Buckethead

The world's strangest guitarist

Buckethead first appeared as a guitarist with the funk metal band the Deli Creeps. He is a truly bizarre and original figure choosing to wear a Michael Myers mask and KFC bucket on his head. His music is perhaps best described as an eclectic mix of thrash, shred, jazz and avant-garde. He has worked with numerous musicians including Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Jonas Hellborg, Mike Patton and Les Claypool. His brief career as a guitarist with Guns and Roses between 2000 and 2004 gave Buckethead some much needed public attention. He has released a large number of Solo albums each exploring his seriously diverse musical influences.

Buckethead released his first solo album Bucketheadland in 1992 on John Zorn's Avant record label. In the same year he joined supergroup Praxis along with Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell and Bryan Mantia. One of the things that sets Buckethead apart from his peers is his willingness to embrace and work with many musicans from different backgrounds. His fifth album Monsters and Robots was released in 1999 and Featured Les Claypool from the band Primus. His music and playing style is totally unique combining fast picking, altered sounds and crazy tapping licks. He can usually be seen playing a white Gibson Les Paul.

"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."

Buckethead makes use of almost ever guitar technique available to create his blisteringly fast solos. He borrows modern concepts from Shawn lane with his hybrid picking lines and uses his insane tapping technique to create robotic sounding symmetrical passages.