Severed Heads ProfileStephen Jones, former member of the Australian electronic group Severed Heads and a synth pioneer, has died. He was 75.
In a statement posted to his Facebook last Friday (9 October), his family claimed that Jones passed away at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and succumbed to injuries just days after allegedly being assaulted outside of his Sydney studio.
“Stephen was viciously assaulted outside his studio on Tuesday,” the statement read.
It continued, “After loving visits from friends over the course of the day, Stephen died peacefully on Thursday afternoon. Stephen left this world with brother Ian and partner Wendy holding his hands. He was surrounded by friends.”
Jones’ family’s post claims that a suspect had been arrested and charged with manslaughter following the alleged assault. He appeared in court last week and was being held without bail.
“We ask that people respect the ongoing investigation, chain of evidence, and refrain from speculation and sharing unverified information,” Jones’ family said. “This is an ongoing investigation, and we want justice for Stephen.
“The family is working with police and are unable to supply any further details to you at this time. We ask for privacy during this difficult experience.”
In 1982, Jones joined Severed Heads and remained in the band for a decade. He played on the group’s next six albums and appeared on acclaimed songs like All Saint’s Day, Dead Eyes Opened, and Petrol.
Before leaving the band in 1992, Jones developed analogue video synthesisers used to produce video art and for Severed Heads’ live performances and music videos. Resident Advisor notes that, throughout his career, Jones was a musician, engineer, writer, curator and archivist.
One of his many achievements was co-curating the Videotapes from Australia collection, travelling across the globe in 1979 and 1980. Four years after leaving Severed Heads, Jones received a New Media Arts Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts.
In 2011, he published the book Synthetics: Aspects of Art and Technology in Australia, 1956–1975. Always a busy man, Jones worked in video post-production and helped preserve electronic artworks for galleries and museums in Australia.
In 2007, Jones earned a PhD on the history of electronic art in Australia and, in 2013, served as guest curator for Artspace’s This is Video exhibition.
