Monte Cazazza, the audacious artist and composer credited with coining the phrase “industrial music” to encapsulate a particularly abrasive strain of electronic music, died on Tuesday, June 27. He was 74.
Fellow musician and longtime collaborator Meri St. Maryconfirmed his deathon Twitter.
“It is with immense sadness and love I had to let Monte go,” she said. “He was very ill and in pain, so I take comfort in the fact that that part is over but I miss him already! Wherever it is we go off to, I am certain he will be causing trouble in his own way.”
Born Jan. 23, 1949, Cazazza gained notoriety through his deliberately provocative performance art. His career took off after he was expelled from theCalifornia College of Arts and Craftsin Oakland after submitting his first sculpture assignment, a cement waterfall that cut off access to the main stairway of the building.
It is With immense sadness and Love I had to let Monte go. He was very ill & in pain so I take comfort in the fact that that part is over but I miss him already! Where ever it is we go off to I am certain He will be causing trouble in his own way RIP the One & Only Monte Cazazzapic.twitter.com/SWoOjqQHz8
— Meri St. Mary (@MeriStMary)June 30, 2023
Re/Search Magazine, a publication renowned for chronicling underground culture, described Cazazza’s boundary-pushing performances as both obscene andpotentially dangerousto audiences, labeling them as “insanity outbreaks thinly disguised as art events.” In 1975, a flyer promoting one of his exhibits featured the macabre spectacle of a “giant statue of Jesus” being decapitated and desecrated.
Cazazza cemented his reputation as a morbid prankster with the cover of his zine,Vile. Designed to mimic Life magazine, it showcased an image of the artist tearing out his heart.
His groundbreaking sound collages secured him a deal withIndustrial Records, a label established by the influential band Throbbing Gristle in the mid-1970s. It was during this period that Cazazza introduced the phrase “industrial music for industrial people,” defining an emerging genre characterized by dissonant beats and harsh sonic landscapes that eventually found mainstream acceptance through the pop lens of artists likeDepeche ModeandNine Inch Nails.
Monte Cazazza (195?-2023)pic.twitter.com/4assVBqBgZ
— David Mennessier (@RupertPupkin__)June 30, 2023
Over his career, Cazazza released eight solo albums, including several under San Francisco’s Subterranean Records label. In the early 1990s, Mute Records curated a compilation of his early recordings aptly titled “The Worst Of Monte Cazazza.”
He also collaborated with the pioneering San Francisco industrial group Factrix and contributed to several recordings byPsychic TV, the experimental music collective led byGenesis P-Orridgeof Throbbing Gristle fame. In the 1980s, Cazazza also composed soundtracks forSurvival Research Laboratories.
Jon Reiss, director of several Survival Research Laboratories films and the documentary “Better Living Through Circuitry,” paying tribute to Cazazza in anInstagram post, lauded his “incredibly sharp wit” and “unique perspectives on the world.”
Cazazza’s final album, “The Cynic,” was released in 2010 on Forced Exposure.
Correction:This story has been updated to accurately reflect the dates of Cazazza’s birth and death.
Reach Aidin Vaziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com