released August 10, 2023

Orin Buck- bass

Orin Buck was born on March 19th, 1956, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His parents, a stolid Nordic engineer and a passionate dancer, raised their family on West Liberty Street. Orin attended Slauson Junior High where he played bass with the band Translunar Experience.

After high school Orin played with the punk band Sewers of Paris. Sewers of Paris played Clutch Cargos and other Detroit venues; their mainstay was a weekly gig at Art Tendler’s State House in Ann Arbor where they opened for iconic Michigan rock bands Destroy All Monsters and Cult Heroes among many. One side of their rare and prized 7” was released on a compilation of Midwest punk as recently as 2017.

Orin embarked upon a life as an artist and community collaborator, supporting artists, the arts, and cultural activities in Ann Arbor. He supported himself with a variety of odd jobs that became opportunities to meet other artists. He worked as waitstaff at the popular Victors at The Campus Inn in the late 80s and for Ben Miller’s lawn service company. He and Miller would later become collaborators in New York.

Orin trained himself as a painter, photographer, graphic artist, and web designer. He was an integral part of the team at 212 E. Huron that put together Ann Arbor’s arts monthly CURRENT. He studied Chinese and History in the Honors Program at the University of Michigan. He joined the Ann Arbor Artist Co-op and served as a board member. He designed the Ann Arbor Film Festival banners, the logo for the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, and also did graphic work for Club Heidelberg, the Ann Arbor Playwrights group, the Performance Network and the Ann Arbor Poetry Festival.

In 1996, Orin moved to New York City. When he worked at the Chelsea Art Museum, Orin met a ton of New York artists; many became clients and/or friends. He also volunteered at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center. He exhibited paintings, drawings, and photographs at various galleries and created innovative computer-driven video for installations. He presented a solo show at gallery onetwentyeight and exhibited in many group shows. Orin was cinematographer on filmmaker Martha Davis’ documentary, Expert Witness: Health Professionals on the Frontline Against Torture, which won a Nuremburg Code Award in 2015. He began a collaboration with Gary Heidt in bands named General Hospital, Gwaabo, The Executioners of Excellence, and Mammals of Zod before helping form Fist of Kindness. He suggested the band be called Kindness and a compromise was made.

He met Sanae Maeda in 2007; they were married in 2011.

In over a decade with the band Fist of Kindness he played innumerable gigs at NYC rock venues such as CBGB, Arlene’s Grocery, and the Continental; regular dive bar gigs at Freddy’s Backroom in Brooklyn and Desmond’s Tavern, theater gigs at Medicine Show and Theater for the New City; and other venues around New York and New Jersey. He engineered, recorded, and played bass on eight Fist of Kindness albums: The Dead and the Powerless, Ponderin’ with the Fist of Kindness, The Thirteen Repentances of the Pistis Sophia, Objects, Electric Objects, The Beast Within, and this disc, Shaker Moneymaker.

Orin was kind, thoughtful, and always willing to lend a helping hand. He was cool under pressure and quick to resolve complex technical issues that flummoxed others. His calm might have come from his practice of yoga and Transcendental Meditation. He enjoyed sunrises and early morning walks, especially with Sanae. Orin had bookcases filled with avant-garde sf. He gardened and baked bread.

Orin was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. Doctors estimated that there was an outside chance he had two years to live, but Orin went on, maintaining an upbeat attitude, all the while continuing to support artists with his work, most of whom had no idea how ill he was. Sanae said his last words were, "I wanted to work for people more!" He shuffled off the mortal coil on February 25th, 2023.

TWO SHORT POEMS ABOUT ORIN BUCK BY HIS SISTERS

Curious
reflective
unquenched thirst to understand
the behavior of humanity.

Expressive
expansive
aware
about the nature of humanity.

Cynical
angry
regretful
about the darkness of humanity.
-Tina Buck

There was a Kind Fister named Orin,
with a curious mind far from borin’.
He painted and played —
How we wish he had stayed,
But he left us to go on explorin’.
-Greta Buck Rodriguez


Steve Dworkin- Accordion, cello
Cassandra Victoria Chopourian- vocals, tenor guitar
David Gould- drums
Richard Gross- vocals, banjo
Gary Heidt- electric guitar, vocals
Matt Metzgar- vocals, percussion

Recorded by Orin Buck and Clete de Beat at Red Studios
Mixed by Gary Heidt
Mastered by Mark Tulk at www.MarkTulkDigital.Media
Album cover painted by Orin Buck