The Deli Creeps were an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

band consisting of singer Maximum Bob, guitarist

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

, drummer

Pinchface Michael Andrew Hakopian, better known as Pinchface is the drummer of the Deli Creeps, Giant Robot II, and the Cornbugs. He has also appeared on numerous Buckethead albums, such as ''Population Override'' and '' Giant Robot'' (tracks "I Come In P ...

and various bass players, most recently Daniel Monti. Though Buckethead is the only member who makes a consistent effort to hide his identity, little is known about the other members of the band. Deli Creeps have never released an official album, but many of their songs have been repurposed for Buckhead's solo albums.

Biography

The Deli Creeps formed in the late 1980s/early 1990s in Claremont,

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but shortly after moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In 1991 they released their first demo tape with bassist Tony Black, after which they gained a strong loyal following before splitting up for the first time. Maximum Bob contributed to the

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

produced debut album of

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...

. The band reformed in 1996 for the first time and released a second demo tape. In the interim only Buckethead through his contacts to John Zorn,

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

and

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

had gained some public attention. Shortly after their second demo they had all moved on once again before reforming for the second time in 2003 with Josh Bockles on bass. They played some concerts in California. Buckethead was also guitarist for

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

then. Their first feature length album ''Dawn of the Deli Creeps'' was released in late 2005. Dan Monti (a technician for

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Guns N' Roses and

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...

), longtime Buckethead collaborator, performed on bass, alongside several tracks performed by Tony Black. Featured on the album is the title track for the Terry M. West horror movie ''

Flesh for the Beast ''Flesh for the Beast'' is a 2003 fantasy-horror film directed and written by Terry M. West. The film was released on September 27, 2003. The plot concerns a group of parapsychologists that investigate a haunted mansion and end up finding more tha ...

''. Some early video recordings of the band were released in 2006/07 on several Buckethead DVDs, including some complete concerts from 1990/91. The band members of the last incarnation still work together on different projects. Maximum Bob contributed guest vocals to Buckethead's album ''

Enter the Chicken ''Enter the Chicken'' is the fourteenth studio album by musician Buckethead. The album was released on October 25, 2005 by Serj Tankian's label Serjical Strike. It has eleven songs, two of which are less than twenty seconds long. It contains appear ...

'' (2005) and the

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

release ''

Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) ''Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'' is the last album by Praxis, released in Japan on January 1, 2008. The album features guest appearances by Iggy Pop, Mike Patton, Serj Tankian and Killah Priest among others; notably it feature ...

'' (2008). Buckethead, Pinchface and Monti toured the US in 2005 as a trio.

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

has been quoted as saying: "They're so good they piss me off".

Style

The band derivates its name from ''delicatessen shop'' and ''creeps'' and usually enters the stage with

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

s on (much like butchers). Buckethead uses variations of his famous face mask, but mostly wears hats instead of the bucket. Distinctive marks of the formation in particular are Maximum Bob's lyrics of

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

and

personal life Personal life is the course or state of an individual's life, especially when viewed as the sum of personal choices contributing to one's personal identity. Apart from hunter-gatherers, most pre-modern peoples' time was limited by the need to ...

plus his differentiating recitation between

melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...

singing and

psychotic Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

screams. As a further trademark he developed a special form of

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

with

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

. Buckethead as the main instrumental performer supports or counteracts this with the use of all his typical stylistic devices: chromatic runs and dissonant playing noises, but also

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s and

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

s or short citations from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Discography

*1990: ''Demo Tape'' *1991: ''Demo Tape'' *1996: ''Demo Tape'' *2005: ''Flesh For The Beast soundtrack (rated and unrated versions) *2005: ''Dawn of the Deli Creeps'' *Many live

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s can be found amongst traders and fans. The Deli Creeps are also featured on the following Buckethead DVDs: *Secret Recipe * Young Buckethead Vol. 1 * Young Buckethead Vol. 2

Track Listing of Deli Creeps 1990 Demo Tape 3:46

Track Listing of Deli Creeps 1991 Demo Tape 1:06

Track Listing of Deli Creeps 1996 Demo Tape 3:24

Track Listing of Dawn of the Deli Creeps 7:38

Notes

Some of Buckethead's songs originate from Deli Creeps material: * The Deli Creeps song "Smilin Charlie" was later released as "Post Office Buddy" on '' Giant Robot'' (1994) * The same album that featured "Post Office Buddy" also featured an instrumental version of "Binge and Grab", a song performed live with the Deli Creeps featuring lyrics, the version with lyrics has yet to be released as a studio version. * "Random Killing" became "I Come in Peace" on ''Giant Robot'' and "Power & Gory" on the Cornbugs' debut album '' Spot the Psycho'' (1999). * Sometimes during live Deli Creeps performances, Buckethead would play some of his own material. * Buckethead plays a sample of the chorus riff from "Time" midway through the

Acoustic Shards __NOTOC__ ''Acoustic Shards'' is Buckethead's second special release. It consists of acoustic recordings culled from tapes that were reportedly recorded on July 2, 1991, when Buckethead was 22 years of age. The album was released on May 31, 2007, ...

song "Box Elders" (recorded in 1991). *The song "Brazos," a song Buckethead wrote for a guitar magazine contest in 1988, was featured on the Deli Creeps first

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

, under the name "Tribal Rites". * The song "Dream Girl" was rerecorded by the Cornbugs with different lyrics as "Sacramento".

Credits

*Buckethead - Guitar *Maximum Bob - Vocals *Pinchface - Drums, Backing Vocals *Dan Monti - Bass

References

External links

Deli Creeps Official Website
- offline
Backup in the Internet Archives

Buckethead's Official Website

''Dawn of the Deli Creeps''
digital album on Maximum Bob's

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

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