More Bad News: Jody Seabody and the Whirls Bassist Passes Away

Damn. Heard through the grapevine earlier in the week (from the {Cavernous} Facebook page, to be precise) that Matt Johnston, the bassist for cool/intriguing indie-rock-but-kinda-not gang Jody Seabody and the Whirls passed away last Wednesday, November 9th.

I can’t claim to have known the guy, but I like/liked his band — no idea if they’ll soldier on without him — and the one time I was able to see him play live, I thought he was a very talented bassist. Beyond that, he was way, way too young for this. It’s a damn shame. I’ve tried to contact the Jody Seabody folks for some more details (if it’s another heart attack, that’s just flat-out freakish), but no info yet; for obvious reasons, they’ve got a lot on their minds right now.

The band did offer an oblique confirmation of Johnston’s death yesterday on their Facebook page, posting “Many thanks for the love and support,” and the picture over there on the right of Johnston onstage went up on November 12th.

What’s worse, the band’s been hard at work in recent months on their first full-length, Summer Us, and an update back at the start of October hinted that the album was almost ready to go. For Johnston to die so suddenly, on the eve of their first actual album, makes things even more tragic.

I’d just like to say from everybody here at SCR that our collective heart goes out to Johnston’s family and bandmates; I can’t even imagine what the last week must’ve been like over there. Take care of yourselves, y’all.