FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth musician and Pinkish Black frontman Daron Beck died this week after a bout with an undetermined illness, those close to him confirmed on Friday.
He was 48 years old.
One of the great characters of the Dallas-Fort Worth music scene's past two decades, Beck was a talented vocalist and synthesizer player alike. The avant-metal synth-doom band Pinkish Black, which solely featured drummer Jon Teague along with Beck on vocals and keys, is among the loudest acts North Texas has ever produced.
More than that, Pinkish Black is also among the most acclaimed outfits the region's more experimental music scene has ever seen.
Formed by Beck and Teague in the early '10s after Tommy Atkins, the bassist for the their previous band The Great Tyrant committed suicide, Pinkish Black regularly received praise from such taste-making publications of the era as Pitchfork, Stereogum, Consequence of Sound and Brooklyn Vegan for its droning, often eerie sound.
Pinkish Black released five albums from 2012 to 2020, but that was just part of Beck's musical output. Beck's band Information_Age was an outlet for his Italo-disco influence, and his ZOMBI & Friends project saw him producing gloomed-out covers of songs from such popular acts as Stevie Nicks and the Doobie Brothers. Other musical banners he created under throughout the years included the local bands Maxine’s Radiator and Pointy Shoe Factory.
Beck was nothing if not creatively prolific.
On stage, meanwhile, he cut a captivating figure, often appearing entranced by the music he was creating in the moment.
Off stage, however, his personality belied his often dark and unironically weird creations. He was kind, generous and approachable, with a sly and wry sense of humor.
Famously (at least throughout North Texas music circles) in the early days of "American Idol", Beck was brought in as a ringer to spice up the audition rounds of the reality singing competition. After belting out a booming rendition of "Delilah" by Tom Jones, judge Simon Cowell commented that Beck "would be very good in a strange, obscure cabaret" -- which Beck, true to form, took as a welcome compliment despite it not being intended as such.
Beck cared not for what others thought of him or his talents, and that's what made him such a creative force.
News of Beck's passing has not just rocked the North Texas music scene; its impact has documented throughout the music media, with many of the publications that previously praised his catalog also making a point to eulogize him.
Few, however, summed up the news as succinctly and appropriately as did Relapse Records, which released two of Pinkish Black's five albums.
On social media, the record label wrote that "Daron was a kind, tremendously funny, and gentle soul that made some of the most creative and compelling music ever released on Relapse Records."
It is not yet clear what caused Beck's death, although he had struggled with his health previously, suffering a pair of heart attacks in quick succession just a few years ago.
In the wake of those health concerns, Beck spoke publicly about cutting vices out of his life, cleaning up his diet and trying to embrace a more active lifestyle.
Alongside his bandmate Jon, Beck is survived by his mother Debbiem and also his partner Lisa, a fixture of the North Texas music scene herself thanks to her work as Wild In The Streets, a renowned area DJ with a finetuned ear for the lost gems of yesteryear.
Memorial services have not yet been announced for Beck as of this writing.
