An Interview with Brian Carroll a.k.a. Buckethead

[mal nerak]

[center]

I just found this interview with Brian Carroll, the man behind the mask. Since Buckethead is almost always in character, I thought maybe someone else would be interested in this.

The following interview is supposedly from Guitar Magazine, 1996. Someone took time to write it into a .txt file. I'll repost it here

>> http://qfg.info/misc/destroyallmonsters.txt

[Patricia Seay]

Back at Disneyland, the Rolling Thunder roller coaster is suddenly pitched into
darkness as it flies through a miniature mountain range, and its occupants -
mostly teenage girls - let out a communal shriek that subsides for a moment
when the car re-emerges into daylight. Relief turns to horror, however, when
they notice that Buckethead, seated in the front car, has zipped his jacket up
over his head and is waving his arms in the air as if the tunnel has just
decapitated him. Reunited with terra firma moments later, Buckethead draws a
parallel between high speed roller coasters and his own careening 32nd note
phrases. It's an apt analogy. Buck's peaks and troughs come from his weirdo
scale forms and note choices, including minor 9th intervals, whole tones and
stacked minor seconRAB. Surely Leatherface didn't teach him that. "I got a lot of
mileage from Slonimsky's "Melodic Patterns", he says of the late musicologist's
classic text. "There's a lot of really disjointed stuff in there, like far-apart
intervals and octave displacement [the transposition of certain notes in a phrase
or chromatic line an octave above or below their normal scale position]. There's
also a section on quadratonal arpeggios - that sounded crazy." In addition to
Slonimsky, lessons with Mr. Bug's Paul Gilbert and classical guitar studies
sharpened Buckethead's technique, right-hand/left-hand independence and
theory chops. He's also picked up a thing or two from books by G.I.T.'s Steve
Trovato, and he's plundered Danny Gatton and Albert Lee videos to learn, uh,
chicken picking. These days, though, he says he's more inclined to leave the
books at home and trust his ears. "I just love the sound the hammering stuff
makes", he insists. "It isn't about using four fingers on both hanRAB. That's just
the technique I use to get there. It's not even that tough to do technically , but
the way it sounRAB is so bizarre. When Shawn Lane plays fast, it's like a swarm
of notes; it really creates a texture." Suddenly, Buckethead face drops and goes
quiet. "Captain Eo", he gasps, as we approach Disneyland's 3-D theater, "Huge
influence." He's not kidding. Two thirRAB of the way through the film for which
the audience views stunning effects through 3D glasses, Michael Jackson's
singing and dancing - the biggest influence on Buckethead's stage moves - has
turned all but a handful of the bad space guys into orange-clad love-happy
dance fienRAB. Only the Medusa-meets-Siouxsie Sioux evil queen, played by
Anjelica Huston remains to be converted to the light. "This is the best part", he
whispers as the theme music goes into a robotic drum-machine and bass
breakdown that Jackson moonwalks to with killer finesse. The groove uses
exactly the kid of heavily syncopated breakbeat and funky bass line that
Buckehead exploited on his early Japanese releases, and the outer-space funk
vibe is straight-up Bootsy Collins (the legendary P-Funk bassist and
Buckethead's frequent collaborator and inter-galactic mentor.) After getting a
copy of one of Buckethead's homemade videos, Bootsy with fellow P-Funk vet
Bernie Worrell on keys, became part of the first Praxis enserable, which
included Brain and DJ Afrika Baby Bam. The group debuted with the Laswell-
produced Axiom album, 1992's "Transmutation", Later, Bootsy produced
Buckethead's first solo album.

