A founding member and drummer of US rock band “Modest Mouse”, Jeremiah Green died on Saturday at the age of 45. He had gone to sleep and never work up.
Carol Namatame, the late drummer’s mother, revealed on Christmas Day that Green was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She had asked fans to send healing vibes. Isaac Brock, the band’s frontman, had also confirmed that Green had cancer was undergoing treatment. “It seems to be going smoothly and making a positive difference.”
“It is with a very heavy heart that the Green and Namatame families announce the passing away of their husband, father, son and brother Jeremiah Green,” Namatame said in a Facebook post. “Jeremiah was a light to so many. At this time the family is requesting privacy. More information will be forthcoming including a Celebration of Life with friends and fans in the coming months.”
Green Was Consistent in the Band’s Lineup
Born in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1977, Green grew up in Moxee and moved to Seattle when he was 12 years of age. He was barely a teenager when he joined the newly formed Modest Mouse, which featured singer guitarist Isaac Brock and bassist Eric Judy among others. The rock band was initially based in the Seattle suburb Issaquah and relocated to Portland. Green is said to have helped found the post-grunge outfit in the early 1990s in Washington, but soon became a fixture of less abrasive Portland, Oregon, music scene.
Modest Mouse drew its name from Virginia Woolf, who once described everyday individuals as “modest mouse-coloured people”. The group was influenced by Talking Heads and XTC. The band made its debut in 1996 with the album This is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about. In 2000, Spin magazine described Modest Mouse’s music as being stranded in boom-time America, a charismatic rock band from the chaste upper north-west indie scene.
The band gained mainstream success with 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News. During this time, Green had a breakdown and briefly left the band but made a comeback with albums Strangers to Ourselves and The Golden Casket.
A Major Loss
Tributes are pouring in from the music industry and fans. Daniel Danger said Jeremiah Green could sneak a disco beat into literally the saddest most chaotic song ever written and stick the landing 100% of the time. “He could sound like a runaway train tearing through the tundra, a house falling apart, a heartbeat.”
