including Nosferatu (1922) and The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
(1920). When performing soundtracks, Nash appears on stage beside the screen (using his own projection screen when a full theatre screen is not available), the same format he uses when performing concerts. He has also composed scores for modern Canadian films Roadkill (1990) and Highway 61
Highway 61 (film)
Highway 61 is a 1991 film by Canadian director Bruce McDonald.- Synopsis :The film stars Don McKellar as Pokey Jones, an orphaned barber in a small town near Thunder Bay, Ontario who dreams of becoming a jazz musician...
(1991), both directed by Bruce McDonald. His other movie score and soundtrack work has included The Kidnapping of the President
The Kidnapping of the President
The Kidnapping of the President is a 1980 political thriller film made by Presidential Films and Sefel Films and distributed by Crown International Pictures. It was produced and directed by George Mendeluk and co-produced by John Ryan from a screenplay by Richard Murphy and Charles Templeton,...
(1980), Black Pearls (1989), and Blood and Donuts (1995).
During this time, Nash appeared on record for the first time on David Pritchard's solo album Nocturnal Earthworm Stew (1976) with a short solo track titled "Nash Metropolitan", and on an improvised piece with Pritchard and drummer Martin Deller
Martin Deller
Martin Deller is a Canadian musician from Toronto. He is best known for his work with FM.- External links :*...
, with whom he would later work with in FM. He also appeared on the live TV-Ontario program Nightmusic (before it changed format and became Nightmusic Concert); in this incarnation the show was a televised version of an FM radio show hosted by disc jockey Rainer Schwartz, and had not featured a live performer before. Nash claims he was both the first and last musical artist to appear on the show.
Work with FM
After working as a solo artist for a year, Nash formed the group FMFM (Canadian band)
FM is a progressive rock band from Toronto, Canada which existed from 1976 to 1996, with a brief return in 2006, although they had a period of inactivity between 1989 and 1994. Their music has been categorized as space rock, and lyrics are dominated by science fiction themes...
in 1976, initially as a duo with Cameron Hawkins, and later added a third member, Martin Deller
Martin Deller
Martin Deller is a Canadian musician from Toronto. He is best known for his work with FM.- External links :*...
on drums. The group began recording in July 1976, although no performances in its duo format were issued at the time, but they did appear on television and in live concerts beginning November 1976. In 1977, with Deller added to the group, they recorded the album Black Noise which received a gold record award. By the end of 1977, Nash had left FM, and resumed his solo career starting with another television appearance on Nightmusic Concert on February 28, 1978. Nash rejoined FM from 1983 to 1989, and again from 1994 to 1996. During these years, he recorded a further three albums with the group. FM also recorded three albums during Nash's absence (1977 to 1980), with Ben Mink
Ben Mink
Ben Mink is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer.Born of Polish parents, Mink was raised in Toronto Ontario. He got his start performing with the rock/country group Mary-Lou Horner, which became the house band at bar and nightclub....
as his replacement.
Late 1970s and 1980
Nash had intended to restart his solo career in 1978 with a new album featuring all the music from his Nightmusic Concert TV special, plus his soundtrack for Un chien andalou, but found the sound quality of a test pressing to be unsatisfactory, so he issued a four song 12-inch EP titled Bedside Companion instead, on his own label, Cut-throat RecordsCut-throat Records
Cut-throat Records is a record label created and run by Canadian musician Nash the Slash. It has been active from 1978 to the present...
, which he continues to operate to the present day. A full album, Dreams and Nightmares with the rest of the Nightmusic material, the soundtrack, and a few new songs, appeared the following year. All music from these records was instrumental, and both are now available on one CD titled Blind Windows which also includes the 45 rpm EP playing at 33 rpm as the "Marsden versions", a joking reference to disc jockey David Marsden
David Marsden
David Marsden is a Canadian radio broadcaster. As the driving force behind Brampton, Ontario radio station CFNY in the 1980s, he became an influential figure in the Canadian music industry by giving many Canadian and international alternative rock artists major Canadian radio exposure...
who mistakenly played the entire record at the wrong speed on radio when it was released.
Also in 1979, Nash thanked Toronto radio station CFNY for their support of his music by playing electric violins on the station's theme song recorded by various disc jockeys of the station, a strange blend of new wave and country music (with Nash's solo being in neither style). It was released as "Working on the Radio" by the 102.1 Band, as a single on Ready Records
Ready Records
Ready Records was a small but influential independent record label based out of Toronto, Canada that signed a number of New Wave and Indie rock bands from the early to mid-1980s. Focusing primarily on local Toronto-area talent, it released 7" and 12" singles, LPs and cassettes...
