Dax Pierson

Dax Wentworth Pierson (August 2, 1970 – December 30, 2024) was an American musician from Oakland, California.^[3] He had been a member of Subtle and 13 & God.^[4]

Dax Pierson
Birth name	Dax Wentworth Pierson[1]
Born	(1970-08-02)August 2, 1970
Origin	Oakland, California, U.S.
Died	December 30, 2024(2024-12-30) (aged 54) Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	Experimental
Occupation	Multi-instrumentalist[2]
Years active	2000–20??
Labels	Nosordo Ratskin

Life and career

Pierson was born on August 2, 1970.^[5][6] He worked at Amoeba Music in Berkeley, California for 10 years.^[7][when?] He was a member of Subtle and 13 & God.^[8]

In 2005, he was seriously injured and left paralyzed from the chest down when the Subtle tour van hit a patch of black ice in Iowa. No one else in the vehicle was seriously injured.^[9][10] His musician friends and promoters subsequently organized a series of tribute shows and benefit albums.^[11]

In 2009, he sued Ford Motor Company for faulty design mechanics, arguing that the defective seat contributed to his life-threatening injuries.^[12] A federal court jury awarded him $18.3 million ($12.3 million for medical expenses and lost earnings and $6 million for pain and suffering).^[13][14]

He released Live in Oakland on Ratskin Records in 2019.^[15]

In 2021, he released Nerve Bumps (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction); his first solo studio album for fifteen years.^[16] The album's title partly inspired by a quote from dancer Martha Graham. Some of the album's themes touch on his recovery from his 2005 accident.^[17] The album's track For The Angels was included on The Wire magazine's compilation for April 2021.^[18]

Pierson died in Oakland, California on December 30, 2024, at the age of 54.^[5]

Discography

See also: Subtle discography and 13 & God discography

Studio albums

• Intro To (2002)
• Pablo Feldman Sun Riley (2006) (with Robert Horton)^[19]
• Nerve Bumps (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction) (Ratskin Records, 2021)

Live albums

• Live in Oakland (2019)^[20]

Contributions

• Conglomerate - "Armeghetto" (1996)
• Conglomerate - "Babylon EP" (1996)
• Anticon - "Pitty Party People" from We Ain't Fessin' (Double Quotes) (2002)
• Jel - "14. Dynamic Button" from 10 Seconds (2002)
• Themselves - "Good People Check" and "Hat in the Wind" from The No Music (2002)
• Odd Nosdam - "Untitled" from No More Wig for Ohio (2003)
• Alias - "Unseen Sights" from Muted (2003)
• Odd Nosdam - "Untitled Two" from Burner (2005)
• Alias & Tarsier - "Picking the Same Lock" from Brookland/Oaklyn (2006)
• Odd Nosdam - "Hollow Me" from Pretty Swell Explode (2008)
• Themselves - "You Ain't It" from Crowns Down (2009)
• Alias - "Talk in Technicolor" from Fever Dream (2011)