Peter “Principle” Dachert, longtime bassist and songwriter for experimental post-punk band Tuxedomoon, was found dead Monday morning of natural causes, according to his bandmates. He was 63.
“It is my very sad duty to inform the world that our colleague and brother, Peter Principle has left this world behind,” Tuxedomoon founder Blaine L. Reininger wrote on his Facebook page. “We are all stunned.”
Reininger and Steven Brown started Tuxedomoon in San Francisco back in the mid 1970s. New York City transplant Dachert (using the stage name Peter Principle), performance artist Winston Tong and filmmaker Bruce Geduldig joined a little later when the group began playing live. The band would go on to be an important influence on the underground music scene, bucking musical trends to create a sound all their own. As rock critic Richard Metzger writes, Tuxedomoon did “something truly dangerous, pioneering “new wave” and post-punk before either term existed.”
Dachert played with the group throughout the ’80s and after the band reunited in the 2000s, following an eight-year hiatus. He played bass and guitar on all of the band’s releases, including its 11 studio albums, and co-wrote a majority of Tuxedomoon’s songs.
