Maurice Deebank is a

classically trained Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can a ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. He was the co-founder and

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

of the British indie band

Felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

from its debut album until 1985, and was responsible for the ornate, atmospheric guitar work found on many of the band's early recordings. During his tenure in Felt he co-wrote most of its material with frontman

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Career

Deebank was brought up in

Water Orton Water Orton is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire borough of Warwickshire in the West Midlands, England near the River Tame. It is located between Castle Bromwich and Coleshill, and borders the West Midlands metropolitan c ...

on the eastern edge of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, where he attended the local school and knew the other founder members of Felt, without particularly being friends with them. He is considered to be a prodigy, a unique compositional voice and "father of indie guitar". He has also been cited as a major influence by

the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

Johnny Marr John Martin Marr (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Maher; born 31 October 1963) is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has sinc ...

, as well as many other mainstream and alternative indie acts. Felt had released their first single "Index" in 1979, which had unexpectedly been made Single of the Week by ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

'' magazine. Lawrence – who at this stage still couldn't tune a guitar – invited Deebank to join the band shortly afterwards: "one day I got him round and he tuned my guitar in three seconds. I was in shock. Then he played ''Mr Tambourine Man''. I said: 'I don't believe it, you're a genius.' We were only 16 or 17 and I'd never seen anyone play that fast. It still went clunky when I went from one chord to another." Lawrence was later explicit in recognising Deebank's importance to early Felt: "I thought, God, I could really go somewhere with this kid. Ride on his back to the top, that's how I saw it. He was voted into Guitar Player magazine's Top 40 Underrated Guitar Players of all time in 2007; a celebration of the publication's fortieth anniversary. Deebank's work as a solo artist combined eclecticism with a musical sophistication derived from his classical training. His sole solo album, ''Inner Thought Zone'', was released on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

in 1984, with four additional tracks recorded in 1992 added to the CD issue. The track "Dance of Deliverance" from ''Inner Thought Zone'' later appeared on the Felt compilation '' Absolute Classic Masterpieces''. He also co-wrote and performed on the

Saint Etienne In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

song "Paper", which first appeared on their "Avenue" single. Lawrence honoured his former bandmate with his later band

Go-Kart Mozart Mozart Estate, formerly known as Go-Kart Mozart, are an English indie pop band founded by Lawrence, previously of the bands Felt and Denim. Lawrence formed the group as a reaction to his previous bands' lack of commercial success. He has calle ...

's song "Delta Echo Echo Beta Alpha Neon Kettle", on ''

Tearing Up the Album Chart ''Tearing Up the Album Chart'' is an album by the band Go-Kart Mozart. It was released in 2005 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. It was former Felt and Denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the ...

''.

Personal life

Deebank is on the

autism spectrum Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

References

External links

"This is How Maurice Deebank Felt"
– 2018 interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Deebank, Maurice English rock guitarists English male guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Autistic musicians English people with disabilities Musicians from Warwickshire