Andrew James Dalrymple Gill (1 January 1956 – 1 February 2020) was a British musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976. Gill was known for his angular, jagged style of guitar on albums such as ''

Entertainment! ''Entertainment!'' is the debut album by English post-punk band Gang of Four. It was released in September 1979 through EMI Records internationally and Warner Bros. Records in North America. Stylistically, it draws heavily on punk rock but als ...

'' (1979) and '' Solid Gold'' (1981) and hit singles such as "At Home He's a Tourist", "

Damaged Goods Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to: * Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility * A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...

", "Anthrax", "What We All Want" and "I Love a Man in a Uniform". In addition to his work with Gang of Four, Gill was also a record producer, and produced or co-produced all of the band's albums. He also produced albums for artists such as the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

the Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

the Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums ...

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...

, Killing Joke,

Polysics is a Japanese Techno/Electronic Music band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in ...

, Fight Like Apes,

Therapy? Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band r ...

and

the Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of "young knaves", which was found by the band when rummaging through a book. The band was originally named Simple Pa ...

. Gill was noted for a distinctive rhythm guitar style and sound, emphasizing a treble-heavy attack likened by one critic to "metal splintering." He favoured tight linkage with drums and bass, and unlike many guitarists shunned the "warmer" sound of

valve amplifier A valve amplifier or tube amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that uses vacuum tubes to increase the amplitude or power of a signal. Low to medium power valve amplifiers for frequencies below the microwaves were largely replaced by sol ...

s in favour of the "coldness" and "thinness" of a

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

through

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...

amps.

Personal life

Gill was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, UK, on 1 January 1956. He was married to Catherine Mayer, a journalist and the co-founder of the

Women's Equality Party The Women's Equality Party (WEP) is a feminist political party set up in the United Kingdom in 2015. The idea was conceived by Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig at the Women of the World Festival, when they concluded that there was a need ...

. Gill's death was announced by Gang of Four on 1 February 2020. He was 64. A band's spokesman told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that the cause of death was listed as multiple organ failure and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. On 14 May 2020, Mayer suggested that he may have been an early victim of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, following a music tour to China in November 2019. Gill was often mistaken for the journalist and music critic Andy Gill (1953–2019), who began his career at the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

in 1977 and was chief music critic of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' from 1990.

Discography

Gang of Four

Solo

*"Dispossession" 12-inch single (1987), Survival

Production credits

* Gang of Four – ''

'' (1979) * Gang of Four – '' Another Day/Another Dollar'' (1982) *

– '' The Red Hot Chili Peppers'' (1984) * Balancing Act - "Curtains" (1988) * Gang of Four – ''

Mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India ...

'' (1991) *

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

– ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

'' (1998) * Bis – '' Social Dancing'' (1999) * The Mark of Cain - ''This is This...'' (2001, co-produced with Phil McKellar) *

Regurgitator Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut studio album, '' ...

- '' Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks'' (2001 - co-produced with the band, mixing, programming & arrangements) * Killing Joke – '' Killing Joke'' (2003) *

The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums ...

– ''

'' (2004) *

Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of "young knaves", which was found by the band when rummaging through a book. The band was originally named Simple Past ...

– '' Voices of Animals and Men'' (2006) *

– ''

Crooked Timber Crooked Timber is a left-of-centre political blog run by a group of (mostly) academics from and working in several different nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and Singapore. The na ...

'' (2009) * Fight Like Apes – '' The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner'' (2010) * Gang of Four – ''

Content Content or contents may refer to: Media * Content (media), information or experience provided to audience or end-users by publishers or media producers ** Content industry, an umbrella term that encompasses companies owning and providing mas ...

'' (2011) * Gang of Four – ''

What Happens Next What Happens Next may refer to: * ''What Happens Next?'' (film), 2012 documentary film about Dan Mangan * What Happens Next? (band), American thrashcore band * ''What Happens Next'' (Gang of Four album), 2015 * ''What Happens Next'' (Joe Satriani ...

'' (2015) *Gang of Four - '' Happy Now'' (2019) *

Queenadreena Queenadreena was an British rock music, English alternative rock band that formed in London, England in 1999 by vocalist KatieJane Garside and guitarist Crispin Gray, who had previously collaborated in the celebrated but short-lived band Daisy ...

- ''

Djin Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

'' reissue (2021, "Heaven Doesn't Wait" demo)

References

External links

*
Andy Gill websiteGang of Four website
1956 births 2020 deaths English rock guitarists Lead guitarists English songwriters English record producers Gang of Four (band) members People educated at Sevenoaks School Musicians from Manchester British post-punk musicians English punk rock guitarists Deaths from pneumonia in England {{England-musician-stub