Music Jan 18, 2017 at 4:00 am

Troubled Former Engine Kid Drummer Was Killed in LA Last Month

Chris Vandebrooke was a well respected, untraditional drummer who led an untraditional life. Courtesy of James Lee Jr.

Comments

1
I am so sad about his death. I loved Chris like a distant older brother. I listened to Farigrove a couple nights ago. Sitting on my desk is a Transmarine CD. I saw Chris a lot before his fall. He was always one of the most gracious men I knew. We always hugged and got excited about trading bands cd's and delay pedals or just checking out guitar setups. He was always a joy to be around and honestly I am deeply saddened by the death of a very old friend. I will always remember him as the man I knew who would try to help you go farther and reach your dreams. I saw Fairgrove with Juno and everyone was blown away. I hope he is in a better place we he can be himself and never worry about judgement. We all know he will be missed.
2
Cannot overstate how important Engine Kid was to me and the other people I was playing music with at the time- living far away and only knowing them through records. I'm sad that I never got to express this to Chris, as I have to other members.
3
I was wondering if the Stranger was going to write anything on Chris. Everything @1 said.
RIP buddy.
4
Thanks for writing about Chris Vandebrook. He's been missed for a while and his death just makes it impossible for a different ending to his story. It's too bad Jay W Harrison from Fairgrove and Terry Picknell from Montesano Records(Fairgrove's label) weren't interviewed to give a clearer picture of who Chris became after Engine Kid and after he became comfortable being out. Chris recorded 2 very excellent records with Fairgrove through Montesano. Then there was Chris's excellent band Transmarine in which he played guitar. It would've been nice to hear something from those guys maybe. It's good that you talked with Greg but there was more to the picture than was presented in this article. Guess you can't please us all.

Art Behrman
5
God what sad news.

Chris.

Art @4 was in Engine Kid with Chris, if y'all didn't know, 1991-1992. They were together again in Fairgrove with Jay Harrison from around 1998 to the mid-00's. He knows what he's talking about.

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