Brad Wilk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brad Wilk | |
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 Brad Wilk performing at the 2007 Coachella Festival with his band Rage Against the Machine.
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 5, 1968 |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Rapcore Alternative metal Funk metal Hard rock Funkcore Post-grunge |
| Years active | 1991 - Present |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG Epic Interscope |
| Associated acts | Rage Against the Machine Audioslave Puscifer Greta |
Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968 in Portland, Oregon) is an American drummer, famous for being the drummer in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.
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[edit] Personal life
Brad was born in 1968 in Portland, Oregon. He lived in Chicago in his childhood, and then later settled in Southern California. Wilk started to play the drums when he was 13 years old and got his first kit when he was 14.
In late 2005, Brad Wilk married his girlfriend Selene Vigil. The wedding ceremony took place on 10 December at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe[1] with only family in attendance. They have one child, Luca.
[edit] Musical career
[edit] Rage Against the Machine (1990-2000; 2007-present)
Brad's success as the drummer of Rage Against the Machine came from the failure of a different band; he once auditioned for a band called Lock Up, who released one album (titled Something Bitchin' This Way Comes) through Geffen records in 1989 and broke up when the album received little media attention upon release. Former Lock Up guitarist Tom Morello was looking to pick up where Lock Up left off and start a new band, and contacted Brad, who was playing with the band Greta, to see if he was interested in playing the drums. A short while after, the duo met Zack de la Rocha, a rapper, and through de la Rocha met bassist Tim Commerford (a childhood friend of Zack's) and Rage Against the Machine was born. After frequenting the L.A. club circuit, Rage signed a record deal with Epic Records in 1992, that same year RATM released their self titled debut. They achieved a phenomenal amount of mainstream success and released three more studio albums.
In late 2000, frontman Zack de la Rocha quit the band. On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed the last concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The remaining members formed Audioslave with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.
On April 29th 2007, the band reunited at the Coachella Music Festival. Originally thought of as a one-off reunion, the band later played four shows in the Hip Hop festival Rock the Bells with the Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. They added an additional night in New York City after the first night sold out in twenty minutes. Rage also played their first (non-festival) concert in 7 years at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, supported by Queens of the Stone Age in August 2007. The band played co-headlining spots at New Orleans' Voodoo Music Experience in late October and the Vegoose Festival in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
On January 18th 2008, the band played their first show outside of the U.S. since their reunion in Auckland, New Zealand as part of the Big Day Out festival series. The band also played 8 shows in Australia including 2 headlining shows in Melbourne and Sydney. The band continued to Japan to play 3 sold out shows in Osaka and Tokyo.
[edit] Audioslave (2001-2007)
After Zach de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, music producer Rick Rubin suggested the three remaining members of Rage get together with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, and “see what happens”.
By May 2001, they had begun to work in the studio, writing their first song “Light My Way”. By April of 2002, the newly formed band had split due to “outside” pressures, mainly from management companies. They soon got back together though, and on November 19, 2002 they released their eponymous debut, which would attain triple platinum status. Audioslave attained a large amount of success, and released another two studio albums. On May 5, 2005 Brad & Audioslave played a free concert in front of 65,000 Cuban fans, becoming the first American rock band to play a concert within Cuba.
On February 15, 2007, Chris Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, disbanding the band.
[edit] Other projects
Wilk and bandmate Tom Morello joined with Maynard James Keenan of Tool and Billy Gould of Faith No More to record the song "Calling Dr Love" for the 1994 Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass. The lineup was billed as Shandi's Addiction.
Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford contributed in Keenan’s side project Puscifer and his album "V" Is for Vagina on the track "Momma Sed".
In addition, Brad composed the song "Snoop Bounce (Roc N Roll Remix)" for Snoop Dogg's Death Row's Greatest Hits CD.
[edit] Equipment
The following are the drum kits used by Brad Wilk during his musical career:
- Rage Against the Machine (1991-2000) era:
- Premier Signia Marquis Drums and Zildjian Cymbals [1]
- 12x9" Tom
- 16x16" Floor Tom
- 14x6.5 Premier Pork Pie or Tama Bell Brass Snare
- 22"x18" Bass Drum
- 14" New Beat Hi-Hats
- 18" Z Custom Crash
- 19" A Custom Crash
- 20" A Medium Ride
- 18" Zildjian China or 19" Zildjian Crash (Only used until 1995)
- LP Cowbell (x2)
- Audioslave (2002-2007) era:
- Gretsch Custom Drums and Paiste Cymbals [2]
- 12x9" Tom
- 16x16" Floor Tom
- 18x16" Floor Tom
- 14x6.5" Tama Bell Brass Snare
- 22"x18" Bass Drum
- 14" Paiste Signature Sound Edge Hi-Hats
- 18" Paiste Signature Power Crash
- 19" Paiste Signature Power Crash
- 19" Dimensions Power Crash
- 22" Paiste 2002 Ride
- LP Cowbell
[edit] Discography
Studio albums:
With Rage Against The Machine
- Rage Against The Machine (November 3, 1992)
- Evil Empire (April 16, 1996)
- The Battle of Los Angeles (November 2, 1999)
- Renegades (December 5, 2000)
With Audioslave
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Wilk performed as an actor for the first time as star of Sleeping Dogs Lie with Maynard James Keenan and Ed Asner.
- When Audioslave covered Hunger Strike, he was singing with Chris Cornell.
[edit] References
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![[1]](http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum32/bradwilk92.jpg){kind=link}
![[2]](http://www.dianerichterphotography.com/store/DRP0728c.jpg){kind=link}