Pat Smear
| Pat Smear | |
|---|---|
 Smear performing with the Foo Fighters in Pensacola, FL (2008) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Georg Albert Ruthenberg |
| Born |
August 5, 1959 Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Alternative rock, punk rock, hardcore punk, deathrock, grunge. |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | What?, Slash, Geffen, Capitol |
| Associated acts | Germs, The Death Folk, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, 45 Grave, The Adolescents, Belinda Carlisle |
| Notable instruments | |
|
various Hagstrom models Gibson SG Fender Stratocaster | |
Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known as Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist in the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he has recorded three studio albums, as a founding member of the punk band Germs, and as a live guitarist in the alternative rock band Nirvana.
Smear also appeared regularly on the MTV fashion show House of Style with Cindy Crawford.
Early life
Georg Ruthenberg was born and raised in West Los Angeles, to a mother of African-American and Native American descent, and a German immigrant father. His parents forced him to take piano lessons at a young age, and a few years later, he began teaching himself to play guitar. He lists his influences as Joan Jett, Brian James, Brian May, and Steve Jones.
Career
Germs (1977–1980)
As a teenager in 1977, Smear and Darby Crash formed the Germs with bassist Lorna Doom and drummer Dottie Danger (the pseudonym of Belinda Carlisle, who went on to front The Go-Go's).
Carlisle was soon replaced by Don Bolles and, in 1979, the band released their first album, (GI). Produced by Joan Jett, the record is now defined as a milestone in the history of punk rock. The Germs endured for one more year before finally disbanding in 1980 after which Crash committed suicide. After the Germs, Smear had a brief stint as a member of punk band The Adolescents.
Solo work (1980–1993)
Following the demise of the Germs, Smear played in 1981 with ex-Screamers keyboardist Paul Roessler and his sister Kira Roessler in a band called Twisted Roots.[1] Although short-lived, the band was the toast of the Hollywood punk scene. Smear would go on to play with Nina Hagen and make two solo albums of his own, Ruthensmear (also recorded with Roessler), and So You Fell in Love with a Musician....
During this time, he also appeared as an extra in the television show Quincy, M.E. and in the films Blade Runner, Breakin' and Howard the Duck. While working on Breakin', Smear became friends with Courtney Love.
45 Grave (1981)
Was briefly in deathrock band 45 Grave, the band that contains Don Bolles (Germs drummer) as part of classical training. Smear came to record a 7" titled Black Cross.
Nirvana (1993–1994)
In 1993, he received a call from Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain, asking him to join the band as a second guitarist for an upcoming tour. Smear at first thought that it was his friend, Carlos "Cake" Nunez, playing a joke on him; however, Courtney Love had told Smear a few days prior that Cobain was going to call him. Smear accepted immediately and played his first show with Nirvana on Saturday Night Live on September 25, 1993. He toured with Nirvana for about six months, and appears on their live albums MTV Unplugged in New York and From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, as well as on material for the compilations Nirvana and With the Lights Out.
Smear's time with Nirvana, which brought him his first mass audience exposure, came to an end with Cobain's death in April 1994.
Foo Fighters (1995–1997)
Following Cobain's death, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed a band to support his self-titled album, the first effort from the band which would become known as Foo Fighters. Smear joined the group from its inception, but because the band's first album was a collection of demos recorded solely by Grohl, Smear did not appear on a Foo Fighters album until 1997's The Colour and the Shape. Later that year, Smear quit the band: he announced his departure during a live performance atop Radio City Music Hall (introducing his replacement Franz Stahl), right before that year's MTV Video Music Awards.
Hiatus from the Foo Fighters (1997–2005)
During his absence from Foo Fighters, Smear kept a fairly low profile, producing the band Harlow's debut album and making scattered television appearances.
