Gaz Coombes

Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes performing with Supergrass in London, 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Gareth Michael Coombes
Born	8 March 1976 (1976-03-08) (age 35) Oxford, England
Genres	Alternative rock, Britpop
Occupations	Musician, Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, keyboards
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Parlophone, Capitol, Supergrass, Cooking Vinyl
Associated acts	The Jennifers Supergrass Diamond Hoo Ha Men The Hotrats
Website	www.supergrass.com
Notable instruments
Burns Custom Legend Fender Telecaster Deluxe Fender Telecaster Gibson ES-335

Gaz Coombes (born Gareth Michael Coombes, 8 March 1976 in Oxford) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the English alternative rock band, Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged sixteen as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers which featured Supergrass band mate Danny Goffey. Gaz was noticeable for his large sideburns during the 1990s.

1991–1993: The Jennifers

Main article: The Jennifers

He first entered the music world at age sixteen as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers. The band undertook a nationwide tour before Coombes was fifteen. When they signed for their first recording contract with Nude Records, Coombes, who was under 18 at the time, had to have his mother sign the contract for him.^[1]

"There were a couple of ridiculous, punky, joke songs - "Harvey The Accountant" and "The Girl With The Removable Face". That one went: "The girl with the removable face/She didn't have much of a life/All the boys used to pull it off/And use it as a frisbee." Most of them were in that vein. Actually, we haven't changed much." says Gaz about some Jennifers penned songs.^[2]

They released "Just Got Back Today" on Nude Records in 1992 before they disbanded.

After the mild success experienced by The Jennifers, but still living with his parents, Gaz got a job at the local Harvester. Gaz would take old Jennifers demos and play them over the restaurant's PA system before it opened, and this eventually led to him meeting Mick Quinn, a co-worker who played bass guitar and shared his musical tastes. With Danny Goffey they began to practice at Mick's house, and Supergrass was formed shortly thereafter.^[3]

1993–2010: Supergrass

Main article: Supergrass

In 1993 after The Jennifers disbanded, Gaz, Danny Goffey and Mick Quinn formed Supergrass. In 2002 Gaz' brother keyboardist Rob Coombes officially joined the band. Before that he was studying for an Astrophysics degree at Cardiff University. The band released six studio albums in their 17 years together, each of them entering the top 20: I Should Coco (1995), In It for the Money (1997), Supergrass (1999), Life on Other Planets (2002), Road to Rouen (2005) and Diamond Hoo Ha (2008). They also released a token singles compilation Supergrass is 10 (2004), commemorating the first decade of the band's life.

During the height of Supergrass' fame around 1995, Gaz received offers from "Italian Vogue" and most notably, "Calvin Klein",^[4][5] to model for them in their ad campaigns and magazine publications. As well as this was the offer from Steven Spielberg to make a Monkees style TV show of the band. Coombes however, along with the rest of the band, declined these offers, saying; "Yes, we probably would have been face down in a pool if we'd said yes to all that. I mean, our heads would have returned to our shoulders at some point, but... it felt like cheating. Too easy. Short cut. Y'know? If you have to do all that to be the biggest band in the world then... then what does that say about your music? And all that... [the publicity offers] would have just got in the way of the music. It would have taken so long to get to grips with. We'd have lost years."^[3]

In 1999, Gaz Coombes made an appearance on the "Da Ali G Show" and played the Supergrass song "Sun Hits the Sky", whilst having to deal with Ali G 'remixing' it as he performed. "I tried to take the mickey out of his goatee, and he came back with: "So, you are looking like a monkey..." But if you go on his show, you know what you're letting yourself in for." He said about the experience.^[2]

Gaz Coombes appeared on The Annex on 2fm with Jenny Huston alongside Danny Goffey before Supergrass took the stage at Malahide Castle in Dublin, Ireland to support Arctic Monkeys on 16 June 2007.

On the 12th of April 2010 Coombes and the rest of Supergrass announced that the band was to split after seventeen years. Musical differences were cited as the reason. They played four farewell concerts before the split. Their seventh album Release the Drones remains unfinished and unreleased.

2010-present: Post-Supergrass

Gaz Coombes announced on October 28 in The Hotrats and Supergrass Facebook page that he is currently working on his first solo album, recorded at his studio in Oxford with producer Sam Williams, and claiming that the record is on its final stages, plans to release it in 2011.^[6][7]

Coombes starred in an advert for the Toyota Yaris where he plays himself and encounters a fan who wants a picture with him.^[8] The Supergrass single "Pumping on Your Stereo" also appears in the advert.

