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Austin writer, journalist and musician Lance Hahn died Sunday afternoon. He had been in a coma since collapsing during dialysis treatment on Friday, October 12th. Lance was 40.
His contributions to the punk scene both in Austin and internationally are too many to list. He was the creative force behind Cringer and the prolific, self-described "anarcho-situationist pop-punk" band, J-Church. His chops on the guitar eventually landed him the job as Beck's guitarist in 1994. He toured the world with Beck and appeared on countless radio and television shows.
But just performing was not enough for Lance. He ran Honey Bear Records too, and wrote endlessly for Maximumrocknroll, Giant Robot, and his own zine, Some Hope And Some Despair, among other publications. Before his untimely death he was nearing completion on a book about the early anarcho-punk scene in the UK.
According to Liberty Lidz, Lance's longtime girlfriend, his collapse was due to a sudden, drastic drop in blood pressure, probably caused by a recurrence of an infection he had in September combined with the stress of dialysis. He received immediate CPR from medical professionals at the dialysis center, but it took more than fifteen minutes to resuscitate him. Lance suffered neurological damage from lack of oxygen to the brain, leaving him in a coma from which he never returned.
The specter of failing health followed Lance in his last months. Like so many musicians and artists in Austin, he did not have health insurance. But with the help of the world-wide punk scene, he always managed to get by. On July 7, 2007, a benefit compilation entitled "Let's Do It For Lance!" was released to help defray the cost of his medical bills. Vulcan Video, where Lance worked as a manager, had also set up a pay-pal account to collect donations towards his medical expenses.
Lance's final blog entry, on Oct.7th was short, to the point and as close to a good-bye as we will get. "Even with the drugs I feel like I've got needles in my stomach. I'm about to run out of Vicodin and I'm pretty nervous about it. I know I've said it before but I don't mind dying or getting hurt. It's the pain I can't handle."
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Damnit damnit damnit. It was beyond fortunate for Austin that he ever came here to begin with. Now equally sad (for everyone, worldwide) that he's gone.
As a former vulcan, this hits me pretty hard. Lance was not only an amazing musician, knowledgeable about things in scenes beyond the reach of mortals, but a really awesome, kind dude. This is the worst.
I barely knew him, but he was always super-helpful when I would go into Vulcan wanting to see something new. Way too young, such a shame.
i had the pleasure of working with Lance for over a year at Vulcan Video South. He was a lovely, brilliant person who would always leave me inspired whenever I had the chance to pick his brain (which was often, video clerking can get a bit... slow).
My condolences and prayers are with Liberty and with Lance's family and friends. I am very sorry to hear that he's no longer with us. :(