Mick Karn, who has died of cancer aged fifty-two, rose to fame as the innovative bass player with the New Wave group Japan. He played his instrument in such a subtle and unique way that he became one of the most instantly recognizable musicians to emerge from the 1970s. Although Japan’s time in the pop spotlight was relatively short-lived, Karn continued to make adventurous music throughout his life.
Karn was born Andonis Michaelides into a Greek Cypriot family in Nicosia, Cyprus. His family relocated to the U.K. when he was three years old, and he grew up in southeast London, where he studied violin and bassoon. Despite the fact that he played purely by ear, he won a place in the prestigious London Schools Symphony Orchestra. After his bassoon was stolen and his school refused to replace it, he rebelled against his classical beginnings, bought a bass guitar for £5 and formed a rock group with some of his friends. Calling themselves Japan, they were soon spotted and given a contract with a German record label.
Having been largely dismissed by critics after releasing two LPs which were heavily influenced by the New York Dolls and Roxy Music, Japan finally found their feet with the Quiet Life album in 1979. In the space of a couple of years, Japan’s music matured almost beyond all recognition as they shifted from derivative guitar-based songs to a sparser, more sophisticated electronic sound.
They signed a deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Records, and over the next two years released the futuristic Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum albums, both of which focused on Karn’s fluid bass and David Sylvian’s mournful baritone voice. Tin Drum saw the band finally make their commercial breakthrough, although as their audience expanded and they refined their increasingly avant-garde art rock music, their flamboyant fashion sense and penchant for make-up meant they unintentionally became associated with the New Romantic movement alongside more mainstream 1980s groups like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
Despite the fact that Tin Drum spawned their first hit single (“Ghosts”) and was widely hailed as a masterpiece by critics, instead of consolidating their new-found popularity and enjoying their long-awaited breakthrough, the band imploded after Karn’s girlfriend started going out with Sylvian. By the time the band split, Karn had already become an in-demand session player, working with an eclectic array of artists including Gary Numan and Kate Bush. He released his debut solo album Titles in 1982 and then spent much of his time concentrating on creating and exhibiting sculptures which were as striking and individual as his music. Over the ensuing decades, Karn recorded a series of increasingly leftfield albums such as Bestial Cluster, The Tooth Mother and The Concrete Twin.
Although commercial success largely eluded him throughout his post-Japan years, Karn was always considered to be one of the best and most inimitable bassists in the world, yet as a self-taught musician, he always underplayed his own ability: “I don’t know about being the best,” he said in an interview a few years before his untimely death. “I still can’t read music, but having never heard anyone play in a similar way, I’d certainly consider, perhaps, being the most original.”