| Buckethead was born in the
suburbs of Los Angeles, California, at some point before 2005. He grew up in the shadows
of Disneyland - a park he'd eventually became very fascinated of. Another obsession was
monsters and robots, and his mother nicknamed him "Boo" because of this. By the age of 10, Buckethead was doing karate lessons, and two years later
he picked up the guitar: "I began playing guitar at age 12. However I didn't become
serious until the following summer, when I moved to Claremont from Huntinton Beach C.A. My
playing improved with lessons from various teachers, most notably, Paul Gilbert, with whom
I studied for over a year". Beside playing guitars, Buckethead also liked sports:
"I was really into sports, but I liked guitar because it was something you could do
all by ourself".
In 1989, Buckethead came up with his artist name and his trademark, the KFC bucket:
"I had just seen Halloween IV, and as soon as it was over I went into a store across
the street and said 'Do you have any Michael Myers masks?' They had a white mask, which
really wasn't like a Michael Myers mask, but I liked it a lot. That night I was eating
chicken out of a bucket that my dad brought home. It wasn't a Kentucky Fried Chicken
bucket either. It said "Deli Chicken" on the outside. I was eating it, and I put
the mask on and then the bucket on my head. I went to the mirror. I just said 'Buckethead.
That's Buckethead right there.' It was just one of those things. After that, I wanted to
be that thing all the time." "I thought it made sense with the way I play",
he explains. "I play all this weird stuff, but if I just look like me, it isn't going
to work. But, if I'm like this weird freak..."
Around 1990, Buckethead started playing in the band Deli Creeps with Maximum Bob (vocals),
Pinchface (drums), and Tony (bass). Although they were rom the Los Angeles area, the Deli
Creeps picked up a following in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result of this, the band
relocated to San Francisco, where they soon disbanded.
As well as fascinating crowds, Buckethead's playing and unique style caught the attention
of people in the music business. Bassist/producer Bill Laswell and P-Funk legend Bootsy
Collins became aware of Buckethead through Limbomaniacs drummer Brain. Laswell obviously
liked Buckethead's guitar work, and soon the formation of Praxis was a fact. Laswell
teamed up with Buckethead, Brain, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins to record the debut
"Transmutation". Later Laswell said this about Buckethead: "Everyone talks
about how great he is and how fast he plays, but I'm more interested in the fact that he
doesn't play clichés". Praxis released five more records: "Sacrifist,"
"Metatron", "Transmutation Live", "Collection", and
"Warzsawa" over the next years.
In the early 90s, Buckethead auditioned for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The lead singer
picked Buckethead up at the airport, and he found out that Buckethead had not heard any of
their songs. Flea said they didn't use Buckethead because they wanted someone "who
could also kick a groove." The Chili Peppers loved the way Buckethead played, but
they didn't think his style was right for the band.
In 1992, Buckethead released his solo debut titled "Bucketheadland". The record
was only released in Japan. In 1994, he released his second record, "Giant
Robot", which features Iggy Pop, Bill Laswell, Pinchface, Throatrake, Bigfoot, Bootsy
Collins among others. "Giant Robot" was re-released in USA in 2000. In 1994,
Buckethead also released "Dreamatorium" as Death Cube K, which is an anagram for
Buckethead. Buckethead used the anagram because he was signed to Epic and had to use
pseudonyms for any non-Epic solo work. In 1996, Buckethead relased his third record,
"Day Of The Robot", which features Ninj and Bill Laswell. The same year,
Buckethead worked with the band Giant Robot and they released their selftitled debut. In
1997, Death Cube K's second record, "Disembodied", was released. His fourth
album, "Colma" was released in 1998 - a record very different from
hisearlier work. "Colma" was made for Buckethead's mother, who was sick at the
time. The album is his present for her. Buckethead's fifth album release, "Monsters
& Robots" was released in 2000, and the same year Buckethead also released
"Tunnel", as Death Cube K.
In 1999 Buckethead was asked to play with Primus on their Ozzfest gig. After Ozzfest
ended, Primus started their own tour and Buckethead was asked aboard. The tour ended
December 4, 1999, and Buckethead planned to go back to studio to record. Later the same
month, Buckethead was invited to Axl Roses' Christmas party at Axl's house, and Axl gave
him a Leatherface mask that Buckethead had tried to find for a long time. Guns N' Roses
had tried before to get Buckethead aboard, but, Buckethead had not been convinced that
joining Guns N' Roses was the right career move. He did however take the mask as a sign,
and shortly after Christmas, he was in the studio, recording tracks for "Chinese
Democracy".
Buckethead did his first concert with Guns N' Roses in Las
Vegas New Years Eve, 2000. Buckethead also played at the Rock In Rio 3 festival in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil two weeks later. When asked what he thought about being in the band,
Buckethead answered: "it will be interesting to see where this ride goes."
Still, over the next few years, there were several rumors
that Buckethead had left the band, but at the Chinese Democracy tour in 2002, Buckethead
was still in the line-up. The band played Japan, China, Angland, and the MTV Video Music
Awards, before touring North America. The tour was followed by a North American tour.
Buckethead got his own part of the show, where he played solos based on his own released
material.
Buckethead left Guns N' Roses in the end of 2003, after walking in and out of the
band several times. He was tired of the band's incapability to finish an album and tour,
and decided to continue on his own. Axl released a press release commenting Buckethead's
departure, saying that Buckethead used GnR to get a better record deal, and that it had
been impossible to work with Buckethead because he changed his mind all the time:
"Last time I talked to Bucket, he called to tell me he had bought a bootleg DVD off
EBay and how proud he was to be in Guns and how impressed he was with everyone's
performance."
The following spring, Buckethead released "Population Override" and
"Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell", and started working with Col. Claypool's Bucket
of Bernie Brains on their debut album. The band was originally put together for the
Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN in June, 2004, and featured Les Claypool (bass),
Buckethead (guitar), Brain (drums) and Bernie Worell (keyboards). The selftitled debut was
released on September 21, 2004, and the band went on a tour supporting the album.
Buckethead's big hobby is Disneyland. He has visited the park more than 500 times, and he
wants to get buried there: "[Some] parts of me in It's a Small World, Haunted
Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean, plus parts in Tokyo Disneyland, Euro Disneyland,
and Florida Disney World. There are enough bones to go around." Disneyland has
inspired Bucketehad, and he Buckethead wants to build his own park, Bucketheadland,
"Where all your dreams and nightmares can come true." Buckethead also like
Taxidermy, Sports and robot dancing.
(Updated September 29, 2005) |
Artist Name:
Buckethead
Real Name: What's not real about "Buckethead"?
Born: Sometime before 2005
Instruments: Guitar, Bass
Other Bands: Buckethead,
Praxis, Giant Robot a.o.
Worked with: Primus, John Carpenter, George Clinton & Iggy Pop a.o.
Parents: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown |