Brent Fitz
| Brent Fitz | |
|---|---|
| File:No image available. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brent Fitz |
| Born | March 27, 1970 Manitoba, Canada |
| Genres | Pop rock Hard rock Alternative rock Rock Blues |
| Occupations | Musician Songwriter |
| Instruments | drums Piano keyboards Rhythm guitar Vocals |
| Years active | 1986 - present |
| Associated acts | Slash, Union, Lamya, Vince Neil, Theory of a Deadman, Alice Cooper, Econoline Crush |
| Website | www.brentfitz.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| DW Drums Sabian Cymbals Pro-Mark Sticks Remo Drum Heads Gibson Guitars |
|
Brent Fitz is a Canadian-born musician and recording artist known best known as a drummer, but also a multi-instrumentalist having worked with Slash, Theory of a Deadman, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil, Union, The Guess Who, Lamya, Streetheart, Harlequin, Econoline Crush, Eagle & Hawk and Indigenous.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Fitz is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where he attended and graduated from John Taylor Collegiate in 1988.[1] After leaving Winnipeg in the 90's he lived for some time in Los Angeles, California and currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.[2]
Fitz started piano lessons at the age of five and drums at the age of ten, playing heavily in his middle school and high school music programs. Fitz received piano and theory training through The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario.
Fitz got his professional start at age 15, playing in various Winnipeg clubs and outlying areas in a cover band named New Alliance. He later moved on to join the heavier Winnipeg based touring club act Seventh Heaven[3] which evolved into Shake Naked.[4] Schedules with Seventh Heaven and Shake Naked were much more extensive and involved touring most of Canada. Connections to the city of Los Angeles within the band Seventh Heaven allowed Fitz to have the opportunity to seek work in that market as a performer and session player.[4]
Working with previous Shake Naked vocalist Lenita Erickson later proved fruitful as Erickson's friend Bruce Kulick of Kiss fame invited Fitz to join him in a recording effort after hearing him play.[4] That band would become known as Union[5] and would also include John Corabi on vocals (formerly of The Scream and Mötley Crüe), Jamie Hunting of David Lee Roth on bass, with Kulick on guitar.
Fitz briefly joined Bulletboys in 2000,[6] and also recorded and toured with Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses fame.
In early 2001, Fitz would receive an invitation to tour with Vince Neil's solo act as drummer and keyboardist.[7] Performing on several international tours, Fitz appeared in a live performance with Neil on VH1's TV show "Remaking: Vince Neil" in 2004.
After leaving the Vince Neil team Fitz hooked up with Theory of a Deadman as their touring drummer. Fitz appeared in four music videos with the band, and made several TV appearances including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[2] Fitz played piano and sang with the band for several acoustic performances as well.
In 2006, while still touring with Theory of a Deadman, Fitz temporarily left Theory to tour with Alice Cooper, filling in on drums for Eric Singer while Singer was touring with Kiss. That same year, Fitz also toured with Indigenous during his time off from Theory of a Deadman.
In 2007, Fitz joined the Canadian rock act Econoline Crush, while still remaining as regular back-up drummer with Alice Cooper doing tours in US, Australia, and New Zealand in 2008.
In 2009, Fitz joined Monster Circus as keyboardist/vocalist. Monster Circus performed at The Hilton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band featured Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Tony Montana of Great White, guitarist Dave Kushner from Velvet Revolver, and John Corabi and Bruce Kulick (from Fitz's former band Union).
In June 2009, Fitz appeared on the television show Gene Simmons Family Jewels (season 4, episode 2: Memphis Blues); he and Bruce Kulick helped with some recording studio work Gene Simmons arranged for his son Nick's musical aspirations. Fitz also recorded drums for most of the tracks on Kulick's 2010 album release BK3, including tracks featuring guest artists Gene Simmons, Nick Simmons, John Corabi, and Doug Fieger. Fitz appeared on a second episode in June 2010, this time performing live with Bruce Kulick and Nick Simmons at The Cat Club in Hollywood, California.
As of March 2010, Fitz became drummer for former Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. With Slash, Fitz performed on several US talk shows in 2010 including: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ellen, Lopez Tonight (twice) and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. Fitz has appeared in three music videos with Slash - "By The Sword", "Back To Cali" and "Beautiful Dangerous" featuring Fergie.
