Dubstepforum.com

The Bug wrote:After our first ever King Midas Sound set at Corsica studios, which was very well received by the audience, i crouched behind my mixing desk and stayed on stage for the duration of the Kode 9/Spaceape set that followed us.. The electrifying, resonant, beautiful and brutal lyrics, beats and performance, made me, Roger and Kiki immediately question our set and argue amongst ourselves backstage afterwards, as to the validity of what we were doing in comparison. Yes, The Spaceape and Kode 9 were really that good. Stephen Gordon aka The Spaceape was like a dynamic, demonic, captivating, cross pollination of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Ian Curtis, yet had blossomed into the most original of lyricists. Possessed by soul fire and a holy anger, he was surfing upon the most fired up of frequencies

I had been completely enthralled by Stephen's word sound power, ever since i had first heard the demos Kode 9 played me of their earliest recordings..A mesmerising poet who amplifed the chaos of this insane World, his passion, invention and increasing mastery of his craft, which got better year after year, never ceased to hypnotise me. Such a pity we have been robbed of his creative vision, far, far, too early...

Having witnessed his 5 year battle against the curse of cancer, and knowing he fought many times against the premature diagnosis of various doctors, i know he is a braver man than i will ever be. Having fought an ultimate health battle whilst simultaneously bringing up his beautiful daughter Cleo, goes far beyond courage. And additionally fighting the disease constantly, whilst battling to fulfill his insatiable hunger for music and art, is truly awe inspiring. Stephen's mission to make sense of the non-sense we all travel through will always be of the utmost inspiration to me...

The sickness of this most random of diseases robbed us all of a truly gifted artist, who unfortunately never was allowed to jump as many stages as he should really have had the opportunity to flourish upon.

I still cant understand why he's gone so soon, or why again, life has let another angel leave the planet too early

My deepest, most sensitive thoughts go out to his incredible wife Luciana, a women who has endured pain at its most extreme and had to battle life's injustice head on..Likewise to Kode 9, who has been Stephen's soul brother.. I cant imagine how difficult this time is also for his family, and i only hope they can all find solice in the fact Stephen Gordon was an incredible person,and will live on, forever in all our minds and thoughts. . For me, i will sorely miss the incredible recording sessions we worked on together , the pumped up performances we played together, the passionate discussions we had about music, food and life, the hilarious rants about Manchester United and football.. I was so lucky to have worked with Stephen, i was so lucky to have known him. My friend, your words, spirit and energy will stay with me forever.. R.I.P. Stephen, i miss you.