Mikey Welsh
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Mikey Welsh (born April 20, 1971 in Syracuse, New York) is an artist and former bassist of the band Weezer.
Welsh started off as a Boston-area musician, playing in bands such as Chevy Heston, Jocobono, Left Nut, and The Heretix. He also was Juliana Hatfield's touring bassist. In 1997 he joined the first incarnation of The Rivers Cuomo Band, the side-project of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo.
He joined Weezer in 1998 following the departure of Matt Sharp. During Weezer's hiatus he played with Verbena and the first incarnation of Patrick Wilson's band The Special Goodness. He wrote a large number of bass lines in this period, recorded them and sent them to Rivers Cuomo for writing inspiration.link Cuomo never used any of them, although he found good use for them, as he continued to play and record with Juliana Hatfield and the melodies he wrote on his bass guitar were used on four songs that appear on her 2000 album Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure. Welsh was given a co-writing credit for those four songs.
He toured with the band from their resurgence in the summer of 2000 and most of the way through tours supporting The Green Album, the only Weezer album he'd ever appear on. He would also appear on their limited edition Christmas EP (re-released in 2005 as Winter Weezerland) and on a number of b-sides and unreleased songs. He also played on the road and in the studio with Patrick Wilson's band The Special Goodness. Welsh left Weezer in 2001 for reasons that don't seem to be fully understood. According to his website he left the band due to a nervous breakdown[1], but many speculate he left due to drug use or other personal issues. Welsh was replaced by Scott Shriner.
After briefly returning to the Boston scene in 2002 to play with former Mighty Mighty Bosstones guitarist Nate Albert and his band The Kickovers, he retired from music to became a full-time artist.
Welsh attended a Weezer show on July 12th, 2005 in Lewiston, Maine. Cuomo dedicated "Hash Pipe" to him, the very mention of his name drawing forth cheers from the crowd. Welsh also got to meet current Weezer bassist Scott Shriner. However, the current status of his relationship with the band remains unclear; Welsh was the only current or former member of Weezer not to attend the wedding of Rivers Cuomo in June 2006.
He is now married with a step-son and continues to be an artist to this day.
[edit] Discography
- Weezer (2001) (2001)
- Winter Weezerland EP (2005)
- Bed (1998)
- Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure (2002)
- Gold Stars 1992-2002: The Juliana Hatfield Collection
- Osaka (2002)
[edit] External links
| Weezer |
|---|
| Brian Bell – Rivers Cuomo – Scott Shriner – Patrick Wilson |
| Former members: Jason Cropper – Matt Sharp – Mikey Welsh |
| Discography |
| Albums: Weezer (The Blue Album) – Pinkerton – Weezer (The Green Album) – Maladroit – Make Believe |
| Extended plays and live albums: The Good Life – The Lion and the Witch – Winter Weezerland |