Gaz confirmed that the record is over halfway done, with five tracks completed and mixed. Yet he has to record some more and add vocals to the rest of the tracks, and thinks the album will be released by March or April. He also plays most of the instruments on the record.^[9]

Personal life

Gaz Coombes is the son of Eileen and John Coombes. His father was a food scientist, who enjoyed playing Jazz piano,^[10] and his mother an English teacher.^[11] Both his parents were practising Catholics and would regularly take the young Gaz to Mass. Coombes himself however, no longer practises this religion, claiming; "I last prayed in 1990. It was the World Cup, England versus Germany, and I prayed we'd win. When we lost, I thought, 'If you can't even manage that...'" Although he was born in England, he lived with his family in San Francisco from around the age of five up until the age of nine, at which point in 1985 they returned to his birth place in Oxford.^[3][12]

Coombes played Classical piano at this age, but gradually moved on to an interest in playing guitar. He began to attend Wheatley Comprehensive, but found himself being picked on for being 'girly'. Gaz's elder brother Rob was friends with Nic Goffey at the time, and one day on the school's playing fields a thirteen year old Gaz met and befriended Nic's younger brother, fifteen year old Danny Goffey. Danny was two years older than Gaz and helped to "protect him" from being teased. Goffey recounts what happened; "I mean, you couldn't fucking miss him. He was gorgeous. He grew sideburns and they [other pupils] gave him loads of shit, but I was really into him. I think I fancied him a bit, y'know? He's really beautiful. He wasn't very mature at that age. He was like a kid. I just went up to him and asked him to form a band. I could. I was a drummer. The tallest drummer in the school."^[3]

Coombes originally lived in a Regency townhouse in Brighton, which he first purchased in 1999, with his partner Jools Poore and their daughter, Raya May (b. 2003).^{[2] [13]} Due to the death of his mother, Eileen, in 2005, he felt compelled to move back into her house in Oxford during 2006, where he had grown up.^[14][15] Coombes and his partner now have a second daughter, named Tiger (b. 2008).^[16][17] Gaz Coombes and his brothers Rob Coombes, Charly Coombes and Eddie Coombes also jointly own a converted barn in Northern France, which is where the Supergrass album Road to Rouen was recorded.^[18]

He has three other siblings who are all involved in music: the eldest is the keyboardist and fellow Supergrass member Rob, former 22-20s keyboardist Charly and Paris-based Ed (who also plays piano).^[2]

See also

Supergrass discography

References

1. ^ "Peter Blake meets Danny Goffey". The Guardian (London). http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/qanda/story/0,,1221976,00.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Galpin, Richard 'Gaz Coombes' | FHM | September 1999
3. ^ ^{a b c d} 'People Who Live In Glass Houses' | Select Magazine | October 1999
4. ^ Buckley, Peter; Buckley, Jonathan (2003), The Rough Guide to Rock: the definitive guide to more than 1200 artists and bands, Rough Guides, ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0 
5. ^ Maconie, Stuart 'Hey! Hey! We're The Cheeky Monkeys!' | Q Magazine | October 1995
6. ^ http://twitter.com/THEHOTRATS/status/29015736181
7. ^ http://www.facebook.com/thehotrats/posts/157775537591795
8. ^ http://twitter.com/#!/NMEFestivals/status/17606273470042112
9. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a300133/gaz-coombes-solo-lp-is-full-of-energy.html
10. ^ Milligan, Nick 'Supergrass - Stepping Out' | I'm With the Band | Reverb Magazine | 4 April 2008
11. ^ Parkes, Taylor 'Coco Pop' | Melody Maker | 20 May 1995
12. ^ Redfern, Mark 'Supergrass Bonus Quotes' | Issue 4 | Under The Radar Magazine | 2003
13. ^ Sweeney, Eamon 'Keep on the ’grass' | Hot Press | 10 July 2003
14. ^ Hodgkinson, Will 'Pumping on my stereo' | Arts | Music | The Guardian | 1 August 2003
15. ^ Wiseman, Eva 'Lunch with Supergrass' | Observer Food Monthly | 30 March 2008
16. ^ Johnson, Neala (2008-10-03), "Supergrass on new album Diamond Hoo Ha, and freedom from EMI", Herald Sun, http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24440906-5006024,00.html, retrieved 2008-10-11 
17. ^ Garnett, Natasha (2008-12-16), "Pearl Lowe And Danny Goffey Marry In Style At Babington House", Hello! (1051): 86 
18. ^ SF Station: Supergrass

External links

• Gaz Coombes at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Coombes, Gaz
Alternative names
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Date of birth	8 March 1976
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death