The complex math rock/angular indie/krautrock mix as embarked upon by New York’s Turing Machine since 1998 came to an abruptly tragic end in November 2009. On the eighth of that month, 34-year-old drummer Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs was killed in a freak elevator-shaft accident in a building where he was attending a fundraiser. Understandably, surviving members Justin Chearno (guitar) and Scott DeSimon (bass) put the band to rest after losing an integral piece of their musical puzzle and close friend. So, it was to everyone’s surprise when, earlier this year, Turing Machine announced its return with a new album, What Is The Meaning Of What (Temporary Residence Ltd.). Chearno and DeSimon will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on them.
Chearno: They call him “The Christopher Columbus of Punk” because he was there first. He went to high school with Johnny Thunders, played bass and wrote most of the songs for the Dictators, wrote one of the first snarky fanzines (Teenage Wasteland Gazette), wrote songs for Joey Ramone, played on tour with the Fleshtones, played on Ramones records, produced a million records by people like D-Generation and Guided By Voices, and he recently played a series of gigs called When Giants Walked The Earth: A Musical Memoir, where he shared the stories of his life that everyone wanted to hear but were too nervous to ask about. I met him via the wine business, and he knows just as much about that as he does about music. People have talked forever about New York City being gentrified, boring and no longer what it once was, but we have guys like Andy Shernoff, and they can’t build enough luxury condos to begin to erase what he’s done for music in NYC.
