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Brian Patrick Carroll,[title = Beneath The Bucket, Behind The Mask: Kurt Loder Meets GN'R's Buckethead] better known as Buckethead, is an American musician and songwriter.[ He has released 28 solo albums and performed on over 50 more. His music spans such diverse areas as progressive metal, thrash metal, funk, electronica, jazz, bluegrass, and avant-garde music.]
When performing in his theatrical persona, Buckethead used to wear a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker that read "funeral" in capital black block letters, and an expressionless plain white costume mask. More recently, he has switched to a plain white bucket no longer bearing the KFC logo. He also incorporates nunchaku, robot dancing, and toy trading into his stage performances. Buckethead's persona represents a character who was "raised by chickens" and has made it his "mission in life to alert the world to the ongoing chicken holocaust in fast-food joints around the globe."
Although a multi-instrumentalist, Buckethead is best known for his electric guitar playing. He has been voted number 8 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 20 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time"
2005–2006: Buckethead & FriendsIn 2005, Buckethead released an album as "Buckethead & Friends," called Enter the Chicken, through Serj Tankian's record label, Serjical Strike
. The album features Tankian himself, Maximum Bob (of the Deli Creeps), Death by Stereo singer Efrem Shulz, Bad Acid Trip, and others. It is marked by its leaning toward more traditional song structures while still featuring typical Buckethead guitar skills. "We Are One" was released as a single and also appeared on the soundtrack of Masters of Horror. "Three Fingers" was used for the soundtrack of the horror movie Saw II. The final track, "Nottingham Lace," was first made public via his home page and soon became a concert staple and one of his most popular songs. Buckethead also released two further solo albums in 2005, Kaleidoscalp and Inbred Mountain — the latter being the first album as a solo artist released on the label TDRS Music. Both albums originally were sold exclusively at concerts and only later got an official release through the label's website.
Also the same year, Buckethead released his first DVD, Secret Recipe, originally sold only on tour; the only places for other fans (those who either didn't go to a show or who lived abroad) to obtain it were auction sites such as eBay. Eventually, Travis Dickerson held a raffle for copies of the DVD on his website. Those who wanted to "win" a copy had to enter their name and e-mail address. When entries were closed, he picked 200 names at random from those who entered, and they were allowed to buy a copy of the DVD from his website. In March 2006, the DVD was finally made widely available.
Also, Buckethead released albums with other bands: with Cornbugs, he released two compilation albums, called Rest Home for Robots and Skeleton Farm; he also released (with the band Deli Creeps) their first and only album, called Dawn of the Deli Creeps. Buckethead also released self-titled album Gorgone with studio project Gorgone. This album was recorded from one of the recording sessions from the album Population Override that Buckethead released on 2004. The guitarist also released an album with the actor Viggo Mortensen called Intelligence Failure, and with the band Praxis, released a live album called Zurich.
In 2006, the highlight of the year was the cross-console video game Guitar Hero II, featuring Buckethead's song "Jordan" as an unlockable bonus track. Although the song has been performed live in the past, the video game version is the only known studio recording of the song. Also, the live version almost always contains just the verse and chorus of "Jordan"; then goes into another song, usually "Post Office Buddy"; then returns to the verse and chorus of "Jordan." However, the Guitar Hero II version contains a special solo created specifically for the game. Since late 2007, Buckethead has been known to perform the Guitar Hero version of "Jordan" within his concerts, including the solo.
Also the same year, Buckethead released two DVDs, entitled Young Buckethead Vol. 1 and Young Buckethead Vol. 2, featuring rare footage from 1990 and 1991. The DVD also contains three complete Deli Creeps shows, a sound check, backstage footage, and solo footage of just Buckethead. He also released the albums ''The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock and Crime Slunk Scene, both sold on his tours but later sold on the TDRS Music website. The last album has the song "Soothsayer (Dedicated to Aunt Suzie)"; this song (along with "Jordan" and "Nottingham Lace") is one of his most popular songs and is often played live.
In the same year, Buckethead released his final compilation album with the band Cornbugs, called Celebrity Psychos. He also released an album with producer, keyboardist, and owner of the label TDRS Music, Travis Dickerson, called Chicken Noodles, which was inspired by the track "Cruel Reality of Nature," from the album Population Override. He also released an album with the band Thanatopsis, called Anatomize.
