Luis Vasquez obit

The Soft Moon's Luis Vasquez has died

 

He was not on the list.

Luis Vasquez, the musician who recorded as The Soft Moon, has died. The sad news came via The Soft Moon’s social media: “It is with great sadness that we announce our dear friend, Luis Vasquez has passed away. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family, friends and extended music family. We ask to respect their privacy during this difficult time…This is a huge loss and our hearts are broken.”

Vasquez released The Soft Moon’s self-titled debut album in 2010, which carved out a unique sound from the start, a driving, intense and danceable style of gothy, techno-infused post-punk which continued through four more studio album, the most recent being 2022’s Exister. Vasquez also released Body of Errors in 2021 under his own name.

Rest easy, Luis.

Vasquez was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Cuban immigrant mother, and to a Mexican father who was never present in his life. At the age of 12 he and his family relocated to a small desert town called Victorville, California, where he showed an aptitude toward music and began playing guitar. At the age of 15 inspired by such bands as Bad Brains, Fugazi, Descendents, and Minor Threat, Vasquez formed his first punk rock band and states "I had to forge my mother's signature in order to play 18 & over clubs and ask for permission to stay the night at a friends house", one of those shows being the opening act for local band Face To Face. Vasquez played in several punk-rock bands throughout his teens, worked several odd jobs, and later moved to Oakland, California.

In 2009 shortly after Vasquez created his project, Brooklyn based label Captured Tracks approached him with a record deal. In 2010 his first single "Breathe The Fire" followed by "Parallels" were released on 7" vinyl under the Captured Tracks imprint. Later that same year he released The Soft Moon's self-titled album. Following the release, The Soft Moon went on their first world tour, soon later landing a US tour with Interpol.

In 2012, The Soft Moon released its second album, Zeros. Vasquez has said in interviews that, upon finishing writing the album, he was robbed at gunpoint for his backpack which contained the finished album and had to completely re-write Zeros in a short amount of time to meet deadlines.

Vasquez moved abroad to Venice, Italy in 2013 to write his third album, Deeper. Vasquez found himself working with a co-producer, Mauricio Baggio, for the first time. While writing Deeper, The Soft Moon landed a European tour with Depeche Mode which paused the writing process, later adding some influence and inspiration for the completion of the album.

In 2014, Vasquez relocated to Berlin, Germany, where he began working on his fourth album, Criminal. The pressure of achieving lasting success with The Soft Moon, coupled with the chaos of Berlin life, resulted in his angriest and most frustrated material within The Soft Moon's discography.