Mark Sandman

Mark Sandman was born into a Jewish American family in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, then worked a variety of blue-collar jobs, including construction, taxi driving, and commercial fishing. Sandman once noted he would often earn considerable overtime pay, which allowed him to take leave of work and travel outside of New England to places such as rural Colorado—the setting for a number of Treat Her Right and Morphine songs penned by Sandman, including "Thursday," "The Jury," and "I Think She Likes Me."

In 2009, Colley, Deupree, and Boston musician Jeremy Lyons formed the group Vapors of Morphine. The band regularly performs in Boston and New Orleans.

Following Sandman's death, Hi-n-Dry became a commercial record label and studio, dedicated to recording and releasing work by Boston-area artists. The label and studio are managed by Sandman's former Morphine band mates Conway and Colley. Hi-n-Dry issued a retrospective box set of Sandman's music called Sandbox in 2004. Another four disc Morphine box set has been compiled but has not been released due to the sale of former Morphine label, Rykodisc, to Warner Brothers.

On July 3, 1999, he suffered a massive heart attack during a concert in Italy and died instantly.

Sandman collapsed on stage on July 3, 1999 at the Giardini del Principe in Palestrina, Lazio, Italy while performing with Morphine. His death, at the age of 46, was the result of a heart attack. His death has been attributed to heavy stress and the temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit on the night of his death. He was survived by his girlfriend Sabine Hrechdakian, parents Robert and Guitelle Sandman and sister Martha Holmes. Morphine disbanded following his death, although the surviving members briefly toured with other musicians as Orchestra Morphine, a tribute to Sandman and in support of the posthumous release, The Night.

During Morphine's active years, the band released five albums and one B-sides compilation. They toured extensively, both domestically and internationally, and became the second act signed to Dreamworks Records. During the 1990s, Sandman continued to expand his Cambridge-based home recording studio with second-hand instruments and equipment, calling the studio Hi-n-Dry. Hi-n-Dry became Morphine's unofficial home and they recorded many of their signature tracks using Sandman's unique homegrown production methods.

Along with Morphine, which he formed in 1989, Sandman was a member of the bands Treat Her Right, Sandman, Candy Bar, the Hypnosonics, Treat Her Orange, Supergroup (with Chris Ballew), and the Pale Brothers. He performed as a guest with the Boston jazz band Either/Orchestra.

Mark Sandman (September 24, 1952 – July 3, 1999) was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep Bass-Baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.