It’s not right. No one should die at 28, much less someone so vibrant. Part of me refuses to believe that Makh Daniels is gone, that I’ll never see him play again or get another of his emails that lit up my inbox with his spirit. Things were looking up for his band Early Graves. They were wrapping up a month-plus-long tour, and people were starting to notice them. But terrible news hit yesterday morning: a van accident had taken Daniels’ life.
Daniels’ death hits me personally and hard. He was always generous with me, donating his time with interview answers, a guest blog post, and guiding me around town for a Decibel feature I wrote (“Streetwise San Francisco”, September ‘10 issue, Refused cover). When I first met him, he immediately offered to buy me a drink. This was wrong – fans should buy bands drinks, not the other way around. But that was the kind of person he was.
No musician loved the road more than Daniels. He originally joined Apiary, Early Graves’ previous incarnation, because he wanted to be in a touring band. It didn’t matter which band it was, he just wanted to tour. I got the feeling he was running from something – Daniels drank too much and didn’t hide it – but the road also held purpose for him. He was homeless at one point, so the road may have been a home of sorts for him. He did not view Early Graves as a hobby. His goal was for it to become a full-time touring band.
. . .
. . .
Those who see an irony in the name Early Graves are missing the point. Daniels’ lyrics are some of the bleakest penned since Black Flag. But it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it, and Daniels’ roar screamed life. He was not some death metal conjurer of morbidity; he was struggling to live. Metal band names are a thesaurus for “death”, but that does not constitute a death wish. Humans will never solve the problem of death, so it holds eternal fascination for them. Death-themed bands are merely groups of people grappling with that problem.
I would put Daniels up against any vocalist in extreme music in the past 10 years. In conversation, he was more of a listener than a talker – until he exploded into verbal riffs that were practically comedy sketches. You can hear these traits in his vocal delivery (and see them in his tour diaries). It’s very rhythmic, with a keen awareness of space – I believe Daniels studied creative writing – and Daniels could cook up a mean chorus. His bandmates provided riffs; Daniels provided songs. They have gotten me through some of my darkest hours. Think things are bad? Daniels has scraped lower, dug deeper, and melted the chunks down into gloriously throat-burning shots. Bottoms up!
Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” comes to mind. Makh Daniels was one of “the best minds of my generation” who embodied suffering and celebration. After the first public reading of “Howl”, poet Michael McClure said, “[A] human voice and body had been hurled against the harsh wall of America”. The body may be broken, but the voice lives on.
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This is really sad, and even more surreal considering I saw and rocked out to Early Graves not one month ago. I was very impressed with their live show and was hoping to see them again in the future, but I guess that’s never going to happen now. A damned shame if I ever saw one.
Saw this news yesterday, it was quite saddening to hear… I was very impressed by Goner, and even though it had fallen out of my rotation, I had been giving it a few more spins of late… I didn’t realize until yesterday that Makh was the one who wrote that hilarious venue etiquette article. 28 years old is too young to go (I should know, I’m 28 too), and its sad that they were so close to being done with the tour. RIP.
Sad news. RIP to Makh. My thoughts and prayers to go his family, friends, bandmates, and The Funeral Pyre and especially the driver of the van. I can’t imagine what they’re all going through right now.
Something so wrong, sad, and tragic about this. I didn’t know the guy and never had a chance to see EG. I saw Apiary but a billion years ago. But something about his writing, his lyrics, his vocals and overall stage composure – even in photos from shows – that just struck me as so fucking real. Just always thought he’d be the raddest guy to hang out with. As a fan, you find yourself looking up to guys like this and subconsiously hope they keep writing, touring, and making music forever. Shit just ain’t supposed to end like this. Fucking sucks.
Very sad news indeed. RIP.
I don’t know if he has surviving family, but if he does, I hope they see and appreciate this poignant eulogy.
The words were such that I couldn’t help but feel some personal anguish myself despite not being familiar with their music, live show, or the man himself. RIP.
My sincere condolences to his bandmates, family and friends. RIP.