. The B-side has an extended version with a longer solo by Nash, who is not credited on the cover.
Nash's solo career up to this point had only a small cult following, due to his working exclusively as an instrumentalist. His next record, a 1980 single featuring a cover version of Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
's "Dead Man's Curve
Dead Man's Curve (song)
"Dead Man's Curve" is a 1964 hit song by Jan and Dean detailing a teen street race gone awry. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart....
" with vocals, propelled him to greater public recognition. The B-side, "Swing Shift (Souixante-Neuf)" also featured vocals, and was co-composed with lyricist Toby Dammit
Toby Dammit
Toby Dammit , is an American musician, percussionist and composer. He has often been credited as Larry Mullins, his adopted name...
, with whom Nash further collaborated over the next few years. Music videos were made for both songs.
Nash also played on three songs by Toronto group Drastic Measures for their self titled album, including violins on their signature tune, a cover version of the children's song, "The Teddy Bears' Picnic
Teddy bears' picnic
"Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody by American composer John Walter Bratton, written in 1907, and lyrics added by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy in 1932. It remains popular as a children's song, having been recorded by numerous artists over the decades. Kennedy lived at...
". Nash's label, Cut-throat Records, later issued a single by the group, the only other artist to appear on his label, although Nash was not involved in its recording. Nash's later soundtrack album for Highway 61 includes tracks by Tony Malone, the lead singer for Drastic Measures.
Nash was invited by Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
to tour the UK as his support act in 1980 and 1981, and also toured Europe with The Tubes
The Tubes
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band, whose 1975 debut album included the hit single, "White Punks on Dope". During its first fifteen years or so, the band's live performances combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism, and politics...
. He was signed to the Dindisc Records label and in 1981 he released the album Children of the Night in Europe, also released in Canada shortly after. Several British singles were also issued. These records appeared on the Dindisc / Cut-throat label in Europe, and on Virgin / Dindisc / Cut-throat in Canada.
Mid 1980s
Returning to Toronto in spring 1981, Nash released an instrumental "mini-album" Decomposing (1981) which purported to be playable at any speed, with song timings on the label quoting three lengths, depending on whether the record is played at 33, 45, or 78 rpm. However, songs from this record also appeared on compilation albums and singles, where they always play as heard when Decomposing is played at 45 rpm. This remains Nash's only significant release that has yet to be reissued on CD.Nash's next album was And You Thought You Were Normal (1982). This included the track "Dance After Curfew" produced by Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
prior to his association with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. The single became a surprise club and radio hit in Poland, which was then still behind the iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
, where curfews and restrictions on western culture were imposed by the government of the time. A 12-inch single featuring a remixed and extended version of the song was issued in the USA on PVC Records.
Nash's next project was an album of American rock classics titled American Band-ages. Nash enlisted the help of his former FM collaborators Cameron Hawkins (keyboards) and Martin Deller (drums), and the album was released in 1984. The album was aimed at the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market, but due to distribution and management problems, including a change in record labels (to MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, after Quality Records
Quality Records
Quality Records is a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels, and also released recordings by Canadian artists...
folded in 1985), it never got the exposure Nash thought it deserved. In the same year, Nash released a compilation album (with most tracks remixed) titled The Million Year Picnic on Ralph Records
Ralph Records
Ralph Records was The Residents' original record label, the name coming from the somewhat colorful phrase "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone."...
in the USA, the label which was home to The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
.
While working on American Band-ages in 1983, Nash proposed to promote it with a double bill tour with his former band FM. But Ben Mink, Nash's replacement, had left the band that year; therefore Nash rejoined the group, staying with them from 1983 to 1989 (followed by a reunion tour from 1994 to 1996), and retaining the idea of a double bill by performing solo as the opening act. With Nash, FM released further albums: Con-Test
Con-Test (FM album)
Con-Test is the fifth album by FM, a progressive rock band from Toronto, Canada, released in 1985.-Reformation of classic line-up:In 1983, former group member Nash the Slash proposed a future double bill tour with FM, as the two artists seemed to share a common audience. FM's best known previous...
(1985), Tonight
Tonight (FM album)
Tonight is the sixth album by FM, a progressive rock group from Toronto, Canada, released on Duke Street Records in 1987. It was their last studio album, but further albums of live and demo material were issued later....
(1987), and RetroActive
Retroactive
Retroactive may refer to:* Retroactive , an album by Grand Puba* Retro-active, an album by Karizma* Retro Active, an album by Def Leppard* Retroactive , a 1997 movie starring James Belushi and Kylie Travis-See also:...
(1995).
