Samuel J. Coomes (born April 23, 1964) is an American musician, and one half of the indie band Quasi, along with his ex-wife, drummer

Janet Weiss Janet Lee Weiss (born September 24, 1965) is an American rock drummer, a member of Quasi (band), Quasi and former member of Sleater-Kinney. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album ''Mirror Traffic'', and co ...

. Coomes was also a member of the mid-1980s underground pop band The Donner Party and replaced Brandt Peterson as the bassist for the 1990s Portland indie rock band

Heatmiser Heatmiser was an American rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in October 1991. Consisting of Elliott Smith (guitar and vocals), Neil Gust (guitar and vocals), Brandt Peterson (bass; later replaced by Sam Coomes, frontman of Quasi) and Ton ...

, playing on their final studio album, ''

Mic City Sons ''Mic City Sons'' is the third and final album by American indie rock band Heatmiser, released on October 29, 1996, through record label Caroline. Recording ''Mic City Sons'' is the band's only recording for a major label; however, when indiv ...

''.

Biography

Coomes was born in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

, and moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

as a child. He started playing in The Donner Party in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1983 and released two albums with them before they disbanded in 1989. Coomes formed Motorgoat in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1990 with

, and they released two cassettes and one 7" single before disbanding and becoming Quasi in 1993. Coomes released a solo album under the name Blues Goblins in 2003 and sometimes performs under that name. He also performs on keyboards and vocals with the

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

-based band Pink Mountain, and formed the duo Crock with Spencer Seim (Hella, Solos, The Advantage) which released an album, ''Grok'', in 2011. Coomes also appeared with

Jandek Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith (born October 26, 1945), a Houston, Texas-based American Lo-fi music, lo-fi Folk music, folk singer. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 120 albums while granting an interview extreme ...

in two NW shows along with drummer Emil Amos (Om, Grails, Holy Sons), documented on the album ''Portland Thursday'' (2009) and ''Seattle Friday'' (2011). Additionally, Coomes has scored several of the films of underground filmmaker Rankin Renwick (formerly known as Vanessa Renwick) Coomes currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

Session work since inception of Quasi

Coomes has done much recording work with other bands, mostly on keyboards and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. *

Bugskull Bugskull is an American musical group originally from Portland, Oregon, United States, that performed and recorded during the 1990s and early 2000s. According to a local newspaper, the Portland Mercury Review, discussing a one-off comeback conc ...

Built to Spill Built to Spill is an American indie rock band that formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1992. Centered on lead vocalist and guitarist Doug Martsch, the only permanent member, Built to Spill has released nine albums since its inception. Martsch originall ...

- Coomes has performed as a guest keyboardist on several tracks. He has appeared on every Built to Spill album since '' Keep It Like a Secret''. In addition, he co-produced with Doug Martsch Built to Spill's 2015 album, '' Untethered Moon'' *

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...

*Goldcard *

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...

- Coomes played the

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

on '' All Hands on the Bad One'' on the song "Milkshake 'n' Honey." He also played the

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

on the song "Funeral Song" off the album ''

One Beat ''One Beat'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on August 20, 2002, by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded between March and April 2002 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Orego ...

''. *

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

- Coomes played

on the 2000 album '' Figure 8'' on the songs " Stupidity Tries", " Everything Means Nothing to Me", " In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach)," and " Pretty Mary K". He also played bass and sang backup vocals on

's song " Pretty (Ugly Before)" on Smith's posthumous 2004 album ''

From a Basement on the Hill ''From a Basement on the Hill'' is the sixth and final studio album by the American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Recorded from 2000 to 2003, and faced with multiple delays due to Smith's personal problems that resulted in his death, it was re ...

''. Quasi and Elliott Smith toured together, including during the tour in support of his major-label debut, '' XO''. During these tour dates, Quasi performed a set of their own with Smith joining them for some songs, and also backed Smith on some songs during his set. * The TakeoversPitchfork article on The Takeovers
*

Solo discography

Albums

Compilation appearances

*''The Portland Edition'' — American Leather Records (vinyl, 2017)

References

External links

Official Quasi webpage
(Inactive as of November 2015, last archive.org snapshot from 2014 - https://web.archive.org/web/20141016045345/http://www.theequasi.com)
Another Quasi webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coomes, Sam Musicians from Oregon Living people 1964 births The Go-Betweens members