Aaron Peck, bassist for Kiwi 90s punk band Muckhole, passed away on Christmas

Aaron Peck playing with his fellow Muckhole bandmates. Photo / Muckhole Facebook

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• Aaron Peck, the bass guitarist in legendary Kiwi 90s punk band Muckhole, has passed away.

Aaron Peck, the bass guitarist in legendary Kiwi 90s punk band Muckhole, has died.

His band members confirmed the 43-year-old died on Christmas Day, in a Facebook post to fans last night.

"It is with great sadness and heavy hearts we would like to let everyone know that Aaron died on Christmas night. We are all f****** gutted," they wrote.

"RIP Weirdo - hope you've found Lemmy [Kilmister, who died December 2015] and [are] putting the world to rights. Baddest bass player ever and more stage presence than the rest of us combined. X"

Aaron Peck (right) with Sean O'Brien (vocals), Jason Ennor (drums) and Scott Patterson (guitar). Photo / Supplied

His cause of death has not been made public.

Muckhole was made up of Peck and vocalist Sean O'Brien, guitarist Scott Patterson and Jason Ennor on drums.

They got their leg up when they came to the attention of Wildside Records boss and founder of Rip It Up magazine, Murray Cammick.

Cammick worked with the band from the mid-90s when they were all still in their 20s.

"Muckhole grew out of the drinking culture of young North Shore surfers and I think they were surprised when music people took them seriously," Cammick says.

"Aaron was first to say thank you when Muckhole got to play The Big Day Out in 1996 and open for Green Day, Offspring, Pennywise and even the re-formed Sex Pistols."

O'Brien praised Peck as the "life of the party" who did "crazy things" but always came through for the band.

"He was a really caring, sensitive guy who was pretty quiet and reserved, but when he took to the stage, he turned into an animal. He absolutely lived for that hour and a half on stage - he made up for our lack of audience engagement," he laughs.

"He was an amazing performer and an amazing bass player and I think a lot of people will remember our shows for how Aaron was on stage, as much as the music."

O'Brien and Peck have known each other since their school days and despite the band splitting up in 1998, they kept in touch over the years and managed to come together for a reunion show in February this year.

"It was amazing. He came over and stayed with us for a month, we packed the King's Arms and had a good night and put a nice full stop next to the band, which we'd never really done before. And again, Aaron was just amazing - just channelled everything within the songs and brought it to life.

"It's amazing that we got to do that, I'm very grateful. But it's sad that it could never happen again."

Peck has been living and working as a chef in Melbourne for about 15 years, and is described as "an excellent cook" who "took pride in his craft".