[edit] Albums
- Various Artists: Return of the Comet, a tribute to Ace Frehley, 1997
- Various Artists: Forever Mod - A Portrait of a Storyteller, a tribute to Rod Stewart, 1998
- Union - Union, 1998
- Union - Live in the Galaxy, 1999
- Union - The Blue Room, 2000
- Cutting Edge - Humongously Yours, 2001
- Bruce Kulick - Audiodog, 2001
- Gilby Clarke - Swag, 2002
- Slimmer Twins - Lack of Luxury, 2002
- Bruce Kulick - Transformer, 2002
- Vince Neil - Live at the Whisky: One Night Only, 2003
- Voodooland - Give Me Air, 2003
- Living Under Venus - Soulframe, 2004
- Various Artists: Numbers from the Beast, a tribute to Iron Maiden, 2005
- Theory of a Deadman - Gasoline, 2005
- Various Artists: WWE Wreckless Intent, 2006
- Harlequin - Waking the Jester, 2007
- Econoline Crush - Ignite, 2008
- Bruce Kulick - BK3, 2010
- Slash - Slash (Deluxe Edition), 2010
- Slash - iTunes Session, 2010
- Syndicate - Syndicate, 2011
- Beggars and thieves - We Are The Broken Hearted, 2011
[edit] Trivia
- For almost 20 years, Fitz has been seen every month of January in the now famous - Advance Electronics "January Warehouse Clearance" TV commercial, which first aired in Winnipeg in 1988. Fitz is seen twirling drumsticks live on stage with his former band Seventh Heaven in the commercial.
- Enjoying much success as an international recording/touring musician and living in the United States, Fitz is still a vocal and overtly patriotic Canadian.
- Fitz performed with a California based Broadway show in 2002 in Taipei, Taiwan for a series of shows.
- Fitz is a good hockey player and has taken part in various celebrity hockey events, most notably Canada's annual Juno Cup.Photo 1 Photo 2
- Fitz is good friends with WWE wrestler Chris Jericho. They both grew up in the same neighborhood, but went to different high schools. They recorded a song together in Los Angeles in 2005 for an Iron Maiden Tribute record called "Numbers From The Beast".
- Both Fitz and Tommy Lee can claim to be the only drummers to have been in a band with both Mötley Crüe singers (Vince Neil and John Corabi).
- Fitz replaced drummer Tommy Aldridge on a tour with bassist Marco Mendoza and guitarist Soren Andersen in the UK, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark in November 2008.
- Fitz has a band in Las Vegas with several members of Blue Man Group. The band features three drummers. Fitz plays guitar and keyboards in the band.
- On their most recent tour of Russia, Brent saved the show in Moscow. Slash's bassist, Todd Kerns, had to be rushed back to Canada with a detached retina leaving Brent to fill in on bass duties without a chance to rehearse. His drum tech took over drum duties and they played so well nobody seemed to notice the change.
- In 2009, Brent Fitz joined Eagle & Hawk for a performance in Sandy Lake, a fly-in First Nation community in Ontario, Canada. Not only did Fitz have to fight off scores of enthusiastic fans, but also thousands of mosquitoes. On the flight back, he briefly took the wheel of the cessna.
[edit] References
- ^ "Maidenfans.com – Interview with Chris Jericho". http://www.maidenfans.com/index.php?ACT=module&name=rwnews&area=article&nid=1845.
- ^ a b "glam-metal.com – Interview with Brent Fitz". http://www.glam-metal.com/brentfitz.html.
- ^ "Maidenfans.com – Interview with Chris Jericho". http://www.maidenfans.com/index.php?ACT=module&name=rwnews&area=article&nid=1845.
- ^ a b c "Paul Miles – Chronologically Crue". http://members.ozemail.com.au/~cruekiss/97.htm.
- ^ "kissunderground – Interview with Brent Fitz". http://hometown.aol.com/kissunderground2/brentfitzinterview.html.
- ^ "Myspace/Bulletboys Former Members List". http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=130753803.
- ^ "www.kissonline.com". http://www.kissonline.com/picksnsticks/index.php?picks_page=union.html.
[edit] External links
- Official Brent Fitz Site
- MySpace - Brent Fitz
- [1] Theory Of A Deadman - Live and acoustic from The Orange Lounge Studios, Toronto.
- Youtube - Brent Fitz with Union - Promotional Video
- Youtube- Brent Fitz with the Bulletboys live at Key Club - Hollywood, CA, 2000.
- Youtube - Brent Fitz with Union -- Honky Tonk Women (Live 1998)
- Youtube - Brent Fitz with Vince Neil - "Wildside" live from Winnipeg 2003 solo tour w/Poison.
- Youtube - Brent Fitz plays Highway to Hell by AC/DC with Dee Snider
- Myspace Vids - Brent Fitz with Theory of a Deadman on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno - "No Surprise"
- Myspace Vids - Brent Fitz with Theory of a Deadman rock video "Better Off"
- Myspace Vids - Brent Fitz with Econoline Crush rock video "Dirty"
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
