Buckethead is a guitarist and composer who has recorded several solo albums, as well as collaborative albums with Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Primus bassist/singer Les Claypool. He has also worked with Viggo Mortensen on several limited-release albums. His stage persona is unusual: he wears a white mask and a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket atop his head.
Though he is a highly adaptable perfomer, much of Buckethead's music is rooted in heavy metal "shredding," (similar to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani) and some elements of thrash metal. Buckethead tends to be inspired by science fiction and horror films, mecha (giant robot) anime, and monsters. At one point, he claimed to be writing music for a theme park he wanted to build. The albums Colma, Electric Tears, and Population Override are departures from the typical freak-show atmosphere of Buckethead albums. Colma explores a New Age element while Electric Tears enters into a world of multidimensional guitar sounds and modulations mixed with a classical feel. Population Override boasts a funk-jazz-blues fusion that is quite unique.
Buckethead was a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. He quit the band due to personal differences.
Buckethead has also recorded under the name Death Cube K (an anagram of "Buckethead"). 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."
While recording with Guns N Roses, Buckethead insisted that he record his parts while sitting in a chicken coop.
Bucketheadland - 1992 (Import 1993)
Giant Robot - 1994
Day of the Robot - 1996
Colma - 1998
Monsters and Robots - 1999
Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse - 2001
Funnel Weaver - 2002
Bermuda Triangle - 2002
Electric Tears - 2002
Bucketheadland 2 - 2003
Island of Lost Minds - 2004
Population Override - 2004
The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell - 2004
Dreamatorium - 1994
Disembodied - 1997
Tunnel - 1999
Transmutation - 1992
Sacrifist - 1994
Metatron - 1994
Transmutation Live - 1997
Collection - 1998
Warzsawa - 1999
El Stew - 1999
Rock in Rio III (bootleg) - 2001
The Big Eyeball in the Sky - 2004
Spot the Psycho - 1999
Cemetery Pinch - 2001
How Now Brown Cow - 2001
Brain Circus - 2004
Donkey Town - 2004
Thanatopsis - 2001
Axiology - 2003
Volume 1 - (Incus, 1992)
Volume 2 - (Incus, 1992)
Volume 3 - (Incus, 1992)
"Gorgone" - 2005
Official website
Bingeandgrab.com (fan website)
Thanatopsis website
Though he is a highly adaptable perfomer, much of Buckethead's music is rooted in heavy metal "shredding," (similar to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani) and some elements of thrash metal. Buckethead tends to be inspired by science fiction and horror films, mecha (giant robot) anime, and monsters. At one point, he claimed to be writing music for a theme park he wanted to build. The albums Colma, Electric Tears, and Population Override are departures from the typical freak-show atmosphere of Buckethead albums. Colma explores a New Age element while Electric Tears enters into a world of multidimensional guitar sounds and modulations mixed with a classical feel. Population Override boasts a funk-jazz-blues fusion that is quite unique.
Buckethead was a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. He quit the band due to personal differences.
Buckethead has also recorded under the name Death Cube K (an anagram of "Buckethead"). William Gibson later borrowed "Death Cube K" as the name of a bar in Idoru; quoting Gibson in an interview for Addicted To Noise:
While recording with Guns N Roses, Buckethead insisted that he record his parts while sitting in a chicken coop.