Brad Delson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brad Delson | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1, 1977 (age 29) in Agoura, California |
| Alias(es) | Big Bad Brad, BBB |
| Genre(s) | Nu metal Rapcore |
| Affiliation(s) | Linkin Park |
| Label(s) | Warner Bros. Records |
| Notable guitars | Paul Reed Smith |
| Years active | 1996 - present (with Linkin Park) |
| Official site | www.linkinpark.com |
Bradford Phillip Delson, a.k.a. Big Bad Brad (born December 1, 1977, in Los Angeles, California), is the lead guitarist for the nu metal/rapcore band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R for Machine Shop Recordings.
Delson graduated from Agoura High School in 1995 and formed Xero with Mike Shinoda, which would later become Linkin Park. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications, but decided to forgo law school to pursue a career with Linkin Park.
While in college, Delson had to intern with a member of the music industry as a part of his career. He ended up working for Jeff Blue, an A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records. He told Blue about his band and in return for giving him demos to listen to he was offered constructive criticism. Blue is the man who found Linkin Park's current lead vocalist, Chester Bennington.
Before forming Xero with Mark Wakefield, Delson's first instrument was the trumpet. His first band was called the Pricks, and he later played in a band called Relative Degree with his fellow Linkin Park bandmate Rob Bourdon. He met and roomed with bandmate Dave Farrell at UCLA.
Delson can usually be seen wearing a very large pair of headphones on stage. The headphones are designed by Shinoda and himself and change with every Linkin Park release. Delson has eluded to an exact reason for them, but he has admitted it channels him into his own personal "matrix" while performing. He won't divulge to what this "matrix" is in detail. Delson has never given a serious answer as to why he wears the headphones, he jokingly answers, "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you."
Delson has been known for his anti-social behavior on occasions, particularly for not washing very often during recording, according to bandmate Mike Shinoda. In high school, he used to dye his hair a variety of colors, although currently, he generally keeps it shaved. In recent pictures, Delson has been seen with an afro.
He is often criticized for playing simple guitar parts and never performing solos. He has explained that this is due to the simplistic nature of the band, and the fact that he tries to make his guitar playing sound like a keyboard or strings to try to fit in with the hip hop and electronic sounds of the band. In the summer of 2006, Linkin Park performed at the Summer Sonic Festival hosted by Metallica. It was there that the band debuted a new song called QWERTY in which Delson stunned fans by playing the heaviest riff the band has ever written. It has been confirmed by Chester Bennington in an interview with MTV, that Delson will perform a one minute long guitar solo, on a song entitled "The Little Things Give You Away" from Linkin Park's upcoming album, Minutes To Midnight.
[edit] Philanthropy
In 2005, Brad signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the United States. Brad has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.
[edit] Trivia
- Brad revealed that his favorite songs to perform live are Runaway and With You.
- Brad does not have tattoos for religious reasons, according to Chester Bennington, on an episode of Tattoo Stories, in 2006. He is Jewish.
[edit] Equipment
The equipment that Delson uses includes the following:
- Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 guitars
- Black and Orange Ibanez RG guitars
- Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amps clean natural distortion
- Marshall 1959 slp reissued head for dirty sound
- D'Addario 10xl strings
- DiMarzio Pickups (air zone / tone zone / d sonic)
- Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
- Boss BF-3 Flanger
- Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer
- Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble
- Ibanez LF-7 Lo-Fi
- T.C.electronic G-Major
- Digital Music Corp. GCX Guitar Audio Switcher
- Digital Music Corp. Ground Control Pro w/ Boss Expression Pedal