He was employed as a creative consultant in a motion picture about the Germs and Darby Crash, entitled What We Do Is Secret, after one of the band's best-known songs. The film was released at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 23, 2007, and had a limited theatrical release in 2008. It is now available on DVD. In the film, he is depicted by actor Rick Gonzalez.
In 2005, he began performing reunion shows with the Germs, with actor Shane West (who portrays Darby Crash in the film) filling in as lead vocalist.
The previously unrecorded Germs song, "Golden Boys", which is on Smear's 1988 SST album Ruthensmear, originally appeared on the soundtrack of an early cut of the 2007 film Cthulhu, but the producers replaced it due to rights issues.
Rejoining the Foo Fighters (2006–present)
In May 2006, the Foo Fighters announced they would play limited acoustic dates across North America. It was announced Smear would be one of the touring musicians aiding the band during the shows. He also appeared with them on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in September 2006 and on the same stage as Bob Dylan and The Eagles at Genentech's 30th Anniversary party. On October 21 and 22, 2006 he also joined the band for both days of the Bridge School Benefit Concert, hosted by Neil Young. In addition he is a featured musician on the Foo Fighters live album Skin and Bones. In August 2007, he appeared on stage with the Foo Fighters at the UK's V Festival, Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh and Marlay Park, Dublin, Ireland.
On September 9, 2007, Smear joined the Foo Fighters for their MTV Music Video Awards party room show. Smear was then added to the band as a touring guitarist for their supporting tour of the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Smear also is credited with playing guitar on the song "Let It Die" off the same album. On October 13, 2007, Smear joined the Foo Fighters for an appearance on Saturday Night Live and also joined the Foo Fighters on stage at the MTV Europe Music Awards, confirming his return to the band as a full member.
He appeared with the band on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on November 9, then played both Foo Fighters dates at the O2 Arena, London on November 17 and 18, 2007. On February 10, 2008, Smear also performed live with Foo Fighters at the 2008 Grammy Awards broadcast on CBS from a stage outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. On January 23, 2008, on the first show for the Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace tour in Dallas, he performed several songs with the band, and on February 20, 2008, he appeared on stage (with the whole touring band) when Foo Fighters played "The Pretender" on the Late Show with David Letterman.
On February 25, he performed for approximately half of the set list for the Foo Fighters at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois (a Chicago suburb). On March 3, 2008, Smear joined the Foo Fighters for the acoustic portion of their show at Cox Arena in San Diego, California. Despite urging by Grohl, though, Smear did not play a guitar solo during band introductions. On March 6, 2008, Smear joined the Foo Fighters for all portions (acoustic/plugged) of their show at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Urged by Grohl, Smear did play a guitar solo (eight notes) during band introductions. Since then, he has played a solo whenever asked to by Grohl.
He also played at the two concerts at Wembley Stadium on June 6–7, 2008. While Pat did participate in the concert, it was only for certain songs and the stage lights were not on him. This also occurred at several concerts with Pat playing basically in the dark. These concerts provide video for the Foo Fighters Live at Wembley Stadium DVD and Blu-ray, which also featured special appearances by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. On June 21, 2008, Smear performed live with Foo Fighters at the 2008 Hurricane Festival in Germany. He also appeared recently at the Foo Fighters' private gig for Bethesda's Fallout 3 game launch party in Los Angeles on October 16, 2008, at the LA Center Studios complex.
Smear once again joined the Foo Fighters on their tour which kicked off in Seattle, Washington, on July 9, 2008. At the Virgin Mobile Festival at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore, Maryland on August 9, 2008, Smear performed with the Foo Fighters, even being introduced by Dave Grohl. Smear also performed with the Foo Fighters at the Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 29, 2008, and more recently at President Obama's 2009 White House Fourth of July celebration.
Smear appeared alongside Foo Fighters on the November 3, 2009, live broadcast of the Later... with Jools Holland music show on BBC Two in the UK.
