Chainsaw Kittens drummer Eric Harmon dies
Eric Harmon, drummer of the 1990s indie darlings Chainsaw Kittens and other Oklahoma bands, died Wednesday. He was 48.
“Everyone’s just really sad,” Tyson Meade, founding singer, songwriter and frontman of the Chainsaw Kittens, said of Harmon’s death. “He was still so full of life. He still lived like a 22-year-old.”
Meade said the Norman drummer, who joined the Chainsaw Kittens in January 1993, “was like no other. He touched so many people.”
The singer said once Harmon learned a new song he could usually get it right “in one take” during the band’s recording sessions.
“The Kittens were not the Kittens without him,” Meade said. “His enormous talent will live on in the music.”
Meade said he felt lucky to get the chance to express those sentiments to Harmon during their final three-hour visit last week.
Part of the American alternative rock scene, the Norman-based Kittens’ sound drew from pop, glam-rock, punk, new wave and British Invasion music.
The band’s name was a reference to the members’ youth and “chainsaw guitar sound.” The Chainsaw Kittens were active from 1989 to 2000, opening for performers including Iggy Pop and the Smashing Pumpkins.
The band was first established by Meade, previously of Norman alt-rock outfit Defenestration. Meade, Harmon and guitarist/producer Trent Bell and bass guitarist Matt Johnson made up the band’s bestknown lineup.
Ty Kamm of the band Klipspringer remembered the Oklahoma music scene of the 1990s as frequented by Harmon and the Kittens.
“I met Eric in the early ‘90s when our bands played together frequently at Kelly’s & Rome,” Kamm said. “I first saw him in The Cant and then in the incredible Cinderbiscuits. Like most people, I was initially blown away by his musicianship. As a drummer he embodied flash, precision, and power.”
Kamm said Harmon continued to be a kind friend before and after the Kittens’ star rose.
“He always had that big smile and a hug for me. Even after he became a bona fide rockstar with the Kittens ... whenever I saw him around town he still had that big smile and hug for me,” Kamm said.
Oklahoma-based guitarist Tommy McKenzie last worked with Harmon while preparing for a Chainsaw Kittens reunion concert in September.
“He was just so nice and enthusiastic,” McKenzie said. “Those Chainsaw Kittens drum parts were unrelenting. He had his own way of playing that was very communal.”
Harmon had been performing live up until those practices with the Chainsaw Kittens.
At rehearsals before the Sept. 8 reunion show at Opolis in Norman, Harmon seemed to be exhausted behind the drum set. He visited a doctor and was hospitalized.
“Even at the hospital, he said he’d still make the show,” McKenzie said.
Soon after, the band learned Harmon’s diagnosis was more serious. He had Stage 4 colon cancer and needed to start treatment.
“Practicing with him was a really big pleasure,” McKenzie said. “His spirit and enthusiasm was evident. He had a certain drive and wanted to be playing music in any way possible. That’s a lifer thing. He was always invested in music.”
Trent Bell said he felt a sense of disbelief when he heard about Harmon’s passing Wednesday. It’s been less than a month since those rehearsals with his Chainsaw Kitten bandmate.
“For it to happen so quickly, it doesn’t feel real,” Bell said. “We experienced a lot of the most important things of our life together. No one else outside of the four of us would know what it’s like.”
Bell said Harmon was a natural-born drummer and made the Chainsaw Kittens great.
“He played with a reckless abandon but was playing perfectly at the same time,” Bell said. “We could have a bad show, but at the very least the crowd would have Eric. He was the engine. He propelled us to be great.”
Harmon knew of even the most obscure musicians, Bell said. Though the two grew up together in Norman, they didn’t get to know each other until Harmon joined the Chainsaw Kittens.
“He was super smart and loved music more than anyone I know,” Bell said. “He truly loved music.”