1990–present
After the break-up of FM in 1989, Nash embarked on a series of film soundtrack projects, and revived his Cut-throat label in 1991 to issue these on CD, and has also used it to re-issue his earlier records. New albums of songs with vocals have also been released on the label: Thrash (1999) and In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash (2008), the latter consisting entirely of cover versions.In 1998, Nash the Slash performed as part of Toronto's Pride Week
Pride Week (Toronto)
Pride Week is a ten-day event held in Toronto, Canada, during the end of June each year. It is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area. It is one of the largest organized gay pride festivals in the world, featuring several stages with live performers and...
, publicly acknowledging that he was gay.
During 2004 and 2005 Nash was again working with Robert Vanderhorst, under the name Two Artists, on the project View From the Gallery, a live multimedia event presenting a fusion of surrealistic visuals with classic stylings in music.
Nash has appeared as a character in several comic books by Matt Howarth
Matt Howarth
Matt Howarth is an American comic book writer/artist known for such series as Those Annoying Post Bros, Savage Henry, Star Crossed, and Bugtown....
. Nash has also provided original music on a CD for Howarth's graphic novel The Simultaneous Man.
You can see Nash's image in a couple of murals painted by artist, Jungle Ling in Toronto, Canada located in the Leslieville district. Beside a TD bank at Queen St. East and Logan Ave. and below Queen St. E. on Cannaught Ave., a neighbourhood beautification project conducted by the Toronto Transit Commission. He is considered a local hero by many of the artists who reside in his hometown.
To the present day, Nash continues to tour, mostly in his native Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, but occasionally elsewhere, including a late 2008 tour of the UK which resulted in a live CD.
Discography
- Bedside Companion (EP, 1978)
- Dreams & Nightmares (1979, re-issued on CD together with Bedside Companion as Blind Windows in 1997)
- Hammersmith Holocaust (1980) {EP, live in London, 300 copies made}
- Children of the Night (1981, reissued on CD in 2000 with bonus tracks)
- Decomposing (1981, mini-album playable at any speed)
- And You Thought You Were Normal (1982, reissued on CD in 2000 with bonus tracks)
- The Million Year Picnic (1984, compilation)
- American Band-ages (1984, reissued on CD in 2003 with bonus tracks)
- Highway 61Highway 61 (film)Highway 61 is a 1991 film by Canadian director Bruce McDonald.- Synopsis :The film stars Don McKellar as Pokey Jones, an orphaned barber in a small town near Thunder Bay, Ontario who dreams of becoming a jazz musician...
(1991, soundtrack) - Thrash (1999)
- Nosferatu (2000, soundtrack)
- Lost in Space (2001, by Nash the Slash, Cameron Hawkins and Martin Deller; actually a CD by FM but avoiding the name)
- In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash (2008)
- Live in London 2008 (2009)
Film soundtracks
In addition to the soundtrack albums above, Nash has composed the film scores for several movieFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, including:
- The Kidnapping of the PresidentThe Kidnapping of the PresidentThe Kidnapping of the President is a 1980 political thriller film made by Presidential Films and Sefel Films and distributed by Crown International Pictures. It was produced and directed by George Mendeluk and co-produced by John Ryan from a screenplay by Richard Murphy and Charles Templeton,...
(1980) - Nash provided electronic sound effects - A Trip Around Lake Ontario (1984, short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
) - Roadkill (1989)
- Black PearlsFearless TigerFearless Tiger aka Black Pearls is a 1991 Canada-shot martial arts movie, directed by Ron Hulme.-Plot:Jalal Merhi, Bolo Yeung and Monika Schnarre star in the tale of a martial artist who studies under an old master in the hopes of avenging his brother's death at the hands of a drug...
(1989) - Blood & Donuts (1995)
Excerpts from tracks on the FM album Tonight, co-written by Nash the Slash, appear
in the movie Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is the seventh installment in the original Friday the 13th series, released in 1988. It also marked the first appearance of Kane Hodder in the role of Jason Voorhees.-Plot:...
.
Movie/Video appearances
Nash has a cameo appearance in the 1989 film Roadkill, playing his own composition "We Will Be The Leaders".He also has a cameo in the Spoons
Spoons (band)
Spoons are a Canadian New Wave new romantic synth pop music group, formed in 1979 in Burlington, Ontario. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they won Group of the Year at the U-Know awards...
video "Tell No Lies" (1984).
DVDs
As 'Two Artists , a collaboration with artist Robert Vanderhorst:- View From the Gallery - One, (2004)
- View From the Gallery - Two, (2005)
Nash also released some live performances on video tape, which are out of print.