2007–present: Continued solo and band work
In 2007, Buckethead released an unprecedented amount of new material. In February, a box set entitled In Search of The, containing 13 albums of original material, was released. It was handcrafted, numbered, and monogrammed by Buckethead and contained over nine hours of music. A regular solo album, called ''Pepper's Ghost, was released in March. A disc of acoustic improvisations called Acoustic Shards was also released, becoming the twentieth studio album that the artist had released so far in his solo career. In midyear, he reissued his demo tape Bucketheadland Blueprints, with two alternative album covers: a special edition with a hand-drawn cover made by him, or a standard edition with the original cover art. In October, he released his final two albums of the year, called Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot and Cyborg Slunks. The latter again came in both a hand-drawn limited edition and (some weeks later) as a normal CD.
As Death Cube K, Buckethead released two albums in 2007: an album called DCK, limited to 400 hand-numbered copies and released in August; and in December, the 5-CD box set Monolith, which consisted of one unbroken track per CD.
During 2007, Buckethead also collaborated and appeared on numerous albums with other artists. The sequel to Chicken Noodles (a collaboration with Travis Dickerson), simply called Chicken Noodles II, was issued by TDRS in December. A live record by Praxis, entitled Tennessee 2004; the third album with Shin Terai, called Lightyears; and another album with drummer Bryan Mantia, called ''Kevin's Noodle House, were also released through the year.
Buckethead also created five paintings, each limited to 100 reproductions each and sold through TDRS.
That same year, it was revealed that Buckethead joined a project by the name of Science Faxtion, a band featuring bassist Bootsy Collins and drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia, with Greg Hampton supplying lead vocals. Their first album, called Living on Another Frequency, was delayed several times and was finally released in November of 2008.
On January 1, 2008, the band Praxis released the long-awaited album Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) in Japan. The album had actually been recorded in 2005, but had to be put on hold when the original label went bankrupt.
The year 2008 started with the label Avabella (where he released Acoustic Shards) releasing From the Coop, consisting of the demos Buckethead gave to Jas Obrecht back in 1988. This CD also included the first ever "official" biography of/by the artist. Later that same year, he released the album called Albino Slug, again a tour-only CD until official release on December of the same year. Along with this album, he appeared on the album The Dragons of Eden, with Dickerson and Mantia, and in collaboration with That 1 Guy as the Frankenstein Brothers, an album called Bolt on Neck was released. That 1 Guy and Buckethead toured together through fall 2008, playing songs from this album.
Buckethead also appeared in the documentary American Music: Off the Record, in which he appears only playing. Serj Tankian's label, Serjical Strike, reissued the album Enter the Chicken with an extra song and also hinted towards another album possibly released in the near future. Furthermore, Buckethead contributed to one track of actor Viggo Mortensen's album At All, and with Travis Dickerson and filmmaker Alix Lambert on the album Running After Deer.
Buckethead appeared with Bootsy Collins in Cincinnati, Ohio, to promote the vote for the United States presidential election, 2008 for the organization Rock the Vote.
He also joined Collins on Fallen Soldiers Memorial, an album with proceeds going to the National Fallen Heroes Foundation.
More than four years after his departure from the band Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy was made available. Buckethead appears on all but two songs and was given writing credits on "Shackler's Revenge" (which appeared in the popular video game Rock Band 2); "Scraped"; and "Sorry," which features guest singer Sebastian Bach. The album features eleven of Buckethead's guitar solos.
On December 30, Buckethead released two new tracks via his website to honor the 24th birthday of basketball player LeBron James. These tracks were later made available on the Slaughterhouse on the Prairie album, which was released on January 30, 2009 through TDRS Music. A Real Diamond in the Rough followed in May 2009, as well as Forensic Follies in June 2009.
Buckethead has recorded and released a song entitled "The Homing Beacon" on his website, along with a drawing of Michael Jackson to serve as a tribute to the late singer. The song is currently available for download on the website.
Recently, Buckethead has recorded a new album titled Needle in a Slunk Stack which will be made available officially for purchase on the 9th of October, though it can be ordered now on the TDRS website.
The long-awaited Death Cube K album Torn from Black Space was released In October of 2009.
InfluencesBuckethead cites a wide variety of musical influences, including Michael Jackson, Paul Gilbert, Shawn Lane, Yngwie Malmsteen, Bootsy Collins, Eddie Hazel, and Angus Young, as well as the many artists he has collaborated with over the years.[url=www.bucketheadland.com/faq/index.html#anchor1777417 ] In addition to his musical influences, Buckethead cites a diverse range of non-musical influences including athlete Michael Jordan or LeBron James, and numerous science fiction and horror TV shows and movies including Giant Robo (tokusatsu).