This is so sad. I played with Early Graves about a week ago and ever since then I have been talking on how cool and awesome Makh was. He seemed like he had so much spark and heart for music and being around people who related to him in that way. This left me pumped to have made a new friend in the touring music scene. I am saddened because hardcore music has lost one of the good guys. I can’t imagine how the rest of the dudes in both bands are doing right now. Everything pretty much in their life is destroyed right now. Everyone should be blasting Early Graves in Makh’s memory. I hate that you mentioned the irony, because it is not irony that he died a early grave it is coincidence. It would be ironic if he lived a long long life.
Perfect. Thanks.
This is made all the more surreal since I just read the Streetwise SF in the newest Decibel…2 days ago.
I read the piece on San Francisco yesterday. Tragic. I’ve been in this existential kick since my gf’s cousin died in a car accident three weeks ago. Hearing about incidents like this only aggravates my neurosis. Nothing is guaranteed in life, we must enjoy it while we can and celebrate our fallen comrades…
I’ve kinda’ been trying to get into Early Graves since I read that review of their album Goner on here. I hear May Day on Sonic Tap sometimes. Now I have a real purpose to get into Early Graves aside from enjoyment of music: to remember Makh. I too was touched by this article and his death even though I’ve only heard his voice in one song that I know of. Condolences to his friends, family, bandmates, The Funeral Pyre, and fans. RIP.
So sorry to hear about this, my condolences to his family and friends.
Makh was my brother, these kinds of comments are read and if not shared upon everyone, i want to thank everyone for their support and i kno the band is even grieving harder….I wish the best to the band and wish they play his music and music in his name for years to come, my brother was a great person, friend, and sibling. We all have been dealt a great blow to the metal world, and the household, even though we are on 2 different sides of the music industry spectrum, a loss is always a devastating blow no matter where you stand. Thanks all
King Daniels and the Daniels Family RIP Makh Daniels 1/30/82-8/02/10
I remember the first time I met Makh. The first day of 6th grade I sat next to him in math class, we talked about the new ONYX song, Slam. He told me he wanted to be in a band and never waivered from his dream.
RIP my friend, ’til we meet again.
I can’t tell you how glad I am I got to drink and have ice cream with Makh before he was ripped from the earth. San Francisco just lost one of it’s many flavors.
What a tragedy. I was so looking forward to hearing these guys at the Power of the Riff fest this weekend, especially after reading the Streetwise San Francisco feature. Fond memories of seeing Makh and the band at Murderfest a coupley years back. RIP.
My condolences & deepest appologies goes out to the Daniels Family. Losing a loved one is never an easy thing. It takes time, & some times lots of it. I am still til this day missing & mourning my nephew who passed on to be with GOD on 02/20/2010. We must always remember to keep our loevd ones close, & cherish every moment of everyday. Sometimes things like this can be so life altering, we just have to make sure we dont let it change us for the ‘bad’. Some say, “that we should cry when a baby is born into this cruel world & rejoice when one leaves this place, because they’re going to a better place than here” …..
R.I.H.P.
e_n_e_e
s_ _a_a
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Makh Daniels
01/30/82 – 08/02/10
A fitting elegy for a fallen brother. Rest in peace.
He was one of my best friends and one of the coolest human beings I’ve ever met. The thing that defined Makh the most in life was his brutal honesty, razor sharp wit and ironic sense of humor. Upon learning of his death, I was quite literally reduced to my knees. It never occurs how much you love a friend until they’re gone. He used to tell me what a great guy I was and was able to see the best in me in spite of my glaring alcoholism and character flaws. From his passing I have truly learned to value my friends, and his friendship has been one of the most beautiful defining moments of my life, and his passing a spring board into a new way of living: sober. Check out their Facebook page, there’s a link on there to donate to his family to cover the expenses of his funeral and burial. He was the purest motherfucker I’d ever met, and those of us who were lucky enough to fall into his circle of friends are so much better for it. I Love and Miss You Homie.