During album sessions for the Foo Fighters' 2011 release, Wasting Light, recorded with producer Butch Vig, Smear was fully integrated back into the band. As photographic evidence and video snippets posted on the Foo Fighters' Twitter page confirmed, he recorded and developed many guitar parts in the new songs. Album artwork from the album depicts Smear along with the band's other members. Smear appeared on The Daily Show to promote Wasting Light on April 11, 2011, on Comedy Central. Since then, he has performed with Foo Fighters on all live performances.
Reunions
On December 22, 2010, the remaining members of Nirvana played together for the first time since the death of Cobain at a last-minute Foo Fighters show at Paladino's in Tarzana, California. This concert was recorded for a documentary.
On December 12, 2012, Smear, Novoselic and Grohl reunited again for a televised Live Aid Hurricane Sandy benefit. This time, they were fronted by Paul McCartney. They performed "Cut Me Some Slack", the first track from the film soundtrack for Sound City.
On December 15, 2012, they performed "Cut Me Some Slack" on Saturday Night Live, once again fronted by McCartney.[2][3]
On July 19, 2013, Smear, Novoselic and Grohl reunited on-stage, again with Paul McCartney, during both the first and second encores of McCartney's "Out There" tour stop at Safeco Field, Seattle. They performed "Cut Me Some Slack", the first track from the film soundtrack for Sound City, as well as numerous Beatles' songs.
Guitars
Smear almost exclusively uses Hagström guitars. Smear's most used guitar since 1997 is a custom made black Hagström, made in the 90s reference Foo Fighters tour videos from the 1997. In 2013 Hagström built exactly the same guitar, as his signature model.
During his time in Nirvana, Smear sometimes used Fender Stratocaster models that Kurt Cobain bought for him. In an interview, he stated he had 3 of each Strat and had to scratch them to tell the difference. These guitars were normally used on the songs "Scentless Apprentice", "Heart-Shaped Box", "On A Plain", and "All Apologies". Sometimes Smear used a blue Mosrite guitar that Cobain gave him as well.
For amplifiers, Smear has used Peavey 5150 and 6505 heads, but currently uses Laney Lionheart L20H or L50H heads.
Discography
With Germs
- Forming/Sexboy (live) 7", 1977, What? Records
- Lexicon Devil 7" EP, 1978, Slash Records
- (GI) LP, 1979, Slash Records
- The Decline of Western Civilization Soundtrack (live tracks) LP, 1980, Slash Records
- What We Do Is Secret (EP) 1981, Slash Records
- Live At The Whisky, First Show Ever LP, 1981, Mohawk/Bomp Records
- Germicide LP, 1985, ROIR
- Germs (MIA) - The Complete Anthology LP, 1993, Slash/Rhino Records
With 45 Grave
- Black Cross/Wax 7", 1981
Solo
- Ruthensmear 1987, SST
- So You Fell in Love with a Musician... 1992, SST
With Deathfolk
- Deathfolk 1989, New Alliance
- Deathfolk II 1992, New Alliance
With Nirvana
- MTV Unplugged in New York (1994) 5× Platinum
- From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (1996) Platinum
- Nirvana (2002) Platinum
- With the Lights Out (2004) Platinum
With Mike Watt
- Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (1995)
With Foo Fighters
- The Colour and the Shape (1997) Double Platinum
- Skin and Bones (2006) Gold
- Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007) Platinum - Guitar on "Let It Die"
- Wasting Light (2011) Gold
References
- ↑ "The Twisted Roots of the Punk Rock Family Tree" by Hunter Felt, 21 May 2004, PopMatters
- ↑ Minsker, Evan (December 16, 2012). "Watch Paul McCartney Front Nirvana Again on "SNL"". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ↑ "McCartney, Grohl, Novoselic, Smear - "Cut Me Some Slack" Live on Saturday Night Live". YouTube. December 15, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
External links
- Sutton, Michael. "Pat Smear Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
- Pat Smear at the Internet Movie Database
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|