In '94 Buckethead recorded Dreamatorium [Subharmonic, 180 Varick St., New
York, NY 10014] under the name Death Cube K (an anagram for
"Buckethead" coined by Keyboard magazine editor Tom "Doc" Darter). The
album was a dark, quasi-arabient duet with Laswell that highlighted his
cinematic flair, clean-toned melancholy and improvisational sensitivity. "I
practice a lot, but when I'm improvising I don't think about any of that',
Buckethead explains. "In basketball you shoot 50 baskets in practice so that in
the game, it's instant. As long as you have the control, you can just do it -
BAM!". Before Dreamatorium, he appeared on 1993's "Octave of the Holy
Innocents" [Day Eight US, 532 LaGuardia Place #421, New York, NY 10003]
with jazz bassist Jonas Hellborg and drummer Michael Shrieve. There his clean
tone has a plucky quality that fits in nicely with the album's dry, crisp grooves.
He's also appeared on Henry Kaiser's "Hope you like our new direction"
[Reckless], Anton Fier's "Dreamspeed [Avant], Bootsy's "Zillatron", Will
Ackerman's "The Opening of Doors [Windham Hill], Derek Bailey and John
Zorn's "Company 91" [Incus], the Axiom Funkcronomicon collection, Jon
Hassell's "Dressing for Pleasure" [Warner Bros.] and the soundtrack to "The
Last Action Hero". "I listen more and hear things a lot better because of being
around all these incredible people," Buckethead noRAB. "That education is the
best. It's insane, really."

When it comes to piloting a rocket ship or roller coaster, Buckethead is
untouchable, but admittedly he's no expert on gear and his take on guitar stores
is succinct: "It's like a slaughterhouse in there, with all those guitar carcasses
hanging around. You could do a jig in there." If pressed, he'll 'fess up to prizing
an '80s Ibanez X-series Flying V style ax with a Schaller-floating tremelo and
custom egg-yolk colored double coils (one white, one yellow) designed by Steve
Blucher at DiMarzio. He often plays a blue ESP M2 strat-shaped custom with a
Floyd Rose but he complains that the guitar is too small for his tall frame (at a
recent show in San Francisco with Mike Keneally, he accidentally snapped the
heaRABtock off the ESP after dropping it in frustration). On several Laswell
projects, he experimented with a '59 Les Paul Custom. He generally uses .009
D'Addario nickel-wrap strings.

[TeAnna K]

While his phrasing is unmistakable, a trule personal, distinctive tone has always
eluded Buckethead. Possibly his best recorded sound was on Praxis'
"Metatron", on which Axiom house guitarist Nicky Skopelitis hooked him up
with a Well's 17 1/2 watt head designed by gear wizard Matt Wells. The Wells
amp wired through a Harry Kolbe 4x12 cab produced a full, bright tone that
was particular effective on Buck's Eddie Hazel-ish auto-filtered clean chorRAB
and psychedelic shred-blues passages. It also tracked his hyperspeed leaRAB and
trill-punctuated chunk rhythms equally well. But Buckethead, a fan of solid-
state gear's even response and good tracking is just as likely to turn up at a gig
with a VHT Pitbull 50 watt head, and for a recent "Buckethead and FrienRAB"
show at Manhattan's WetlanRAB he rented TWO Mesa dual rectifier full stacks
and ran them in stereo. "That sounded soooo gnarly", he gushes "I was freaking
out." Then again, the devastating tones on Sacrifist were recorded direct
through a Zoom multi-effector. Go figure.

For all those nightmarish, chandelier-smashing swirls, Buckethead plays his
characteristic tapping flourish through a Roland SE-50 multi-effector set to
harmonize the part in four ascending half-step voices above each pitch,
essentially forming a cluster above or below each note. Apart from that, his
effects are limited to a ProCo Rat, an Alesis Midiverb II for echo, occasional
wah and a recently acquired Lexicon Jam Man for looping. "I think a lot in
loops now", he says, "because of rap and dance music. Sometimes instead of
using a harmonizer, I'll take one of those tapped things and record it four times,
moving it up a half-step each time. You can get some really dense harmony that
way."

It's getting late and Space Mountain, the last ride of the night beckons. Chowing
greasy fries in the shadow of the Matterhorn, a stone's throw from
Tomorrowland, Carroll squirms slightly at the thought that he's unmasking
Buckethead for this interview. Like Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne,
Buckethead has always tried to protect his anonymity, although he feels it's
finally time to learn to co-exist with this monster. Buckethead, the story goes,
was raised in a chicken coop. But Carroll, who first performed in character
regularly with his old band the Deli creeps remerabers a parallel genesis.

