About Erik Sanko
Born 1963. Erik Sanko is an American musician, composer and visual artist.
Erik Sanko (born 27 September 1963) is an American bassist who has played in the Lounge Lizards, Skeleton Key and currently active in Knife Thrower and SQURL.
Biography In the past he also worked with notable musicians including Marc Ribot, John Cale, Yoko Ono, Suzanne Vega, Jim Carroll, Gavin Friday, They Might Be Giants, The Melvins, James Chance and the Contortions, Danny Elfman, The Kronos Quartet and members of Enon and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Besides being a musician, he's also a visual artist who creates marionettes. Erik Sanko is married and works with visual artist/set designer/director Jessica Grindstaff. His work has been reviewed in The Village Voice and The New York Times. In 2007 he, together with Jessica Grindstaff, founded Phantom Limb, a multi-media based theater company for which Erik is primarily composer and puppet maker.
Discography Past Imperfect, Present Tense (Jetset Records, 2001) Puppet Boy (2016)
With John Cale Antártida (1995) Walking on Locusts (1996) HoboSapiens (2003) Extra Playful (2011) Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood (2012)
With Jim Carroll Pools of Mercury (1998)
With Anna Domino Mysteries of America (1990)
With The Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent (1992)
With Gavin Friday Adam 'n' Eve (1992) Shag Tobacco (1996)
With The Lounge Lizards Big Heart: Live Tokyo (1986) No Pain for Cakes (1987) Voice of Chunk (1988) Queen of All Ears (1998)
With John Lurie Fishing with John (1998) The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits (2000)
With Mono Puff Unsupervised (1996)
With Seigen Ono Nekono Topia Nekono Mania (1990)
With Yoko Ono Blueprint for a Sunrise (2001)
With Skeleton Key Skeleton Key EP (1996) Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon (1997) An Elipse EP (2001) Obtainium (2002) The Lyon's Quintette EP (2005) Gravity is the Enemy (2011)
With They Might Be Giants Severe Tire Damage (1998) Live (1999) A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants (2005)
With Suzanne Vega Days of Open Hand (1990)
With John Waite Temple Bar (1995)
With others Communication Breakdown (Doppelganger, 1985) Best Wishes (Hajime Mizoguchi, 1988) Stained Glass Sky (Masters of None, 1994) Ô Seasons Ô Castles (Katell Keineg, 1994) Babywoman (Naomi Campbell, 1994) Dawntown Project (CharlElie, 1995) In Paradisu (Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, 1996) The Crybaby (Melvins, 2000) Band Mrazem (Emil de Waal / Jonas Johansen, 2000 109 Poèmes Électro (CharlElie, 2000) Answers (Ui, 2002) Joan as Police Woman EP (Joan as Police Woman, 2004) Live+ (Emil de Waal, 2006)
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Important facts
People in Erik Sanko's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Erik Sanko's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Erik Sanko?
American musician
When was Erik Sanko born?
Erik Sanko was born on 27 September 1963.
What is Erik Sanko's occupation?
Erik Sanko is a musician, composer and visual artist.
What nationality is Erik Sanko?
Erik Sanko is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Erik Sanko. https://biography.guide/erik-sanko/
MLA: "Erik Sanko." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/erik-sanko/.
Chicago: "Erik Sanko." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/erik-sanko/.
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