Greg Brown, Cake founding guitarist who wrote breakout hit 'The Distance,' dead at 56

Greg Brown, a founding guitarist of the set Cake who near the Sacramento radical earlier its 3rd medium came out, has died, his erstwhile bandmates announced implicit the weekend. He was 56.

“It is with dense hearts that we stock the quality of Greg Brown’s passing aft a little illness,” Cake said connected its Facebook page.

“Greg was an integral portion of CAKE’s aboriginal dependable and development. His originative contributions were immense, and his beingness — some philharmonic and idiosyncratic — volition beryllium profoundly missed. Godspeed, Greg.”

Brown wrote the band’s enduring breakout song, “The Distance,” which was the archetypal azygous disconnected Cake’s 2nd album, “Fashion Nugget.”

In a 2004 communicative by The Times that referred to Cake’s marque of stone arsenic “part self-referential onslaught connected philharmonic certainty and portion earnest affirmation of everything stone has ever been,” writer Dean Kuipers talked astir that breakout opus and the medium it came retired on.

“Such an attack archetypal brought the set success, scoring a immense deed with the oblique 1996 azygous ‘The Distance,’ built connected the neurotic representation of a antheral pressing a car for velocity successful a contention agelong over,” helium wrote. “The album, ‘Fashion Nugget,’ went platinum with its antithetic but effectual premix of low-fi guitar, funky rhythms, bleepy caller question synths and [trumpet player-percussionist] Vince di Fiori’s oddly evocative trumpet parts. The ambiguity of that deed azygous was unsettled further by much jokey elements connected that medium — similar the screen of Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem, ‘I Will Survive.’”

But by the clip that communicative was written, Brown was agelong gone from Cake, having near the set successful 1997, earlier it recorded its 3rd album. He and Cake bassist Victor Damiani started playing euphony with vocalist-keyboardist Dana Gumbiner, forming the set Deathray. They, and assorted drummers, released 1 medium connected an indie statement successful 2000 and different by themselves successful 2005.

Brown released a solo EP, “The End of Something New,” successful 2023.

“I mightiness person told you 1 happening backmost erstwhile I was 27 years old, and I near blistery headed and huffy astir what I considered to beryllium irreconcilable property problems oregon whatever,” Brown said of his departure from Cake successful a 2021 Billboard diagnostic astir the band. “As 51-year-old me, I spot a overmuch larger discourse of what was going connected successful my life. Rather than get into each of it, I would conscionable accidental determination was a batch of turmoil astatine the time, and I felt similar leaving Cake would beryllium a determination that would beryllium bully for my health.”

On Saturday, Gumbiner of Deathray remembered Brown with a Facebook station successful which helium said the guitarist died aft a “long illness,” not a little one, arsenic his Cake bandmates said. He and Brown played unneurotic astir precocious astatine the extremity of 2024, helium said.

“There’s nary mode to articulate however overmuch Greg’s relationship and originative concern meant to me,” Gumbiner wrote. “He softly and comprehensively changed my beingness and the lives of truthful galore successful his orbit. Forgive maine for this (he would springiness maine a acold look of disapproval aft speechmaking this), but from the archetypal clip we began making euphony together, Greg truly saw me. And we ALL saw Greg. I mean, I had a immense crush from the infinitesimal my archetypal set opened for CAKE astatine the Cattle Club ... He was *vicious* onstage. By the clip we were retired connected circuit with CAKE, and I could witnesser the opposition betwixt that coiled, visceral magnesium occurrence nighttime aft nighttime and his quiet, reserved (occasionally smirking) stoicism offstage, I was *done*. It was existent love.”

Gumbiner said helium felt helium could spot Brown “completely” erstwhile it came to songwriting.

“I couldn’t person been much successful originative harmony with someone. We grew close, but of course, lone *so* close. Greg was 1 of my champion friends, whom I knew astir *nothing* about,” helium said. “He could beryllium frustratingly closed disconnected astatine times, and heartbreakingly candid astatine others. We’d sometimes constitute songs astir each different and each other’s lives successful oblique ways. But we seldom talked straight astir feelings oregon profoundly idiosyncratic challenges. This was Greg, oregon astatine slightest 1 magnitude of the analyzable kaleidoscope of who helium was. Despite that, oregon possibly due to the fact that of it, I loved him similar a brother.”

Weezer co-founder and erstwhile bassist Matt Sharp called Brown his “shyest, astir gentle and delicate friend” successful an Instagram station Sunday.

“Just a fewer years agone Greg flew each the mode down from Sacramento to LA conscionable to archer maine however overmuch helium loved maine and what a large interaction our clip unneurotic has had connected his life. It was important to him that we stock this infinitesimal look to face. It’s simply devastating to deliberation of my saccharine friend, arsenic shy arsenic helium was to interruption done each that shyness to beryllium truthful unfastened hearted and vulnerable,” wrote the bassist, who worked with Brown connected the 2004 solo grounds “Matt Sharp.”

“So determination we were, conscionable 2 men of definite property sitting crossed from each other, surrounded by redwood trees, voicing our heavy consciousness of gratitude for being capable to person shared meaningful clip together, successful betwixt agelong moments of silence, birds chirping and different brushed sounds of the neighborhood. We talked of however excessively overmuch clip had passed and however we had to marque much clip for each different successful the future. I loved him much than helium could ever person known, but I instrumentality immoderate tiny comfortableness knowing that astatine slightest I tried to explicit those feelings successful immoderate constricted mode I could, connected that tranquil afternoon.”

Sharp said each of his thoughts were with Brown’s “friends, household and children.”