| Russell Lissack | |
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Russell Lissack |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Russell Dean Lissack |
| Born | 11 March 1981 |
| Origin | Chingford, England |
| Genres | Indie rock, post punk revival, electronica |
| Instruments | Guitar, synthesiser |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Associated acts | Bloc Party Pin Me Down Ash |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Telecaster | |
Russell Dean Lissack[1] (born 11 March 1981 in Chingford, England) is an English musician best known as the lead guitarist of London based indie rock band, Bloc Party. Lissack is also in the electronica band Pin Me Down; a duo of himself and Milena Mepris. He has recently joined Northern Irish rock band Ash as a touring guitarist.
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Lissack grew up in Chingford, east London, and went to local private school Bancroft's School in Woodford. He met Kele Okereke there and developed a close friendship. He then studied Sociology at London South Bank University, dropping out weeks before graduation so he could tour with Bloc Party.
He is a committed vegetarian, and once appeared in Vegetarian Magazine dressed as a banana to talk about his Christmas dinner, which he likes 'traditional, with a Quorn fillet to replace the meat'. He also wrote an article for the online magazine Slush Pile about the difficulty of finding vegetarian food while touring.[2]
Lissack cites some of his major influences as Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Blur, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, New Order, The Smiths, Prince, Weezer, the anime series Escaflowne and late 1990 trance music.[3] Guitar influences include Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Prince and Graham Coxon of Blur who are users of the Fender Telecaster.
In an interview, Kele from Bloc Party stated that Russell used to play guitar in an Ash tribute band.[4] Kele jokingly adds that, as Russell was playing lead guitar, he filled the role of Charlotte Hatherley. He has since been approached by Tim Wheeler to join Ash as a touring guitarist in 2010.[5]
Lissack remixed Kate Nash's single, "Pumpkin Soup".
Lissack also plays with Milena Mepris in 'Pin Me Down' who released a single, 'Cryptic' through French label Kitsune in 2008. 'Pin Me Down' released their debut album "Pin Me Down' on April 19, 2010.
Russell is currently accompanying Ash on their UK tour, whilst Bloc Party are on hiatus.
On the 30th September 2010, Russell was bitten by a lion cub as he visited a sanctuary in South Africa on Ash's tour with the Parlotones and was taken to hospital for treatment.[6]
Suede, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, New Order, The Smiths, Prince, Weezer, Escaflowne.
Russell uses a variety of guitar effects live and in the studio, so many that it is difficult to track exactly which are used at any given point. From eyewitness accounts and interviews it has been suggested that he has used all of these following effects:
Russell also uses an EBow
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