Buckethead is the stage name of Brian Carroll, an avant-garde guitarist and composer. Buckethead's work has spanned many musical genres, including drum and bass, funk, thrash metal, jazz, ambient and minimalist music.

Although a capable multi-instrumentalist (also able to play bass guitar, banjo and piano), he is best known for his virtuosic electric guitar playing, characterized by blinding speed and advanced lead lines. He has recorded several solo albums, as well as collaborative albums with Les Claypool, Tony Williams, Bootsy Collins, System of a Down's Serj Tankian and perhaps most notably with a great many Bill Laswell-directed projects.

Identity

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Beyond his legal name, little is known of Buckethead, and he seems to prefer a degree of anonymity. He rarely (if ever) performs or is photographed out of character. His stage name and persona comes from an upside-down KFC paper bucket with the word "FUNERAL" taped onto the front of the bucket which he wears on his head during performances along with a plastic kabuki mask (inspired by seeing the Michael Myers character in the movie Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers). His biography claims that he was raised by chickens in a coop (appropiately, several song titles, especially on early releases, refer to chicken, such as the song "Chicken" or the album titles "KFC Skin Piles" and "Enter The Chicken" ). According to a 1989 local music magazine, he was born in 1969. He cites Yngwie Malmsteen, Shawn Lane, Joe Satriani, and Jennifer Batten as his main influences. Also, he used to take guitar-lessons from Paul Gilbert, and has claimed to be influenced by the book "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" by Nicolas Slonimsky.

Biography

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After a few self released albums made the rounds, Bucketheadland was released 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, 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.

One such Laswell project was Death Cube K (an anagram of "Buckethead" he created to circumvent legal complications with Sony Records). William Gibson later borrowed "Death Cube K" as the name of a bar in Idoru; quoting Gibson in an interview for Addicted To Noise:

"Death Cube K is actually the title of an album. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the group but Bill Laswell who I don't really know but out of the kindness of his heart occasionally sends me big hunks of his output, groups that come out on his label. And Death Cube K was the title of some vicious ambient group that he had produced. And when I saw it, I thought: a Franz Kafka theme bar in Tokyo."

Buckethead achieved a greater public profile as a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004; unfortunately, the band was rarely active in this era. The band's web site officially listed his name as "Buckethead Z'Rose."

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 when Buckethead refused to go on stage without a disguise:

"I tried out that Buckethead guy. I met with him and asked him to work with me but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing! I said, 'Look, just be yourself'. He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother'. So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!'. I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, 'I've been beamed up'? Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker!"

In 2005, Buckethead released an album as Buckethead & Friends called Enter The Chicken. Released by Serj Tankian's label Serjical Strike, the album features Maximum Bob, Death By Stereo singer Efrem Shulz, Tankian himself, and others. The album is marked by its leaning towards more traditional song structure, while still featuring Buckethead's guitar skills.

Buckethead took lessons at Style's music in Claremont, California, where he gave lessons and performed shows with local band Drown the Sun in the parking lot.

Discography

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Buckethead

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Giant Robot (Demo Tape)	1991	Self Released
Bucketheadland Blueprints	1991	Toystore
Bucketheadland	1992	Avant
Giant Robot	1994	Avant
Day Of The Robot	April 30, 1996	Subharmonic
Colma	March 24, 1998	CyberOctave
Monsters and Robots	April 20, 1999	Higher Octave
KFC Skin Piles	2001	Battle Breaks Hip Hop
Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse	June 5, 2001	Stray
Funnel Weaver	January 1, 2002	ION
Bermuda Triangle	July 23, 2002	Catalyst
Electric Tears	October 8, 2002	Meta
Bucketheadland, Vol. 2	October 14, 2003	ION
Island of Lost Minds	March 19, 2004	Bucketheadland Parks
Population Override	March 30, 2004	ION
The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell	April 20, 2004	Disembodied Records
Enter the Chicken	October 25, 2005	Serjical Strike
Kaleidoscalp	November 22, 2005	Tzadik
Inbred Mountain	December 2, 2005	TDRSmusic
The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock	February 17, 2006	Bucketheadland

Cobra Strike

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
13th Scroll	August 24, 1999	ION
Y Y+B X+Y 	October 3, 2000	ION

Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
The Big Eyeball in the Sky	September 21, 2004	Prawnsong

Cornbugs

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Spot the Psycho	1999
Cemetery Pinch	February, 2001
How Now Brown Cow	February, 2001
Brain Circus	February 13, 2004	TDRS Music
Donkey Town	November 29, 2004	TDRS Music

Death Cube K

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Dreamatorium	May 10,1994	Strata
Disembodied	July 22, 1997	ION
Tunnel	November 10, 1999	TDRSmusic

The Deli Creeps

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Demo Tape	1991	Self Released
Demo Tape	1996	Self Released
Dawn of the Deli Creeps	November 1, 2005	TDRSmusic

El Stew

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
No Hesitation	May 4, 1999	OM Records
The Rehearsal	April 3, 2003	Catalyst Entertainment

Giant Robot

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Giant Robot	1996	NTT

Gorgone

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Gorgone	August, 2005	TDRSmusic

Guns N' Roses

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Chinese Democracy	(Currently unreleased)	Geffen Records

