Geordie Walker, a founding member and guitarist of the post-punk band Killing Joke, has died.
The band released a statement on Sunday evening saying they were “devastated” and confirmed that Walker died from a stroke on November 26.
“It is with extreme sadness we confirm that at 6:30am on 26th November 2023 in Prague, Killing Joke’s legendary guitarist Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker passed away after suffering a stroke, he was surrounded by family. We are devastated. Rest In Peace brother.”
Apart from vocalist Jaz Coleman, Walker was the only other consistent member of Killing Joke until his death.
His unconventional electric guitar playing style earned him much critical acclaim – including from Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, who described Walker as having “this effortless playing producing a monstrous sound”. It helped to turn Killing Joke into one of the most important and influential cult bands in the history of rock music.
Who was Geordie Walker?
Born in 1958 in County Durham, at just ten years old Walker was deeply moved by the guitar in the song Sabre Dance by Love Sculpture.
"I used to go mad when it came on the radio,” he said in a 1984 interview with Music UK.
He then decided to learn to play the guitar. While in a music shop with his mother, she suggested he try out a Gibson Les Paul, after seeing Jimi Hendrix in concert. After Walker played about two chords, his mother's verdict was: "We'll take it."
"I used to run home from school at about four, lock myself in the bedroom, turn the amp up full, and thrash it till he [his dad] came in,” he told Music UK. “It was a daily ritual.”
At age fourteen, Walker's family moved south from Newcastle to Bletchley in Buckinghamshire, where he acquired his nickname due to his Geordie accent.
Walker joined Killing Joke in 1979 after responding to an ad vocalist Jaz Coleman and drummer Paul Ferguson put out in Melody Maker, which read: “Want to be part of the Killing Joke? We mean it, man. Total exploitation, total publicity, total anonymity. Bass and lead wanted.”
“I liked the sound of it, it looked rather serious, fanatical, I don’t know what it was but it clicked with me,” Walker said. “So I went down to see this guy [Coleman] and immediately started arguing with him about his taste in music and whatever, and I kept in touch and kept hassling them for some reason. I think it was the intensity of the argument I liked.” He then moved in with the band shortly afterwards.
The group cited contemporaries such as Adam Ant, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Public Image Ltd. as early influences.
They played their first show in August 1979, releasing their debut EP shortly afterwards, followed by a self-titled album in 1980. A successful series of releases followed throughout the 1980s, including 1981’s What’s THIS For…! and 1982 album Revelations.
It was during this time that Coleman fled to Reykjavik, Iceland over concerns about the apocalypse, which he thought was impending. After performing on stage with a roadie wearing a beekeeper outfit standing in for Coleman, Walker and Ferguson then temporarily moved to Iceland to join Coleman.
Walker’s unique style of playing accrued widespread critical acclaim. His tuning of the guitar was different – he liked it to be strung a whole tone lower, stating that "the guitar should convey some sort of emotion". His style inspired Kurt Cobain's work with Nirvana, according to Bill Janovitz of AllMusic.
As well as being part of Killing Joke, Walker was in the bands Murder, Inc. and the Damage Manual.
In March of this year, Killing Joke performed a sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall and released new single Full Spectrum Dominance.
