Written by: Alex Green

Stereo Embers has learned that Steven Young, the British musician who co-founded Colourbox and later M/A/R/R/S has died.

He was believed to be in his early fifties and the cause of death has not been disclosed.

After getting his start in what he called “sort of a punk band” called The Nobodyz–who played a few early gigs with The Psychedelic Furs–Steven Young left that band and started to explore his sonic obsessions, which ranged from reggae to spaghetti western theme songs to the ominous music of Hitchcock films.

Along with his brother Martyn, Young started Colourbox in 1982 and though the electronic band’s run only lasted five years, they remain one of 4AD’s most treasured outfits. Unlike Dead Can Dance or the Cocteau Twins, Colourbox’s sample-heavy sound was more varied and drew from everything from reggae to soul and filtered it through an innovative electronic prism.

They took their name from a 1937 animated film.

Some of the band’s best known hits are “Punch” and “The Moon Is Blue.”

The Young brothers also contributed tracks to This Mortal Coil’s second record.

Teaming up with A.R Kane in the late ’80s, the band dubbed themselves as M/A/R/R/S and recorded “Pump Up The Volume” which became a massive international hit. A mosaic of samples, the song may have been a global success, but it also became an enormous legal albatross. Because so many samples were used and the song was so successful, it became open season for litigators and the endless legal tie up over royalties took such a toll on the band, Colourbox never put out any other recorded content.

While Martyn went on to produce records by The Christians and Wolfgang Press as well as play with Modern English, Steven Young dropped out of sight altogether.

A 30th anniversary box set of Colourbox’s recorded output was overseen by Martyn back in 2012, but Steven had nothing to do with that project or the 2014 Music Of The Band exhibition, which Colourbox were the sole subject of.  Curated by Wolfgang Tillmans in Berlin, the exhibition featured 16 tracks by the band.

“He was a sonic architect,” a source told Stereo Embers of Young. “A true synth pioneer.”

In a statement issued by 4AD, the label wrote: “One of the label’s true pioneers, Steven leaves behind an incredible legacy and will forever be in our hearts…Our thoughts go to his brother Martyn, their family and his friends.”