Pierre Kezdy (January 4, 1962 – October 9, 2020) was an American bass player, known for playing with various Chicago punk bands, including

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

Pegboy Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty (ex-guitarist for Naked Raygun), along with his brother Joe Haggerty (drums, formerly of The Effigies), Larry ...

Strike Under Strike Under was an influential Chicago punk rock band of the early 1980s. It was started by Steve Bjorklund (vocals, guitar) after the demise of The Rabbits. The principal musicians, besides Bjorklund, were his brother Chris (guitar), Pierre Kez ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and Trial By Fire. He was also the younger brother of

Effigies An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

frontman John Kezdy.

Biography

Kezdy started with the band

in either 1979 or 1980. When Steve Bjorklund, the band's lead singer, left the band in 1981, the remaining members, including Kezdy, formed a new band called Trial By Fire. When that band folded in 1982, Kezdy went on to replace Camilo Gonzalez in

, joining them in time for their second album '' All Rise''. Naked Raygun ceased performing in 1992. In 1994 Kezdy replaced Steve Saylors in

, the band started by former Naked Raygun bandmate

John Haggerty John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. When Naked Raygun started playing again in 2007, Kezdy was replaced in Pegboy by Mike Thompson. Kezdy suffered a stroke in 2010 and was unable to perform live with Naked Raygun, so Sensitive Pete, who was already part of

Jeff Pezzati Jeffrey Neal "Jeff" Pezzati (born February 6, 1960) is the lead singer of the Chicago punk band Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered ...

's band, the Bomb, played bass for their live shows. Kezdy did re-join Naked Raygun for live shows in 2013, playing baritone guitar with Fritz Doreza playing bass. Other bands that Kezdy has played with include the Rainbow Girls (with his brother John Kezdy, of the Effigies), the Interceptors and Arsenal (both with

Santiago Durango Santiago Alonso Durango (born 1957) is a Colombian–American attorney and retired musician. He is best known for his work with the 1980s punk rock groups Naked Raygun and Big Black. Life and career Durango is the son of a Colombian doctor. H ...

). Kezdy played a

Gibson G3 The Gibson G-3 was a bass guitar by Gibson building on the design of the Gibson Grabber. Introduced in 1975 as a companion to the Gibson Grabber, the G-3 (which stands for Grabber 3) introduced a new pickup scheme to the already established body ...

bass guitar. Kezdy was interviewed for the film '' You Weren't There'' and two of his bands (Naked Raygun and Strike Under) were profiled.

Death

Kezdy died of cancer on October 9, 2020.

Partial discography

Strike Under

*''Immediate Action'' 12" EP (1981)

Naked Raygun

*'' All Rise'' (1986) *'' Jettison'' (1988) *'' Understand?'' (1989) *'' Raygun...Naked Raygun'' (1990) *''Last of the Demo Hicans'' (1997) *''Free Shit'' (2001) *''What Poor Gods We Do Make'' DVD (2007)

Pegboy

*''

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded ...

'' (1994) *'' Cha Cha Damore'' (1997)

Reception

*"Ex-Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy's steely edge is further ferocious: even his old favorite J.J. Burnel of the Stranglers would karate-kick for such a ripping, trebly sharpness." (Jack Rabid,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

) *"Pierre Kezdy's bass gurgles blood on one track, and is swampy on the next." (Bob Gendron, Allmusic) *"Pierre Kezdy's bass sounds like a power tool" (

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

)

References

External links

*
Pierre Kezdy profile @ punkdatabase.comTrial By Fire profile @ punkdatabase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kezdy, Pierre 1962 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Chicago Naked Raygun members Pegboy members Arsenal (American band) members Deaths from cancer in Illinois