In memory of Chris Reimer

strangefire:

I really want to share this story with you, it seems appropriate now.

I met Chris Reimer last summer when I was still playing 2nd guitar in Gauntlet Hair and we did an extensive east coast tour with the Dodos. Chris was touring with The Dodos as a semi-permanent 2nd guitar player and none of us realized who he was until the 2nd night on the road.
The tour manager spilled the beans but politely told us not to mention Women as it was a touchy subject, we obliged and silently “OMG’d” for the next few shows. 
After our show in Cleveland, Craig and I mustered up the drunken courage to ask him about Women and what had happened.
We sat down next to him on the edge of the stage as he told us his side of the story
(which I will not repeat).. 
We intently listened to his story and told him how much the band he founded had meant to us and he glumly thanked us with regret in his voice.
After a minute or two Craig walked back to the bar and I sat there with Chris and continued to chat. He explained that he really wished the group hadn’t split up the way it had but all the contributing factors made it truly out of anyone’s hands but he really wished the band was able to keep going. 
To this I responded something like: 
“I mean, I totally understand that band breakups can be as heart-wrenching as the messiest breakup.
Its like losing a part of yourself that you desperately want back. 
Creative collaboration is such an intimate experience, especially when it truly is about the music and money is hardly even factoring into the equation at all.
But dude.. When it comes down to it, you have to be really proud that you created something on a level that millions of aspiring musicians try their whole lives to reach and cant.
Your body of work already includes 2 albums that many regard as masterpieces, you’ve traveled the world in support of those masterpieces and you’ve touched hundreds of thousands of people on such a deep level..
So i suppose what Im saying is.. No matter what the final outcome, the fact that you have all that in your mental scrapbook is far more than most musicians who wish and dream about that every waking minute. You really should be very proud that you were a part of that Chris”
It was at this moment that he began to nod, looked up from staring at the floor, looked at me, the glum gaze faded from his face and he smiled.
“Thank you man. Really I mean it.” He said and shook my hand.
I took this picture that night as The Dodos packed up into their sprinter.. 
  
That conversation was one of my highlights of the whole tour, along with meeting Chris in the first place. I had always hoped to see him again or tour with him again but sadly I will never get that chance..

Christopher Reimer is the founding member of an acclaimed experimental art-rock band called Women, on Tuesday night Chris died in his sleep, no information has yet been released concerning the cause of death.

I hope you were having a wonderful dream before you went and you didnt feel a thing.
You will be missed and you certainly will be remembered.
Rest In Peace           ☂

wow