BUCKETINFO

Buckethead Wiki

For other uses, see Buckethead (disambiguation).

Brian Carroll , better known as Buckethead , is an American guitarist and songwriter. He is a prolific composer, having released 24 solo albums and performed on over 50 more. He has also made guest appearances on 44 different albums by various artists. 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 wears a vintage Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket (emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker that reads FUNERAL in black block letters) on his head and a white plastic mask similar to that of Michael Myers to obscure his face. He was inspired to wear both items on the night he watched Halloween 4 . More recently, he has switched to a white bucket, and he no longer wears a KFC-brand bucket. Whenever dressed like this (most of the time during performances) he 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. Guitar World voted him number 8 on a list of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time".

Buckethead now works primarily as a solo artist. He has collaborated with a wide variety of high profile artists such as Les Claypool, Tony Williams, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Serj Tankian, Guns N' Roses, Saul Williams, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen and with Bill Laswell in Praxis. Buckethead has also written and performed music for major motion pictures. Some of the films he has worked on include: Saw II , Ghosts of Mars , Beverly Hills Ninja , Mortal Kombat , Mortal Kombat: Annihilation , Last Action Hero and the soundtrack of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie .

Career

1988–1994

In 1988, Buckethead entered a song called "Brazos" into a Guitar Player Magazine contest; it was a runner up, This is what was said about him:

In the same year the editor of Guitar Player Magazine , Jas Obrecht came to know of Buckethead when Brian and his parents left a demo at the magazine's reception desk for Obrecht. Impressed with his demo recording he rushed into the restaurant where Buckethead and his parents were having lunch and encouraged him to make the most of his talent, they soon became friends. Jas, in his introductory note for the Young Buckethead DVDs, says that Brian was around 16 at that point, placing his year of birth at roughly 1972. In 1991 Buckethead moved into Obrecht's basement (this is also where the "Buckethead in the Basement" footage for the Young Buckethead DVD was filmed). The song "Brazos" was eventually released on the 1991 demo tape of his band Deli Creeps, titled "Tribal Rites", and again as bonus material in Buckethead's Secret Recipe DVD in 2006.

After the 2 demo tapes, Buckethead released Bucketheadland on John Zorn's Avant record label in 1992. Though available only as a pricey Japanese import, the record received positive reviews and earned some attention. At about this time, Buckethead fell into the orbit of prolific bassist/producer Bill Laswell (himself an occasional Zorn collaborator); as either a performer, producer or composer, Buckethead was introduced to Laswell with the help of the drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia who gave Laswell a video of Buckethead playing in his room. Laswell was involved in many of the albums listed in the discography below, and Buckethead made many more appearances on albums by Laswell's collaborators.

In 1992, Buckethead, with Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Bryan "Brain" Mantia, formed the supergroup, Praxis. Their first album Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis), released in 1992, was well received. The project was Bill Laswell's concept, and has since involved other guests such as Serj Tankian of System of a Down, among others. Buckethead did not participate in all the albums.

1994–1995

Death Cube K is an anagram of "Buckethead" created by Tom "Doc" Darter to circumvent legal complications with Sony Records. About his style, Buckethead answers in his FAQ:

Many believe, however, that Death Cube K is a separate entity that looks like a photographic negative version of Buckethead with a "black chrome mask, like Darth Vader." This apparition haunts Buckethead and appears in his nightmares.

Science fiction author William Gibson later borrowed "Death Cube K" as the name of a bar in his novel Idoru (1996). Gibson explained the reference in an interview for Addicted To Noise :

Also in 1994, Buckethead released his second studio album entitled Giant Robot which features many guest appearances by artists such as Iggy Pop and Bill Moseley, the name of the album came from the Japanese series Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot of which Buckethead is a fan.

According to Anthony Kiedis' autobiography, Scar Tissue , Buckethead once auditioned to play guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, shortly after John Frusciante left the band, without having heard any of their songs. The band's bassist Flea told that:

When he finished the band applauded raucously. He was "sweet and normal," but they wanted someone "...who could also kick a groove".

1995–1998

In 1995, Buckethead didn't release any solo albums, but between 1995 and 1998 he collaborated with several artists like Jonas Hellborg and Michael Shrieve in the album Octave of the Holy Innocents and Bill Laswell in Ambient Compendium . Also during that time Buckethead collaborated in several movie soundtracks like Johnny Mnemonic , Mortal Kombat .

Later in 1996, Buckethead released a solo album called Day of the Robot with the collaboration of DJ Ninj and another album in a small label called NTT Records, called Giant Robot with the collaboration of Brain, both are out of print.

In 1997 Buckethead began work on the album titled Buckethead Plays Disney , but the album has never been released. According to his web page:

This highly anticipated album, once listed in an Avant catalog, has yet to be completed. It is Buckethead's most precious personal project so he won't record or release it until he knows he is ready.

Also in the same year Buckethead continued to collaborate on Movie Soundtracks like Beverly Hills Ninja and the sequel of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation , also in this year Buckethead joined Praxis and released two albums Transmutation Live and Live in Poland.

Death Cube K released an album that year called Disembodied .

Buckethead in 1998 released Colma , an album dedicated to his mother who was sick during this time.

1998–2004

In 1999, Buckethead released his fifth album, a collaboration with Les Claypool from the band Primus entitled Monsters and Robots, currently the best-selling album of his career.

Also this year Buckethead started 3 new projects, the first is called Cornbugs with Bill Moseley, Pinchface, and Travis Dickerson, they released their first album called Spot the Psycho. Another project is called Cobra Strike with Pinchface, "Brain", DJ Disk, and Bill Laswell, they released the album 13th Scroll. The last project was with the actor Viggo Mortensen and released 3 albums called One Man's Meat , One Less Thing to Worry About , and The Other Parade .

In 1999 Death Cube K released an album entitled Tunnel .

Buckethead achieved a higher public profile as a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004; however, the band only toured in 2001 and 2002 during this era. Guns N' Roses response to Buckethead's departure was:

During his tenure with the band, Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and his commitment, despite being under contract, creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals, and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it near impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communications with him whatsoever.

Despite this, Buckethead's guitar parts were found intact on leaked Chinese Democracy tracks "I.R.S.", "There Was a Time", "Better" and "Madagascar." However, it is uncertain if they will be present on the final product.

Since that time, his cult following in the underground music communities has steadily increased. He frequently performs at festivals and in clubs nationwide, and often tours as the feature performer.

During the time Buckethead was with Guns N' Roses he released several solo albums as well as more collaborations with Cornbugs, Viggo Mortensen, Cobra Strike, Praxis, and started a new project with Les Claypool, "Brain", and Bernie Worrell called Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains releasing their only album The Big Eyeball in the Sky.

In an interview with Revolver , Ozzy Osbourne stated that he had offered to have Buckethead play guitar in his band at Ozzfest. Ozzy quickly changed his mind after meeting with him, and r