Unwound and Household Gods bassist Vern Rumsey has died at the age of 47.
The news was confirmed by his Household Gods bandmate Conan Neutron, who posted on Facebook: “Absolutely stunned and shocked. Vern Rumsey is gone. I have few details.
“One of the sweetest and most pure hearts I know and one of my favourite bass players of all time. I can barely process this right now.
“I was such a fan of what he did, he was in one of my favourite bands, Unwound. He was a compatriot, my Household Gods bandmate and my friend of many years. I'm devastated. This is impossibly heavy and I can barely handle it.”
Rumsey co-founded post-hardcore outfit Unwound in 1991 with guitarist and vocalist Justin Trosper and drummer Brandt Sandeno, and appeared on all the band’s albums, including their final record Leaves Turn Inside You in 2001.
Unwound split in 2002, with Rumsey going to work with artists including Blonde Redhead and also co-ran the Punk In My Vitamins label with Trosper and drummer Sara Lund.
Rumsey was also in bands including Long Hind Legs and Witchypoo, and most recently with Household Gods with Neutron, Slint’s David Pajo and the late Lauren K Newman.
Newman died in 2019, with their debut album Palace Intrigue released in June this year and dedicated to he memory.
Photo by Dave Catching. Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