Memorial Service for Makh Daniels: Monday August 9th @ 2-5pm. Location: Good Shepard Funeral Home/ 901 Oceana Blvd Pacifica, California. Please bring a food item along w/ you… and re-post the information across various sites so that others may attend
Thanks for the remembrance and info, Faeryn.
Bay Area folks, if you could repost the info about the memorial service to your local message boards, etc., that would be great.
I just read the San Francisco article recently too, I’m actually thankful for it seeing as I will be in SF only 8 days from now. It’s always sad to hear of a young person passing away, it’s even more sad when that person had such potential to do great things! Rest in Peace Makh.
I similar experiences with Makh. Met him through friends. Bought me a drink (or ten, but who’s counting?). DJ’ed metal at the Knockout. Solid, solid person and I felt a special kinship to him as a fellow biracial kid who grew up on metal and punk. I just wish I would have had more time to get to know him better.
I’ve been reading this blog since its inception, but never commented. I have to now, not only because Makh was a great guy who will be sorely missed, but because this is one of the the most well written and insightful obits I’ve ever read.
@ Bad Dude… hey man, hit me up on Facebook.com/redlikewater… I’d like to get to know some of the other homies Makh knew… I went down there with him and Dan and Dan’s brother a few months back and got into a big fight with the girlfriend of Will from Death Angel… it was crazy drama and his bitch took off on me… it turned out to be a pretty funny night.
There’s a lot to share and I just want to get some other stories for my memories. Working on getting some shirts made tomorrow and putting the word out about memorial services. I hope you can attend. if you need a ride, hit me up and i’ll take you with us.
Faeryn- thank you for posting the memorial info. Makh and I were best friends in middleschool and I regret never having the chance to see him do the one thing he wanted to do in life, perform. I owe it to him to be at the service.
@ JC… hit me up if you want to ride down with me and a couple other homies: 415-666-5425 or facebook.com/redlikewater. it’d be great to meet you too man, and btw, homie tore shit up… i’ve got a lot of private pics we took i can share w/ ya too from the last days of Apiary and the first days as Early Graves
Nice words cosmo.. This is all very sad. I think all musicians got an ice cold shiver down our spines reading the news of this. Something so tragic yet such a familiar situation of late night drives.
EVERYBODY BE SAFE!
RIP Makh
Faeryn- I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be coming from the south bay. Meet you there.
Makh Daniels is featured prominently in the “Streetwise San Francisco” article in the most recent issue of Decibel. If anyone in the Daniels family would like a copy please email me at mark.evans@redflagmedia.com . More than happy to pass along issues to you folks. Extremely sorry to hear of this tragic news.
Like Aesop, I am also glad I had the chance to meet Makh over drinks and ice cream that day, and am so sad I didn’t get to meet him sooner than that, nor did I get the chance to see his band perform. His senseless death was such a reality check for me, and reading that Decibel article gave me the chills. Thanks, Cosmo, for giving me a one-time opportunity to meet a really cool person like Makh. My heart goes out to his family, friends and bandmates.
RIP
If you want to show your support for the art that we love and the artists who make it, please consider a donation of any size you can afford to ripMakhDaniels@gmail.com. For more info about how to support the band and Makh’s family, see their myspace at http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=17814847&blogId=537958796.
This was very well put! Well said Cosmo Lee!!
I didnt personally know Makh.. but I’m a great friend of his brother. I feel for him deeply as I cant imagine loosing one of my siblings. And I feel for any of you who knew him personally as I cant bear to think of what it would be like to loose one of my great friends! My condolences go out to his family and friends! May Makh continue to live in your hearts always. RIP!!
“Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow,
May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow.”
~Author Unknown
I finally got a chance today to listen to ‘Goner’, and was impressed enough to look up Early Graves online. One of the first hits was this post, eulogizing Makh. I may be a “late comer” to the Early Graves camp, but I’ve seen enough death in my time to feel the loss in a personal way. I offer the band and Makh’s family my sincere condolences.