By Lisa Pemberton
The Olympian
A musician who hailed from the Northwest — and called Olympia home for nearly a decade — was among 36 people who died in a fire last Friday at an underground music venue in Oakland, California.
Joseph Matlock, 36, of Oakland, was among a list of victims whose names were released Thursday by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau. He was better known as Joey Casio, and also performed under the name Obsidian Blade.
Earlier in the week, authorities confirmed that another man with local ties, Edmond Lapine, 34, also died in the blaze. Lapine was a 2008 graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
Casio recorded several singles with K Records in Olympia. He grew up in Vancouver, moved to Olympia in the late 1990s or around 2000, Johnson said. He moved from Olympia to Portand about 2011, according to Calvin Johnson, founder and owner of the label.
Casio returned to Olympia for a while, but then headed to Oakland at some point.
“He’s such a sweet mild mannered person,” Johnson told The Olympian earlier this week. “When he gets on stage, this other thing comes out and it’s just wild and fun.”
John Matlock attended a gathering in Oakland where he quoted a few lines from one of his son’s songs called “Share the cup, spare the sword,” that said to put others first.
Matlock told the crowd he and his wife were hurting but that they were one part of their son’s family and the music community was another part of it.
“We loved Joey,” he said, “and we love all of you.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the source of the fire, which is the country’s most lethal building fire in more than a decade.
“ATF is looking at every possible source of ignition,” Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder said in a news release from the city of Oakland on Thursday. “There is no timeline for the conclusion of the investigation. ATF experts will be on scene for possibly several more days examining physical evidence. The analysis of data and interviews may take several weeks.”
