Today there’s a funeral for Joe Graziano, bass player of NYHC band, Supertouch. I booked Supertouch a few times in the 80s at the Safari Club in Washington, DC. I did not personally know Joe, but 1)know the devastation that suicide leaves behind, having lost a few friends this way and 2)feel the sadness rippling through the hardcore community. I feel for those closest to him. Confusion, anger, guilt and pain all surface when someone exits this way–and words are never enough.
As a kid I thought music could heal everything. We were weirdos and misfits but we had each other. Depression is a silent killer that moves among people of all careers and all walks of life. Suicide is the worst. We’ve lost too many over the years. We are not immune. I can only hope our collective loss brings us closer together.
That was a thoughtful and sensitive post. As a longtime friend of Joe, I can say that you are absolutley right about the devastating confusion and pain that this has caused. No one that knew him can understand how this could have happened. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Thanks for commenting. I am sorry for your loss. Thinking of other friends who left the Earth this way still tears me up inside.