Former Rogue Wave multi-instrumentalist Evan Farrell died Dec. 23 in Oakland, Calif., from injuries suffered in an apartment fire caused by a space heater. Details are still coming together, but Farrell succumbed from massive smoke inhalation, according to reports.

The musician, who was 33, had traveled to Oakland from his home base in Bloomington, Ind., to play music with his on-again/off-again band the Japonize Elephants.

That group was the stuff of local legend in Bloomington, where it formed in the mid-1990s. The ragtag crew was a fixture at house parties and local clubs and was one of the first groups signed to Bloomington-based label Secretly Canadian, which has gone on to become one of the country's foremost indies.

Farrell joined Rogue Wave on the road in 2005, and later played on the group's sophomore Sub Pop album, "Descended Like Vultures." He left the band earlier this year, before Rogue Wave began work on its latest project, "Asleep at Heaven's Gate."

Farrell is survived by two sons. A memorial fund has been set up via PayPal and can be accessed by clicking here.

For more on Evan Farrell, visit the Billboard blog at JadedInsider.com.