Mick Karn

Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 - 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock / new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretless bass sound and melodic playing style were a trademark of the band's sound. He also played woodwind instruments, mainly clarinet and saxophone, among many others. Karn was a celebrated sculptor as well as an author and chef; he later qualified in psychiatry. He spoke several languages and in 2009 published his autobiography Japan And Self Existence.
Karn had emigrated to the UK from Cyprus in the early 1960s and met the three other founding members of Japan at Catford Boys' School in London. Japan split in 1982, bowing out after a successful world tour and accompanying album Oil On Canvas. Inside and outside Japan, Mick developed a distinctive and original bass sound instantly recognizable as his own. Mick was mainly a self-taught musician and many feel he forever changed the perception of how the bass is played and heard. His rubbery, unique playing led his best friend and Polytown band mate David Torn to say of Mick: "It's as if Bootsy Collins was from Morocco". After Japan, Mick worked in many areas of music, experimenting in jazz, ambient and prog, and continued to create his own indefinable music as a solo artist and in collaboration with other great musicians, including ex-members of Japan.