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Brooklyn Drummer Jerry Fuchs Dies After Fall Down Elevator Shaft

Jerry Fuchs of !!!Gerhardt "Jerry" Fuchs, a prolific drummer for bands including !!!, the Juan MacLean and Maserati, died early Sunday after falling down an elevator shaft in a loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn late Saturday night.

Fuchs, 34, had been attending a party hosted by the Uniform Project, which promotes sustainable fashion and raises money for education in India.

Fuchs and a friend were in an elevator in a converted factory used as loft space when the elevator stopped "somewhere above the fifth floor," the Buildings Department spokesman told the New York Post.

The pair opened the elevator door and attempted to jump a few feet down to the fifth floor. The friend made the jump, but a piece of Fuchs' clothing was caught on the elevator, "sending him swinging back into the crevice separating the elevator from the fifth floor," the Post writes.

Fuchs fell five stories to the bottom of the elevator shaft, where he lay "unconscious and unresponsive," reports Gothamist.

The musician was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and died early this morning surrounded by "an entire waiting room of friends," according to Chunklet, to which Fuchs was a contributor.

Fuchs grew up in Marietta, Georgia, moving to Athens, then New York in the mid-90s, drumming for bands including Vineland and Turing Machine. More recently, he moved back and forth between Athens and New York, playing for the DFA bands !!! and the Juan MacLean, and replacing the original drummer in the Athens-based band Maserati. The first drummer, Mikel Gius, also died in a tragic accident in 2005 after being hit by a car while riding his bike.

Maserati had just wrapped up a tour for their September album, 'Passages.'

Fuchs is survived by his parents, a brother and two sisters, and, as Fuchs' friend and Chunklet publisher Henry Owings writes in a tribute, "an impressive canon of records on which he's performed, countless mouth-agape audiences in awe of his work, dozens of heart-crushed former bandmates, and an endless parade of true friends around the world."

Watch a video of Fuchs performing with Maserati at 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia earlier this year:

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William Haun

I saw Jerry perform just once earlier this year. I didn't know who he was but told friends after the show that "that dude with the awesome 'stache was incredible"! I hate to hear of this great loss.

Here are some photos I took of Jerry Fuch at that Juan Maclean show at The Earl in May 2009. He is really in his element behind that drum kit.

http://www.whaun.com/2009/05/the-juan-maclean-the-earl/

November 10 2009 at 2:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PembertonFred

Why do things like this only happen to people in the entertainment industry?

Because they are all so F'd up all the time.

Who would be dumb enough to jump out of an elevator.

What a dumb thing to do.

November 10 2009 at 1:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
frejack

take the stairs

November 09 2009 at 7:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cappy Lills Kid

geez the same thing happened to Roz on LA Law!

November 09 2009 at 6:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gary

IN A SICK WAY I KINDA WISH KIMTHEPUNKDOUCHBAG FELL DOWN THE SHAFT. THIS WAY NOBODY WOULD HAVE HEARD ABOUT IT AND THIS PIECE OF SHIT WOULD BE OUT OF EVERYONE'S LIFE!

November 09 2009 at 6:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gary

kimthepunk you are an asshole self-serving nobody that thinks he or she is the authority when it comes to music. I seriously doubt you know that many drummers so exceptionally talented and ya know why? Why would they ever risk their reputation admitting they know a douche bag like you!

November 09 2009 at 6:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mel

It is sad that he died the way he did.
It may have had nothing to do with drugs or alcohol.
But it may have had to do with all the "Extreme shows" where people do extreme things that are dangerous and just plain stupid. The people hear about them, watch them and think in the normal world that they can do them to without anything bad happening to them.
We all wish he had never tried of course.
He could be considered a victim of life.

November 09 2009 at 6:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kimthepunk

Who CARES!!!!!!!!!!

I could care less that some HIPSTER drummer in a bunch of crappy mainstream hipster bands died. The guy was an idiot jack ass to even try to jump from the elevator. talk about stuck on stupid. But I guess when your hipster number one you feel invincible.

You people need to get your heads out of your butts. How about the over 1 million people that have been killed by the NWO's illegal wars. You people are nothing but sick, disgusting, mentally deranged morons.

November 09 2009 at 6:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to kimthepunk's comment
jerry

Very sad that this young man died and I send a prayer to his family and friends--however--a great drummer,I don't think so.

November 09 2009 at 5:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mitch

how in the hell do people fall down elevator shafts ffs? another candidate for the darwin award.

November 09 2009 at 5:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply