The Soft Moon’s Luis Vasquez Has Died
Matteo Nazzari
Luis Vasquez, the California musician who recorded as the Soft Moon, has died. As Brooklyn Vegan points out, The Soft Moon’s social-media accounts shared the news of his passing this morning: “It is with great sadness that we announce our dear friend, Luis Vasquez has passed away.” Vasquez’s age and cause of death have not been reported.
Luis Vasquez was born in Los Angeles, and he grew up partly in the relatively remote city of Victorville. He started playing in punk bands as a teenager, before moving to the Bay Area and making music on his own under the Soft Moon name. A one-man project, the Soft Moon made icy, mysterious post-punk with a gothy edge. His self-titled debut album came out on Captured Tracks in 2010.
The Soft Moon released five albums, first with Captured Tracks and then Sacred Bones. He relocated to Venice, then to Berlin, and toured with artists like Depeche Mode and Interpol. Exister, the Soft Moon’s most recent album, came out in 2022.
UPDATE: According to Resident Advisor the techno artist John Juan Mendez, known as Silent Servant, and his partner Simone Ling “are believed to have died in the same incident.”
Listen to some of Vasquez’s music below.
