Deborah Ann Googe (born 24 October 1962) is an English musician, who achieved international fame as the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

for the band My Bloody Valentine. Their studio albums '' Isn't Anything'' (1988) and ''Loveless'' (1991) established Googe as a pioneering figure in the

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

genre. She has also worked with Snowpony,

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

Career

My Bloody Valentine

Googe was born in

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. Prior to joining My Bloody Valentine, she played for a band called Bikini Mutants in her hometown of Yeovil, who gigged with The Mob. Googe had moved from Yeovil to London, and in early 1985, an ex-girlfriend of hers recommended her as a bass player to

Kevin Shields Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an Irish musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine (band), My Bloody Valenti ...

and

Colm Ó Cíosóig Colm Ó Cíosóig (; born 31 October 1964) is an Irish musician and songwriter, who achieved international fame as the drummer for the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Their studio albums '' Isn't Anything'' (1988) and ''Loveless'' ...

of My Bloody Valentine. She joined the band after an audition in April 1985. She left the group in 1996, noting she "hadn't been happy for a long time". Googe is known for her raucous style of bass playing in MBV's live performances. She joined My Bloody Valentine's 2007 reunion, and their subsequent tours.

Work outside My Bloody Valentine

After leaving MBV in 1995, Googe briefly became a taxi driver. She formed Snowpony in 1996 with her then-girlfriend, Katharine Gifford, formerly of

Stereolab Stereolab are an English people, Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keybo ...

. They released three albums and four EPs between 1997 and 2003. She occasionally plays keyboards with the massed fuzz organ experimentalists band Pimmel and also plays drums and sings backing vocals for Rockhard. In 2012, it was announced that Googe would be the new bassist for

, replacing

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

after his departure to rejoin

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

. She was subsequently succeeded by Simone Butler. On 4 August 2014, Googe joined

for his solo project '' The Best Day'', and continued this collaboration with his subsequent albums '' Rock n Roll Consciousness'' in 2017 and By The Fire 2020, alongside Steve Shelley, and the UK musicians James Sedwards. and Jem Doulton. She also contributed bass for two tracks on the 2018 Tim Burgess album '' As I Was Now'' and collaborated with the American poet Ann Waldman for the 2020 album '' Sciamachy'', along with William Parker and

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

. In 2022,

Brix Smith Brix Smith (born Laura Elisse Salenger; November 12, 1962) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a major songwriter for the English post-punk band the Fall during two stints in the band (1983–1989, and 1994� ...

announced that Googe would be part of her new, all women, live band. In November 2023, Googe announced a new solo project under the name da Googie. She released a split 12" record with the duo Too Many Things on one side and three da Googie tracks: Slither/ Pipe Dreams/ November New, on the other side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Googe, Debbie Living people 1962 births People from Yeovil Alternative rock bass guitarists English rock bass guitarists Lesbian singers English lesbian musicians English LGBTQ singers British women bass guitarists My Bloody Valentine (band) members Primal Scream members British shoegaze musicians