Aaron Huffman, a co-founding member and bassist of Seattle alt-rock band Harvey Danger, died Sunday of respiratory failure following a lengthy illness. He was 43.
Harvey Danger are best known for their 1997 hit “Flagpole Sitta”, but Huffman was a veteran of the Seattle music scene for more than 20 years, playing in bands like Love Hotel, Like Lightning, and Campfire OK, who were later renamed The Weather. In January 2015, we gushed over the Weather’s sparkling single “1983”.
Huffman also served as art-director for Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger. Earlier today, Harvey Danger vocalist Sean Nelson penned an emotional tribute to his bandmate in those pages, where he revealed the news of Huffman’s death and wrote glowingly about his friend’s personality and talents.
“Harvey Danger will always be best known for our one big hit song, ‘Flagpole Sitta,’ from our debut album, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?,” Nelson writes, “but Aaron felt a much more intense connection to the band’s two subsequent albums, King James Version (2000), and Little By Little… (2005). I’ve often said that Aaron’s distinctive distorted bass, which he often employed as a melodic lead instrument, was the signature element of the band’s sound.”
Read Nelson’s full eulogy here. According to the Stranger, Huffman is survived by his wife, son, and mother, and a public memorial will be announced in the coming weeks.