Tony Slug (left) up front with Scott Morgan in The Hydromatics.
Tony Slug, an elder statesman of European punk rock and in part responsible for reviving the legacy of Sonic’s Rendezvous Band in the late '90s and ‘00s, has passed away in Holland after a long illness.
The imposingly tall and wildly humorous “Sluggo” (real name Tony Leeuwenburgh) played guitar with The Hydromatics and Dutch bands Nitwitz, BGK and Loveslug.
Slug and Hellacopters frontman Nicke Andersson teamed with BGK bassist Theo Brouwer and ex-Sonics Rendezvous Band member Scott Morgan in 1999 to form The Hydromatics, a European-based supergroup whose live set was initially made up entirely of Sonics Rendezvous Band material.
The first line-up cut its teeth on a six-week European tour opening for the Hellacopters and Zen Guerilla and expanded their studio output with a range of stinging originals.
Andersson left to rejoin the Hellacopters fulltime and subsequent line-ups included Dom Ries, Andy Frost (Powertrane) and Laurent Ciron (Dogs). The band released three studio albums, including one ("The Earth Is Shaking") with Celibate Rifle Kent Steedman, and brought Sonics Rendezvous Band songs to a global audience.
Slug also played with Beasts of Bourbon and Johnnys member Spencer P Jones, in one of Sonny Vincent’s European touring bands. Slug’s uncompromising band Nitwitz were signed to US label Get Hip for their “Dark Side of the Spoon” album.
Tony is survived by a daughter.
