Brad Wilk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brad Wilk | |
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 Brad Wilk performing at the 2007 Coachella Festival with Rage Against the Machine.
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| Background information | |
| Born | September 5, 1968 Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Drums, percussion, vocals |
| Years active | 1991 - Present |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG, Epic, Interscope |
| Associated acts | Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Puscifer, Greta, Axis of Justice, Cypress Hill, Shandi's Addiction |
| Website | ratm.com |
Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968 in Portland, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the American rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.
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[edit] Early life
Brad Wilk was born on September 5, 1968, in Portland, Oregon to a family of German and Russian descent.
Wilk, (pronounced: Villk), is a Polish surname, meaning "Wolf", although his last name was changed when his father's family escaped Germany during the holocaust and migrated to America through Poland. 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 drum kit a year later, when he was 14.
[edit] Musical career
[edit] Rage Against the Machine (1991 to 2000)
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 Against the Machine signed a record deal with Epic Records in 1992. That same year, the band released their self titled debut. They achieved a phenomenal amount of mainstream success and released three more studio albums.
In late 2000, de la Rocha quit the band. On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed their last concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The remaining members formed Audioslave with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.
[edit] Audioslave (2001 to 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."[citation needed]
By May 2001, they had begun to work in the studio, writing their first song “Light My Way”. By April 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] Rage Against the Machine (2007 to present)
On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Music Festival. The band played in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. The performance was initially thought to be a one-off, this turned out not to be the case. The band played 7 more shows in the United States in 2007 (including their first non-festival concert in 7 years at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin), and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand.
The band has since continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States, including Lollapalooza in Chicago.
[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 also contributed drums to rap group Cypress Hill's album Skull & Bones.
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] Personal life
[1] Brad has two children, Luka and Alex.
Brad Wilk is a diabetic[2].
[edit] Equipment
The following are the drum kits used by Brad Wilk during his musical career:
[edit] Rage Against the Machine (1991-2000) era
Premier Signia Marquis Drums and Zildjian Cymbals[3]
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[edit] Audioslave (2002-2006) era
Gretsch USA Maple Custom Drums and Paiste Cymbals[4]
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Brad Wilk also uses DW Hardware (9000 Series), Remo drum heads (Emperors & Ambassadors) and Vic Firth 5B sticks (hickory with wood tips).
[edit] Discography
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Rage Against the Machine studio albums
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Audioslave studio albums
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[edit] References
- ^ "Axis of Justice" (HTML). Axis of Justice. August 6, 2007. http://www.axisofjustice.org/MM_080607.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
- ^ http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050512/news_lz1w12slave.html
- ^ http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum32/bradwilk92.jpg
- ^ http://www.dianerichterphotography.com/store/DRP0728c.jpg
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