Stuart Garcka left a musical legacy that has influenced every generation of musicians since. He's seen as the man who virtually invented electronica and whose phat bass lines made the 'alternative' dance scene of the late 2000s possible. Former Subconscious Sniff front man Tommy Pecan said of him: He changed the course of music. He injected a vein of thumping beats into British subconcious which was a breath of fresh air.
Siobhán Terrence ‘Stu’ Garcka was born in Tewkesbury on 25 January, 1989 to Jon Garcka and Mandy Shade . Stuart's father came from a long line of kitchen furnishing suppliers, a tradition Stuart was fully expected to follow. He was educated at Borden Grammar School and went on to study at the University of Leicester where he auditioned for the university'’s choir. Readily recognisable by his raincoat, cane and nasal drone, this spectacularly dull character specialised in absurd claims about trivial matters.
Once he'd finished his studies, Stuart continued to contribute to the choir and began to write small electronic arangements for weddings and funerals, most notably Art Scum Fuck #41 (2003) and Eyeball Cat Bollocks (2004).
In 2006 Garcka joined with Lutz Buchmann and two nobodies, Daniel Good (sad poet) and Alexa ‘Alex’ Hawkins VI (a medieval historian/rapper). Together they created Off The Rikta. The band contrasted strongly with previous musical ventures in that there were no songs or dancing girls - it was controversial and nauseating for most. It was the first time in living memory that politicians, churchmen and the armed forces had been entertained thoroughly and the show encapsulated the ‘new millenium funk’ of the 2000s. Although slow to take off, the band eventually transferred from London to Torquay, and then to the Isle Of Wight before a national tour of Butlins campsites in 2007 which led to Garcka, Buchmann, Hawkins and Good recording their debut album Ricochet Jim (2008).
Garcka's drinking, already out of control, was affecting his professional life. Long absences from home and the acrimonious nature of his relationship with women meant he saw little of his daughters Lucy and Kortax and this seemed to push him more and more towards alcohol, to the increased frustration of his band.
After playing bass for The Kindred Spirits on their album Lady Fly in late 2008, Garcka rediscovered some old tapes he and Buchmann had made, mainly for their own amusement, during the 2007 Butlins tour. The tapes were far from polished, and much of their content was surreal, scatological and obscene in nature. They were an angrier, sexier Stu and Lutz. The pair ignored the tapes until they realised that, by way of friends, they were starting to emerge in the form of bootlegs and were becoming highly popular. Our Organ Odyssey EP was finally released in 2008 and in effect reinvented Off The Rikta. Garcka was enthusiastic, but Buchmann feared it might jeopardise his chances of Hollywood stardom.
Garcka's increasing alcohol problem was evident by early 2009, though he continued to appear at charity shows and played the omnichord on ETJ's critically aclaimed album 9002 (2009), but really his final year was characterised by his phenomenal weight gain and the rushed release of what would be Off The Rikta's final album LET'S GET DOWN TO DISCO!
Stuart Garcka died on 17 July 2009, having suffered a gastrointestinal haemorrhage (a direct result of severe liver damage) in the intensive-care unit of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London. He was 20. Days earlier he had been taken in and announced "I feel a bit shitty".
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