On Tuesday, I found out my friend had died, his inner demons finally won. Ross was full of complications but he always had a warm smile when I saw him out. We would chat about stuff he was working on or thoughts he was having and I kept telling him we would get together sometime and have coffee... Now its too late for that but I would like to imagine he's okay with it, there was a lot of things he didn't get to. Maybe he will have coffee waiting for me when I see him again someday. Maybe I can tell him he was an asshole for leaving without saying goodbye. Maybes. I dont know what to say. I feel confused by it all. Goodbye Ross, you will be missed. - Anthony
--------- The note RVA received from Nate.
On Monday September 6th Ross Harman, formerly of the band the Gaskets took his own life. He will be missed so dearly by so many people.
Ross' band mate Teddy Blanks and I have decided to pay tribute to Ross by trying to get as many people as we can to hear Ross' solo music.
Over the last few years Ross was recording by himself under the name "Ballpoint Pens". Other than a Myspace page and burning CDs for friends he didn't really share any of his music with the world. A few years ago Teddy compiled some of the mp3s Ross had sent him to create and album called "Calcutta" which we posted on the Gaskets website. After Ross' death on Monday Teddy compiled a second album of Ross' solo work called Symphony.
Ross' music was very different than the Gaskets music and as if was recorded on his computer using Garage Band it is very low-fi. Despite this there is some clear brilliance here. There are songs that made me cry even before Ross' death. Ross was dealing with so much pain during the last few years of his life and that sadness and anger comes out in this music in amazing ways. As much as I loved the Gaskets, some of Ross' solo music speaks to me in a way the Gaskets never did and I want the world to hear what only Ross' friends have heard before now.
It would mean a great deal to Teddy and I, as well as Ross' family and friends if you could do a post about him and share some of his music with your fans.
Teddy completely redid the Gaskets website yesterday with downloads to pretty much every bit of music that Ross has ever put his name on so there is plenty of things for you to feature but the song we suggest is Ross' song Nine Times Out Of Ten. The song is both Teddy and my favorite Ballpoint Pens song and I think it really speaks to some of the things Ross was dealing with his relationships with girls, friends and his crippling alcohol problem.
It is available for download here:
http://www.drivenbyboredom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/02-Nine-Times-...
Every Gaskets album and both Ballpoint Pens albums are available for download at htttp://www.thegaskets.com but here are specific links to Ross's albums. Both zips include album artwork designed by Teddy.
Calcutta - October 2007: http://thegaskets.com/assets/music/ballpoint-pens-calcutta.zip
Symphony - September 2010: http://thegaskets.com/assets/music/ballpoint-pens-symphony.zip
I also wanted to give you a few other links that might be of interest:
I wrote a eulogy to Ross on my website. It explains a bit more about what happened to Ross and things like that: http://www.drivenbyboredom.com/2010/09/08/ross-harman-rest-in-peace/
Ross was an amazing painter and directed a stop motion video for the Gaskets song Left Hand that Teddy wrote about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_QLJ_xCyY&feature=player_embedded
"Never Let You Go" was the only video made for a Ballpoint Pens song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItH8mJB_TRc&feature=player_embedded
One of the last photos I ever took of Ross: http://www.drivenbyboredom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ross_in_the_da...
One of Ross' friends Oura drew this as a tribute to him: http://oura.tumblr.com/post/1089845714/my-friend-ross-harman-may-he-rest...
Anyway, thanks for reading this. Anything you could post would mean a huge deal to us. We loved this kid so fucking much and we just want everyone to know how brilliant he was. Thank you so much.
Nate "Igor" Smith
Gaskets Manager 2003-2008