Jonas Hellborg and Michael Shrieve

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Octave of the Holy Innocents	March 1, 1995	Day Eight Music

Pieces

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
I Need 5 Minutes Alone	February 17, 1997	Avant

Praxis

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)	September 8, 1992	Axiom / Island
Sacrifist	January 18, 1994	Subharmonic
Metatron	August 12, 1994	Subharmonic
Transmutation Live	October 7, 1997	Douglas
Live in Poland	1997	Jazz a Go-Go
Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)	(Currently unreleased)	Sanctuary Records

Thanatopsis

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
Thanatopsis	2001	TDRS Music
Axiology	July 10, 2003	TDRS Music
Anatomize	February 17, 2006	TDRS Music

Guest Appearances

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Numerous appearances with artists:

Anton Fier

• (1993) - Dreamspeed
• (2003) - Blindlight 1992-1994

Axiom Funk

• (1995) - Funkcronomicon
• (1995) - If 6 was 9 (Single)

Bernie Worrell

• (1993) - Pieces of Woo: The Other Side
• (1997) - Free Agent: A Spaced Odyssey

Company 91

• (1991) - Company 91 Volume 1
• (1991) - Company 91 Volume 2
• (1991) - Company 91 Volume 3

Icehouse

• (1993) - Big Wheel
• (1993) - Full Circle

Phonopsychograph Disk

• (1998) - Ancient Termites
• (1999) - Live @ Slim's/Turbulence Chest
• (1999) - Unreleased (Cassette Only)

Refrigerator

• (1997) - Refrigerator
• (1997) - Somehow

Viggo Mortensen

• (1999) - One Less Thing to Worry About
• (1999) - One Man's Meat
• (1999) - The Other Parade
• (2004) - Pandemoniumfromamerica
• (2004) - Please Tomorrow
• (2004) - This That and the Other
• (2005) - Intelligence Failure

Single appearance with artist(s):

• Arcana: (1997) - Arc of the Testimony
• Axiom Ambient: (1994) - Lost in the Translation
• Banyan: (1999) - Anytime at All
• Bassnectar: (2005) - Mesmerizing The Ultra
• Bastard Noise: (1998) - Split W/Spastic Colon
• Ben Wa: (1999) - Devil Dub
• Bill Laswell: (2001) - Points of Order
• Buckshot LeFonque: (1995) - No Pain No Gain (Single with Remixes)
• Divination: (1993) - Ambient Dub Volume 1
• DJ Q-Bert: (1998) - Wave Twisters
• Double E: (2000) - Audio Men
• Fishbone's Family Nexperience: (2002) - The Botliest Psychosis...
• Freekbass: (2003) - The Air is Fresher Underground
• Gemini: (2003) - Product of Pain
• Gonervill: (2001) - Gonervill
• Hakim Bey: (1994) - T.A.Z. (Temporary Autonomous Zone)
• Henry Kaiser: (1991) - Hope You Like Our New Direction
• Jon Hassell and Blue Screen: (1994) - Dressing for Pleasure
• Julian Schnabel: (1995) - Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud
• MCM and the Monster: (1993) - Collective Emotional Problems
• Meridem: (2004) - A Pleasant Fiction
• Myth: (1996) - Dreams of the World
• Psyber Pop: (1993) - What? So What?
• Shin Terail: (2000) - Unison
• Shine: (2004) - Heaven and Hell
• The Freak Brothers (2001) - The Freak Brothers
• Tony Furtado Band: (2000) - Tony Furtado Band
• Umphrey's McGee: (2004) - UM Live - 12/30/04 at The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL
• Valis II: (1997) - Everything Must Go
• Will Ackerman: (1992) - The Opening of Doors

Appearances with various artists:

• (1993) - Last Action Hero (Soundtrack)
• (1993) - Last Action Hero (Score)
• (1995) - Johnny Mnemonic (Soundtrack)
• (1995) - Mortal Kombat (Soundtrack)
• (1995) - Mortal Kombat (Score)
• (1996) - Alien Ambient Galaxy
• (1996) - Stealing Beauty (Soundtrack)
• (1997) - Beverly Hills Ninja (Soundtrack)
• (1997) - Guitar Zone
• (1997) - Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation (Soundtrack)
• (1997) - Guitars on Mars
• (1998) - Night and Day
• (1998) - Guitarisma 2
• (1998) - Great Jewish Music: A Tribute to Marc Bolan
• (1998) - New Yorker Out Loud: Volume 2
• (1999) - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Soundtrack)
• (1999) - Crash Course in Music
• (1999) - Horizons
• (1999) - Music for the New Millennium
• (2001) - Innerhythmic Sound System
• (2001) - Ghosts of Mars (Soundtrack)
• (2001) - Dragon Ball Z: "The History of Trunks" (Soundtrack)
• (2001) - Bomb Anniversary Collection
• (2002) - Guitars for Freedom
• (2002) - The Meta Collection
• (2002) - Scratch: The Film (Score)
• (2002) - Urban Revolutions
• (2005) - Blue Suenos
• (2005) - Masters of Horror (Soundtrack)
• (2005) - Saw 2 (Soundtrack)

External links

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• Official website
• Travis Dickerson Recording Studio website
• Ozzy Osbourne Interview

American guitarists | Mysterious musicians | American composers | Guns N' Roses | 1969 births | Living people

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