| Greg Sage | |
|---|---|
Sage on the cover of tribute album Eight Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1952 |
| Origin | United States |
| Genres | Punk rock, Post Punk |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, singing |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Restless, Zeno Records, Jackpot Records |
| Associated acts | Wipers |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson SG | |
Greg Sage was the principal songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist for the influential Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers. Greg Sage's first recording was on the pro-wrestler Beauregarde's full length album, released in 1971 (reissued by Jackpot Records in 2004). He met Beauregarde, recorded and played with him when he was only 17. Sage's dark lyrics are rife with references to confusion and severe alienation. His songs took unexpected turns and are typified by fractured melodic passages punctuated by massive, clean, intricate guitar parts. Sage operates his own label, Zeno Records (based in Phoenix, Arizona) and has also recorded several albums as a solo musician. He also builds his own music equipment and built his own studio. Despite being right-handed, Greg Sage plays guitar left-handed. His instruments of choice are Gibson SGs.
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Sage had an affinity for music and recording from a young age.
"I think I got that concept early on as a kid. I was very lucky to have my own professional record cutting lathe when I was in 7th grade due to my father being involved in the broadcast industry. I would cut records for friends at school of songs off the radio and learned the art of record making long before learning to play music. I would spend countless hours studying the grooves I would cut under the microscope that was attached to the lathe and loved the way music looked, moved and modulated within the thin walls. I might have spent too much time studying music through a microscope because it gave me a completely different outlook on what music is and a totally opposite understanding of it as well. There was something very magical and private when I zoomed into the magnified and secret world of sound in motion. I got to the point that I needed to create and paint my own sounds and colors into the walls of these grooves."[1]
Greg Sage's first instrument was bass guitar, because of the low tones that made larger grooves in the vinyl records due to slower modulations. Basses were harder to find and much more expensive when Sage was in grade school, so he used guitar instead.
After several years of playing and recording guitar he felt he wanted to do something different in music, and being labeled as a band seemed to be the first tradition and standard he should try to avoid. He wanted to make his own recordings and manufacture and run his own label himself without anyone else's financing to keep it as pure as possible. In 1979, Sage approached several Portland punk bands and asked them to record singles for his new Trap label. Some of those early bands were The Stiphnoyds, The Neo Boys and Sado Nation. Sage later re-released some of the material on a compilation record entitled The History Of Portland Punk.
The idea behind the Wipers started as only a recording project. The plan was to record 15 LPs in 10 years without touring or promotion. Sage thought that the mystique built from the lack of playing traditional rock & roll would make people listen to their recordings much deeper with only their imagination to go by. He thought it would be easy to avoid press, shows, pictures, interviews. He looked at music as art rather than entertainment; he thought music was personal to the listener rather than a commodity.
It was difficult to fulfill this idea: most labels did not want to accept the band's music. Sage learned that it is almost impossible to be a true artist in the sense of the meaning he started off with, and that survival meant learning to compromise.
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