Gary 'Gash' Brown - Barse
Gary 'Gash' Brown doing what he did best (courtesy of Barse myspace)
GARY 'GASH' BROWN
Gary "Gash" Brown was born 7/1/1971
He died on 20/12/2006
Barse's front man Gash passed away 4 days before Christmas. Trev Howarth
(the man behind
Barse's debut full length "Negative Reaction") was supposed
to write a bio for
Barse, but before he had finished it, the bad news reached us
and he ended up writing a tribute.
I can't find right words now, so just read on.
- Vesku - Hells Tone Records
www.myspace.com/barsefilth

BARSE TRIBUTE BY TREV
Very little of note happened for the next few years after the release of "Better Be
Ready" 7". Line up problems often saw the band at a standstill. Jeff left in a row
over money (it was never "musical differences in
Barse; always rows over
money) , Rick had rejoined then left again. And bass players, oh fuck, don't
mention bass players. It was like a Pop Idol revolving door of contenders and it
only ever got settled when Davey joined. Hence nothing was recorded between
2003 and 2005 and the only thing to keep us amused was controversy
generated in MRR. A Leeds PC fanzine slagged the band off and branded them
childish, taunting Gash that
Barse "couldn't possibly be offensive". He proved
otherwise by calling the editor a child molester in the world's biggest punk mag.
The ensuing furore, particularly in MRR's letters pages, gave the band months
of free publicity.
Earlier they'd played with the
ANTI NOWHERE LEAGUE in South Shields but the
moment of glory was spoilt by a disappearing PA man (
The League insisted on
a light show so he'd had to go out looking for one. When it arrived it blew the
fuses so Animal and Co ended up with an even worse sound than
Barse. That's
what ya get for being rock perfectionists!).  They also did a couple of slots with
the
SEX PISTOLS EXPERIENCE. One of the gigs, in Newcastle Trillians, was on
the night of a Newcastle match and by the time
BARSE finished their set,
hundreds of Newcastle football hooligans had filled the place. After the band
played their last song, Gash announced through the mic
"You've been a great
crowd - thank you SUNDERLAND!"  !!!
Oddly enough SEX PISTOLS EXPERIENCE went on to be bigger than many of
the original 1977 bands. Funny old world. Or should that be "sad"?
Fast forward to 2006 where things started happening again. Despair at
attracting a reliable drummer resulted in Gash reverting back to the drumstool
with Wayne and Davey completing the 3 piece line up.  They played a big LPR
Hardcore Summerfest in Finland and managed to get an excellent tape of their
set, spoilt largely by the lack of a second guitar ; hence the odd weak sounding
lead break (but otherwise a cracking recording, with hilarious inbetween song
banter).
Arthur from
THE LURKERS became a big fan, and in Oct 06 his other band 999
played Gateshead 3 Tuns . It was a typical nuts gig, with the usual hilarious
banter from Gash , but one thing distinctively lacking was the visual aspect.
Gash needed to be back up front on guitar/vocals.
A young drummer, Tony from Blyth band
FORGOTTEN ROOTS (a GREEN DAY
sort of band), was recruited and finally it looked as if the band were going
somewhere. In just a few practices a great sounding short set was put together,
including a fantastic cover of
THE NOW's "You Student".
Gash seemed in positive mood and the new album - "If You Can't Fuck Em Cut
Em Up" (for maximum offence!) -  was recorded in less than 2 days. He had
finally mastered the art of the 8 track, and the recording was superb, as were
the songs. I am not exaggerating when I say it is right up there with the first
albums by
BLITZ, MACC LADS, SLOPPY SECONDS, COCK SPARRER and
OXYMORON. It really is THAT good.





























Me, Dawn and my 9 yr old son Lewis (aka Son of Oi) visited Gash on Sat 16th
Dec 2006. Lewis worshipped him and begged for a guitar for his birthday (the
next day). Gash, despite being responsible for many a hell-raising anthem, was
a great family man, not just with his own kids; he often got the guitar out and
sung mad acoustic songs to keep Son of Oi pacified. He was simply a musical
genius and didn't need to hide behind walls of guitars and echo.
He had lost his keys that night, so our final sight of him was looking back at him
laughing as we struggled to climb out the bedroom window. By Wednesday 20th
Dec however, he was dead. Found dead in the flat by Helen his girlfriend. All
who knew him kept asking the question - WHY? Why, when Xmas with the kids
(Liam and Alex) was just around the corner; Why, when there was the release of
one of the best albums made to look forward to; why, when the band line up
finally was settled and looked sure to be going somewhere?
Gash suffered from depression. Things which the rest of us would get over in a
day or two would linger and grow deeper. He could never be at peace until now.
It was a comforting explanation but we all still wish it was all a dream.
The world has lost one of it's best guitarists, drummers, singers and songwriters.
Thankfully he left us with a final batch of true punk anthems that I can guarantee
no band will ever equal.

RIP Gary "Gash" Brown 7/1/1971 - 20/12/2006
; musical genius.
Any tributes can be emailed to Helen his girlfriend at
helenbarker1985@aol.com
TREV HAGL

(PS) The Barse album 'If You Can't Fuck Em Cut Em Up" is out now on CD
for
$6 ppd paypal.
There is also a full tribute in the next issue of our zine NEGATIVE REACTION
(named after the debut
BARSE CD of course) which came out in Feb 07.
And the zine is
£2 ppd each issue (or £3 for two if you review them)
trevhagl@hotmail.com
Barse - 'If You Can't Fuck Em, Cut Em Up!' (courtesy of Barse myspace)
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Gash Brown (courtesy of Barse on myspace)