R.I.P. Aaron Huffman of Harvey Danger at 43

Aaron Huffman, one of the two founders and the bass player for Harvey Danger, died from respiratory failure on Sunday at the age of 43.

The news came from bandmate Sean Nelson in the alternative paper and site The Stranger.

Sad news to begin the week: Aaron Huffman, friend and colleague to everyone at The Stranger, and veteran of the Seattle music community for more than 20 years, died yesterday of respiratory failure following a long illness. He was 43 years old.

Aaron died surrounded by his family, who loved him dearly, and he was not in pain.

He was art director of this publication for the past nine years. His elegant, exacting visual style, and imperturbable energy, even in the face of overwhelming stress, served to make him professionally invaluable.

Read the rest of Nelson’s comments at The Stranger’s website.

Harvey Danger was formed in 1992 by University of Washington classmates Huffman and Jeff Lin who initially played as a duo before adding Evan Sult and Nelson to the band.

The band played their first show on April 21, 1994 and, before the years was out, released their self-produced, self-titled six-song demo tape, following two years later with another tape of the same name. While neither brought them a label contract, Greg Glover, who was an intern at London Records, decided to release the single Flagpole Sitta on his private Arena Rock Recording Company.

In 1997, the band released the album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? on Glover’s label and, the next year, Flagpole Sitta finally took off nationally, peaking at 3 on the Modern Rock, 33 on the Mainstream Rock and 38 on the Airplay charts.

Harvey Danger never recreated the excitement of that first single although Save it For Later (1999 / #29 Modern Rock) and Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo (2000 / #27 Modern Rock) created some interest. They also released two more albums, King James Version (2000) and Little by Little… (2005).

The band announced their breakup on May 28, 2009 after fifteen years. As previously noted, Huffman went on to be the arts director for The Stranger.

Huffman is survived by his mother, wife and a son.