Bruce Gordon (born 1968 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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) is an English-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock musician Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

, best known as the bassist for

I Mother Earth I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadians, Canadian rock band. The band formed in 1990 and reached its peak in popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. After an eight-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2012. Between 1996 and 2016, I Mother Earth was among ...

. He was born to parents of Scottish and

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heritage. He immigrated to

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with his family at the age of six. They first moved to

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but after only a year relocated to Oakville,

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, a suburb of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. His exposure to bands such as the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

, Black Flag and

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this ...

inspired him to pick up the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

at the age of fifteen. He quickly took to the instrument and within a few months had joined a Toronto punk band called Intensive Chaos. Primarily self-taught, Gordon continued to play in a string of basement bands and soon graduated to the independent scene where he started playing local gigs with Jonathan Cummins (Bionic, Doughboys), and Cam and Brad Maclean in Circus Lupus. After finishing high school, Gordon enrolled in the jazz program at

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to further his musical knowledge. Around the same time the demise of Circus Lupus led him to join the newly formed Rocktopus. Rocktopus released several independent cassettes and an EP on Lone Wolf Records. The band toured regularly across Ontario and

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and successfully completed two cross Canada and one North American tour before finally calling it quits. In 1993, only one month after Rocktopus split, Gordon joined

, who had already signed a worldwide deal with Capitol records. A few short weeks after he joined the band, they embarked on a pre-album release tour across the

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. Gordon was credited with bass duty on 1993's '' Dig'', though he did not actually record it. However, he did record on 1996's ''

Scenery and Fish ''Scenery and Fish'' is the second album by the Canadian rock band I Mother Earth, released by Capitol and EMI in 1996. It is the band's most commercially successful album, going double platinum in Canada. By April 1999, the album had sold 320, ...

'', 1999's '' Blue Green Orange'', and 2003's '' The Quicksilver Meat Dream''. In 2003, the band parted ways to pursue different projects. Gordon expanded his teaching practice, both privately and at the Twelfth Fret, and began to explore new musical endeavors. He tried his hand at as many different musical styles as possible, including various jazz and blues artists, and for a year worked with songwriter Alison Maclean in her band Fourstar. He also performed with the funk improv band Hot Fo' Gandhi and the lo-fi jazz combo the Tiny Specks. In early 2005, Gordon was hired by

Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...

to help open up a new Toronto-based show. He continues to perform with the eclectic ensemble on a variety of instruments that include electric zither, chapman stick and talking drum. Gordon joined with fellow Blue Man musicians Dave Steele and Steve Ballstadt to form the instrumental spy-go-go-surf-noir trio Experiment In Terror. His newest project is the live electro groove collective called Ostrich. Gordon now lives in Florida, where he continues to work for Blue Man Group. In 2012, he reunited with the rest of the most recent I Mother Earth lineup for several live performances across Canada. They have also recorded a new song.

References

External links

Official Bruce Gordon PageBlue Man Group WebsiteOfficial Tiny Specks Band PageOfficial Hot Fo' Gandhi Band PageOfficial Ostrich Band Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Bruce 1968 births Living people English emigrants to Canada Canadian rock bass guitarists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian people of German descent I Mother Earth members