Nash The Slash

Nash the Slash's sonic palette suggests a fusion of Gary Numan, early Pink Floyd, Jean-Michel Jarre, and the Stranglers. Jeff Plewman, born in Toronto in 1948, concealed his identity throughout much of his performing life by taking the stage as Nash the Slash with his features entirely wrapped in surgical bandages. A genuine musical eccentric, he once issued an instrumental album explicitly marketed as suitable for playback at any speed.

Plewman debuted the Nash persona in 1976, serving as electric violinist and mandolinist alongside vocalist, bassist, and synthesizer player Cameron Hawkins in the group FM. The duo spurned the conventions of AM radio, pursuing electronic textures reminiscent of Brian Eno's approach. Their inaugural Toronto concert mirrored the multimedia shock of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable presentations that introduced Velvet Underground, overwhelming audiences with simultaneous barrages of imagery and audio. That event established the template for Nash's independent path, which commenced in 1978 through an audiovisual project with painter Robert Vanderhorst, an associate who would surface again in later endeavors.

Pursuing his singular aesthetic, Nash composed the material and performed every instrument on his initial albums, occasionally assuming engineering and production duties as well. The sole departure came with a single track produced by Daniel Lanois on the 1982 release And You Thought You Were Normal. Over subsequent years he periodically reassembled FM in varying lineups. Although his singular outlook restricted outside partnerships, he did record and tour with Numan. He also composed for film from time to time, most prominently issuing a CD containing his score for the 1991 Canadian cult film Highway 61, which included a minor appearance by singer Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. His earliest two albums received CD reissues in 1997, after which he kept developing fresh work until announcing his retirement in 2012. On his website he explained that he was "rolling up the bandages" in response to shifts in the music industry and his own diminishing drive. Jeff Plewman, known as Nash the Slash, passed away in May 2014 at the age of 66.