Current projects- A Pleasant Fiction, the 2004 album by Meridiem featuring Buckethead will be re-issued in March 2009.
- A special three-disc version of the movie Flesh For the Beast, featuring the soundtrack by Buckethead will be released in May 2009.
- Buckethead played at the 2009 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in June.
- Bootsy Collins stated that Buckethead will collaborate in a new group called "The Z-Class"; their first album is scheduled for release in April 2009.
- Serj Tankian stated in an interview that a follow-up to Enter the Chicken is planned.
- [1] "The Homing Beacon", a song for Michael Jackson 2009
- The newest 2009 Bucketheadland CD "A Needle in a Slunk Stack" has been released by TDRS Music on 9/24/09
EquipmentGuitars- Custom built Gibson Les Paul
- Steinberger GS (AKA "Kaiser’s Gift")
- Custom built ESP MV
- ESP MII
- Gibson Chet Atkins
- Ibanez X-Series Flying V
- Ibanez X Series Rocket Roll II
- Takamine Acoustic
- Yamaha AES920
- Gibson 1959 Les Paul Custom
- Gibson 1969 SG
- Gibson SST
[UberProAudio - Buckethead Guitar Gear Rig and Equipment Retrive:2009-04-19] - Gibson Les Paul Custom
- Custom built Jackson Y2KV
- Custom built Jackson KV2
- Custom built Jackson Doubleneck
- Fender Telecaster
- Vigier Excess Indus 4-String Bass
- Heartfield Talon model (by Fender) with pink DiMarzio X2Ns
Effects- Digitech Whammy II
- Digitech Whammy IV
- Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q
- Alesis MidiVerb II
- BOSS NS-2 Noise Suppressor
- BOSS RC-20 Loop Station
- BOSS OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion
- BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
- Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer
[www.bucketheadland.com/faq/faq2/FAQ_2_0.html#20]
- Snarling Dogs Mold Spore Wah Pedal
- Roger Mayer Octavia
- DOD Electronics FX-25B envelope filter
- AnalogMan Bicomprossor
- MXR EVH Phase 90
- MXR Phase 100
- Line 6 FM4 Filter Effects Pedal
Amplifiers- Peavey Renown
- Peavey 5150
- Marshall 1960 Slant 4x12 cabinet
- Diezel Herbert
- Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
- Mesa Boogie Stiletto Trident
- Matt Wells 17½-watt head wired through a Harry Kolbe 4x12 cab
- VHT Pittbull 50 watt head
Picks
Discography- Studio albums
col-3
- Bucketheadland (1992)
- Giant Robot (1994)
- The Day of the Robot (1996)
- Colma (1998)
- Monsters and Robots (1999)
- Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse (2001)
- Funnel Weaver (2002)
- Bermuda Triangle (2002)
- Electric Tears (2002)
col-3
- Bucketheadland 2 (2003)
- Island of Lost Minds (2004)
- Population Override (2004)
- The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell (2004)
- Enter the Chicken (2005)
- Kaleidoscalp (2005)
- Inbred Mountain (2005)
- ''The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock (2006)
- Crime Slunk Scene (2006)
col-3
- ''Pepper's Ghost (2007)
- Acoustic Shards (2007)
- Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot (2007)
- Cyborg Slunks (2007)
- From the Coop (2008)
- Albino Slug (2008)
- Slaughterhouse on the Prairie (2009)
- A Real Diamond in the Rough (2009)
- Forensic Follies (2009)
- Needle in a Slunk Stack (2009)
Buckethead's bandsNote: As well as being a solo artist since 1992, Buckethead often releases albums as Death Cube K. He has used this name as an alias since 1994 (he used it most recently in 2009).
Bands- Current
- Praxis (1992–present)
- Deli Creeps (1991-present)
- Shine/Shin Terai (2001–present)
- Thanatopsis (2001–present)
- Buckethead & Friends (2005–present)
- Science Faxtion (2007–present)
- Frankenstein Brothers (2008–present)
- Former
- Zillatron (1993)
- Cornbugs (1995–2007)
- Giant Robot (1996)
- Pieces (1997)
- Cobra Strike (1999–2000)
- El Stew (1999–2003)
- Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains (2002–2004)
- Gorgone (2005)
- Guns N' Roses (2000-2004)
With artists- Current
- with Viggo Mortensen (1999, 2003–2005, 2008–present)
- with Travis Dickerson (2004–present)
- with Brain (2007–present)
- Former
- with Jonas Hellborg and Michael Shrieve (1995)
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
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