Devon Clifford Mourned by Vancouver's Music Scene and Homeless Community

Posted on Apr 19th 2010 11:30AM by Jenny Charlesworth
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You Say Party! We Say Die!, Devon Clifford

The Canadian music community is in mourning after You Say Party! We Say Die! drummer Devon Clifford died in the early hours of April 18 surrounded by friends and family at a Vancouver hospital after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage during the band's homecoming concert at the Rickshaw Theatre on April 16.

Clifford (pictured second from right), 30, was a key player in Vancouver's music scene, lending his talents to indie rock quintet Cadeaux before joining the YSP! WSD! lineup and helping to launch punk outfit Hard Feelings. The gifted drummer is remembered as a bright light who immediately put people at ease with his witty sense of humour and easygoing nature.

"I feel like Devon was incapable of expressing anything but positivity," fellow Vancouver musician and Music Waste Festival co-founder Cameron Reed, aka Babe Rainbow, tells Spinner of his friend. "He was always smiling and had a great sense of humour -- that's what I'll always remember."

You Say Party! We Say Die! publicist Darryl Weeks shared similar impressions of Clifford in a statement released hours after the musician's passing: "He loved his family, loved his band, loved travelling, loved being onstage and loved meeting people around the world. He was smart, witty, passionate, and music meant everything to him. He was also incredibly generous with his love and respected everybody he came into contact with."

In addition to his passion for music, Clifford, who was raised in Abbotsford, BC before relocating to nearby Vancouver, was dedicated to his work with the Portland Hotel Society, a group that helps provide emergency shelter for Vancouver's homeless population. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Mark Townsend, executive director for the nonprofit organization, called the young man "a really sweet guy ... he was really well loved in the family of staff here. He was a kind person."

The drummer's sudden death -- confirmed in a statement released by his family on April 18 to be a result of "congenital defects" -- has left those touched by the charismatic musician devastated. YSP! WSD! fans, many of whom had just seen Clifford behind the kit during the dance-punk outfit's recent North America tour in support of their new record, 'XXXX', have flocked to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to express their condolences and share fond memories of Clifford.

In their official statement, his family expressed their heartfelt appreciation for the massive out pouring of comments, and took the opportunity to "remind young people to have the courage to follow their dreams like Devon did."

Clifford was an inspiration to those who had the pleasure of knowing him and will be sorely missed in Vancouver and beyond.