How did Monte Cazazza die? Legendary artist and composer cause of death & obituary

San Francisco-based performance artist, musician, Monte Cazazza has passed away. On social media, his friends and family have been expressing their sympathy and requesting people to remember Cazazza in their prayers. Read on to know about death in detail.

How did Monte Cazazza die?

Monte Cazazza, a famous musician has passed away on June 30, 2023. Meri St Mary posted this sad news on social media and the statement reads,

It is With immense sadness and Love I had to let Monte go. He was very ill & in pain so I take comfort in the fact that that part is over but I miss him already! Where ever it is we go off to I am certain He will be causing trouble in his own way RIP the One & Only Monte Cazazza in my heart. 

This sudden demise news has shocked everyone who him in a complete grief.

Who was Monte Cazazza?

Monte was an American artist and composer best recognised for his seminal role in shaping the early terrain of industrial music in the mid-1970s through records with London-based Industrial Records. 

He came up with the industrial motto for TG’s Industrial Records. Cazazza, who was born in Oakland, California, spent the early 1970s experimenting with his art, frequently indulging in such gross-out activities as burning a partially decomposed, maggot-infested cat, which would often shock his audience to the point of physical illness.

Cazazza got a break when members of Throbbing Gristle discovered an issue of the appropriately titled Vile Magazine in 1974, a Valentine’s Day edition that featured Cazazza on the cover, holding up a bloody heart that was made to look as if it had been torn out of his chest. 

The Futurist Sintesi concert, which took place near the end of 1975, was advertised on a promotional leaflet as “Sex – religious show; giant statue of Jesus got chainsawed and gang raped into oblivion.” 

Cazazza-‘Agent Provocateur’:

Cazazza’s “performances” went beyond the standard dynamic of stage, audience, and audience response. He performed a lot of acts that were intended to startle people.

Cazazza’s first sculptural work at the California College of Arts and Crafts Oakland campus was building a cement waterfall that blocked the building’s main staircase. The next day, he was dismissed. He was known to visit his buddies with a dead cat and formaldehyde, which he would use to set the cat ablaze. He once made a 15’x15′ screw-together metal swastika.

Most of his early work is regarded as obscene and is quite difficult to find. He experimented with video, performance, presentation, and print-and-sound collage. He was also quite active during the mid-1970s to early 1980s Mail art trend.

The Grey Area of Mute assembled some of his early work and released it in 1992 on the album The Worst of Monte Cazazza.

Cazazza frequently collaborated with the San Francisco-based early industrial and experimental band Factrix and produced soundtracks for Mark Pauline and Survival Research Laboratories. Along with other soundtrack recordings, more recent activities have included collaborating with Michelle Handelman to form the indie production and distribution firm MMFilms. 

On the day Gary Gilmore, a convicted killer, was put to death by electric chair, Cazazza posted pictures of himself in the chair. One of these was wrongly depicted as the actual execution in a Hong Kong newspaper.

For the “Gary Gilmore Memorial Society” postcard, Cazazza was also photographed with Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti of COUM Transmissions/Throbbing Gristle as they acted out Gilmore’s execution while being bound to chairs and wearing blindfolds.

Career 

The slogan “Industrial Music for Industrial People” is credited to Cazazza, who spent most of his early career located in San Francisco.

This was subsequently used to describe the record company and the artists who represented it. Cazazza had developed an underground reputation as a performer who was extremely explosive and had an antisocial and perhaps risky aesthetic.

His work was referred to as “insanity-outbreaks thinly disguised as art events” in the Industrial Culture Handbook published by Re/Search Magazine. 

Monte Cazazza’s controversial performance art has been sampled in countless books, films, and recordings throughout the years. 

He performed and helped with Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, and Factrix.

Works:

Some of his famous works includes:

• To Mom On Mother’s Day (7″) (Industrial Records)
• At Leeds Fan Club/Scala, London/Oundle School (Cass) (Industrial Records)
• Something for Nobody (7″) (Industrial Records)
• Stairway To Hell/Sex Is No Emergency (7″) (Sordide Sentimental)
• The Worst of Monte Cazazza (CD) (The Grey Area)
• Kill Yur Self (12″) (Telepathic Recordings)
• Power Versus Wisdom, Live (CD) (Side Effects)
• The Cynic (CD) (Blast First Petite)

Monte Cazazza cause of death:

Cazazza passed away on June 30, 2022. However, his cause of death was not revealed yet. It is crucial that we show Monte’s grieving family and loved ones our most respect and compassion during this challenging time.

They are travelling through a terrible and incredibly personal period of loss, looking for consolation and healing when the time is right. We may be sure that they will provide all pertinent information about the obituary, funeral plans, and memorial services when the time is appropriate.

The family’s enduring love for Monte and their commitment to keeping his memory alive are proof of the significant contribution he made while he was with them. Let’s show unity by supporting one another while coming from a position of understanding and compassion.

Tributes to Monte Cazazza:

Lustmord posted,

RIP Monte Cazazza.
A friend of 40 years.
He was notorious to many and often deservedly so, but for us that new him well he was the kindest and most giving person one could meet.
So much to say but sometimes there are no words…
Hell is about to get a lot more interesting…

Vinyl On Demand Records posted,

What an incredible loss to the world of Art & Music!
Monte Cazazza, one of the most prolific musicians, film-makers and performance-artists of the 70s/80s Industrial Experimental Genre has left this planet!

The Leather Nun posted,

Sad to learn about the passing of dear old friend Monte Cazazza. I know he’d been ill for years. We tried to fly him to Stockholm for a gig in May ’15, but he was too weak for such a long flight. Then came the Covid-pandemic in ’20 and we lost touch.
Monte was a really nice guy and we’d lots of fun together, performing and planning performances and coming up with crazy ideas for happenings.

Robin Rimbaud – Scanner tweeted,

Farewell to Monte Cazazza, who is credited with coining the phrase “Industrial Music for Industrial People.” With connections to Throbbing Gristle, he produced projects described as “insanity-outbreaks thinly disguised as art events,” and released some truly classic music.

Dark Entries Records tweeted,

R.I.P. Monte Cazazza an uncompromising and nonconforming innovator who forever changed the industrial (a word he coined) musical landscape of San Francisco and beyond.

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