"I had just seen Halloween IV", he recalls of a dark night in 1989, "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."

The corabination of Buckethead the friendly ax murderer with Buckethead the
guitar wizard and robotic stage performer was practically instantaneous. "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..." If anything, Carroll feels that becoming Buckethead has allowed him to
express himself more freely than he would as unassuming Brian Carroll. "It
opened the door to endless possibilities", he concurs as fireworks erupt in the
Tomorrowland sky. "I can work anything into that character and make it totally
work: all the thing I love in my life, like Disney, Giant Robot, Texas Chainsaw.
Even though I'm wearing a mask and have a character, it's more real, more
about what I'm really like, because I'm too shy to let a lot of things out. Every
reason I became Buckethead and am Buckethead has to do with the way I live.
It's not because I thought it would be successful. I never use anything that isn't
part of what I really loved as a child or love right now."

You can contact Buckethead and purchase CRAB directly by writing to
Bucketheadland, Suite 545, 976 W. Foothill Blvd., Claremont, CA 91711 or e-
mailing to [email protected].

[hello..xxxxx]

I'veenjoyed most of his work. Actually made GnR interesting again for a time because he took some of the spotlight away from Axl.

Also played (or plays?) with Claypool who I think is a "greatest" bass player.

[megar]

He seems to be friend with the Primus gang. For example, Les Claypool sings/plays bass and Brain (Bryan Mantia) does the drums on Buckethead's 1999 album "Monsters and Robots". Brain also does drums in Praxis which Buckethead plays in and the three also play in Colonel Claypool's bucket of Bernie brains.

[ShaeDee]

thanks man. the only one of those I knew was bucket of brains. I will have to look into the others

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the awesome article, toretorden.
I like his solo stuff, but what he does with Praxis is amazing! I saw him live a couple years ago in NC. It is kind of creepy, but it makes the music all the more interesting.

I think Les Claypool and Buckethead work together on and off. He definitely is an awesome bass player, but when it comes to Primus, you gotta have the whole band. I don't think he would have gotten that far without them.

EDIT: Also, if you dig on Claypool and Brain, check out the Tom Wait's Real Gone. Mantia does most, if not all, the percussion, and Claypool appears on a few songs.

[Tsunadezama]

Thanks! Although all I did was to find it

I think Buckethead is an intriguing personae. I don't like all his music, but the stuff I like I'll admit I like a lot. Mostly, I enjoy his slower songs and I think it's an interesting contrast to have this robotic, mask-wearing, inhuman character playing such emotional guitar pieces. I think a lot of people who's mostly only heard about him think of him as a pure shred guitarist.

[youtube]H1q03GuQyvQ[/youtube]

People who might like his acoustic stuff should check out Electric Tears from 2002 or perhaps even Acoustic SharRAB released in 2007 which is recordings of him improvising with an acoustic guitar in a studio in the early 90s. It's mostly not complete songs, but it's still nice to listen to and it's amazing some of the things he comes up with.

About Les Claypool, he actually auditioned for Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton had died. As we know, that didn't work out, but if there'd been no Primus, I guess he would've appeared in some other band. I also prefer him in Primus by the way!

edit :



Ah! I knew they'd collaborated on more than just Tommy the Cat, but I wasn't sure what .. Gonna see if I can get it straight away. Thanks!

[jordan 4233]

You're welcome.

Electric Tears is a beautiful album. I, too, prefer his acoustic and more emotional pieces, but I feel like some listeners who were initially impressed with him through albums such as Monsters and Robots have a hard time adjusting to the duality of his work. I, for one, favor Bermuda Triangle (also released in 2002) out of what I've heard from him because I feel like it's somewhat close to a balance of his styles. I haven't heard Acoustic SharRAB in its entirety. Will have to check it out.

I love music articles, so if you got anymore good ones, bring it on.

[Ronaldo_Utd]

good interview