Nick Sanderson (22 April 1961 – 8 June 2008) was an English musician, most famous for being the front man in

Earl Brutus Earl Brutus were a British indie rock band that emerged in the 1990s. They were formed in 1993 by Nick Sanderson, Rob Marche (formerly of JoBoxers and If?), Jamie Fry (formerly of World of Twist) and Stuart Boreman. Boreman left after the re ...

, and a short-term member of the Scottish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...

Musical career

Sanderson started his professional career in the early 1980s by becoming the drummer in the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

post-punk group

Clock DVA Clock DVA are a musical group from Sheffield, England, whose style has touched on industrial, post-punk, and EBM. They formed in 1978 by Adolphus "Adi" Newton and Steven "Judd" Turner. Along with contemporaries Heaven 17, Clock DVA's name wa ...

. After that he drummed for the re-formed punk-blues group

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club w ...

. He later joined

World of Twist World of Twist were an English indie pop band, formed in Sheffield in 1985. History The original line-up of the band consisted of James Fry (vocals), Andrew Hobson (bass guitar), Gordon King (guitar), Tony Ogden (drums), Rory Conolly (saxophon ...

, a

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 ...

-based group. In the early 1990s, Sanderson became a lyricist and singer in

. The band eventually signed a deal with the

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

subsidiary Fruition. The two Earl Brutus albums, ''Your Majesty. . . We Are Here'' (1996) and ''Tonight You Are the Special One'' (1998) received critical acclaim, but did not make the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

. In 1998, he also played for

on their album ''

Munki ''Munki'' is the sixth studio album released by Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain. After leaving Blanco y Negro, the Reid brothers signed to Sub Pop in the U.S. and Creation, who had released their debut single " Upside Down" in 1984, ...

'', and for

Jim Reid James McLeish Reid (born 29 December 1961) is a Scottish singer/songwriter and the lead singer for the alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, which he formed with his elder brother and guitarist William Reid in 1983. Career The Jes ...

Freeheat Freeheat are a British indie rock band formed by Jim Reid and Ben Lurie of The Jesus and Mary Chain and Romi Mori and Nick Sanderson of The Gun Club. After releasing an EP, ''Don't Worry Be Happy'' (later released with a bonus track as '' ...

, in addition to writing "Male Wife" with William Reid on Lazycame's album "Yawn!" in 2000.

Personal life

Sanderson was married to

's Japanese bassist, Romi Mori, with whom he had a son, Syd. After Earl Brutus's commercial failure, Sanderson got a job as an

engine driver A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

on the

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

to London line. He died in 2008 after a battle with lung cancer. A tribute concert was held in his remembrance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Nick 1961 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Sheffield People educated at Clifton College British alternative rock musicians The Jesus and Mary Chain members English rock drummers Deaths from lung cancer The Gun Club members