Joey Vera (born April 24, 1963) is an American bassist who is known as a member of the heavy metal band

Armored Saint Armored Saint is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. Since 1990, the band has consisted of John Bush on lead vocals, Joey Vera on bass, Jeff Duncan (musician), Jeff Duncan on rhythm guitar and the Sandoval ...

and

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ...

. During 2004 and early 2005, he toured with

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

as a fill-in for

Frank Bello Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax. Early life Bello is the nephew of Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. He had a younger brother Anthony, who was murdered in the Bronx, New Yo ...

, who had taken a break from the band. He was also a member of Engine, recorded with

Tribe After Tribe Tribe After Tribe is a South African alternative rock band, formed in Johannesburg in 1984 by Robbi Robb. Former members included Robby Whitelaw, Barry Schneider, Bruce Williams, Dino Archon, Fuzzy Marcus, Niels Jensen and Reynold Carlson. The ba ...

, and appears on the

OSI OSI may refer to: Places * Osijek Airport (IATA code: OSI), an airport in Croatia * Ősi, a village in Veszprém county, Hungary * Oši, an archaeological site in Semigallia, Latvia * Osi, a village in Ido-Osi, Ekiti State, Nigeria * Osi, Ekiti ...

album '' Free''. His first solo album, ''A Thousand Faces'', was released in 1994. His current solo project, A Chinese Firedrill, released an album titled ''Circles'' in 2007. On August 1, 2019, Vera was announced as the touring bassist for a newly reunited

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fate w ...

filling in for

Timi Hansen Timi Hansen (28 October 1958 – 4 November 2019) was a Danish bass player. He played in the Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate from 1981 to 1985 and from 1992 to 1993, and its successor project King Diamond from 1985 to 1987. He played wi ...

. Originally a guitar player, Vera took interest in playing the instrument after listening to

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

' '' Alive!'', and by the time Armored Saint formed, he had switched from guitar to bass. Vera has cited

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", " Another One Bit ...

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single "O ...

, Steve Harris, Louis Johnson,

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

, and

Verdine White Verdine Adams White (born July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time. Early lif ...

as influences or inspirations to his bass playing. He usually plays bass by using his fingers, though he has used a guitar pick on a few occasions.

Discography

With Armored Saint

* ''

'' EP (1983) * ''

March of the Saint ''March of the Saint'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 1984 by Chrysalis Records and recorded with producer Michael James Jackson who previously worked for Kiss. The debut album yielded ...

'' (1984) * ''

Delirious Nomad ''Delirious Nomad'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 1985 via Chrysalis Records and recorded with producer Max Norman who previously worked for Ozzy Osbourne. While recording the albu ...

'' (1985) * ''

Raising Fear ''Raising Fear'' is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 1987 via Chrysalis Records. The band recorded the album as a four-piece as guitarist Phil Sandoval had left Armored Saint during the ...

'' (1987) * ''

Saints Will Conquer ''Saints Will Conquer'' is the first live album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint recorded during the '' Raising Fear'' tour. It was recorded on October 9, 1987, at the Agora Ballroom in ClevelandSaints Will Conquor CD inlay and release ...

'' (1988) * ''

Symbol of Salvation ''Symbol of Salvation'' is the fourth album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint, released in 1991 on Metal Blade Records. It was their first release with guitarist Jeff Duncan and their last album before going on an extended hiatus that w ...

'' (1991) * ''

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

'' (2000) * ''

Nod to the Old School ''Nod to the Old School'' is a compilation album by the American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released in 2001 on Metal Blade Records. The album features some new tracks ("Real Swagger" and "Unstable"), live versions of two ''Revelati ...

'' (2001) * ''

La Raza The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...

'' (2010) * ''

Win Hands Down ''Win Hands Down'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Armored Saint. It was released on June 2, 2015. The vocals were recorded at Bridge Recording in Los Angeles, guitars and bass were recorded at Travis Dickerson Studios i ...

'' (2015) * ''Carpe Noctum'' (2017) * ''Punching The Sky'' (2020)

as Joey Vera

* ''A Thousand Faces'' (1994)

With Fates Warning

* ''

A Pleasant Shade of Gray ''A Pleasant Shade of Gray'' is the eighth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on April 22, 1997 through Metal Blade Records. It is a concept album, and contains one song divided into twelve parts and is noted for its da ...

'' (1997) * ''

Still Life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

'' (1999) * '' Disconnected'' (2000) * ''

FWX ''FWX'' is the tenth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on October 5, 2004 through Metal Blade Records; their last album on the label until re-signing in 2019. It is also the band's last studio album to feature drumm ...

'' (2004) * ''

Darkness in a Different Light ''Darkness in a Different Light'' is the eleventh studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 2013 through Inside Out Music. It is the band's first album since '' FWX'' (2004), marking the longest gap between two studio alb ...

'' (2013) * ''

Theories of Flight ''Theories of Flight'' is the twelfth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on July 1, 2016 through Inside Out Music; their last release on the label with their re-signing with their longtime label Metal Blade Records ...

'' (2016) * ''

Long Day Good Night ''Long Day Good Night'' is the thirteenth studio album by American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on November 6, 2020. It is Fates Warning's first release on Metal Blade Records since 2004's ''FWX'' and also the first to feature g ...

'' (2020)

With Tribe After Tribe

*''Pearls Before Swine'' (1997) *''Enchanted Entrance'' (2002)

With Chroma Key

* ''

Dead Air for Radios ''Dead Air for Radios'' studio album by Kevin Moore, under the musical moniker Chroma Key. It was released through Fight Evil Records on December 16, 1998. The album was recorded by Steve Tushar at Bill's Place Rehearsal Studio in Hollywood, Los ...

'' (1998)

With Engine

* ''

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

'' (1999) * ''

Superholic ''Superholic'' is the second album by the heavy metal supergroup Engine. It was released on May 21, 2002, on Metal Blade Records. This was the band's final album, as the members returned to their main projects. Critical reception AllMusic wrote ...

'' (2002)

With John Arch

* '' A Twist of Fate'' (2003)

With Seven Witches

*''

Passage to the Other Side ''Passage to the Other Side'' is the 4th studio album by Seven Witches; it's the first album with James Rivera singing, and the album also features bassist Joey Vera from Armored Saint. Many fans consider this release to be the best of them all ...

'' (2003) *'' Deadly Sins'' (2007)

With OSI

* '' Free'' (2006)

as A Chinese Firedrill

* ''Circles'' (2007)

With Arch/Matheos

* ''

Sympathetic Resonance Sympathetic resonance or sympathetic vibration is a harmonic phenomenon wherein a passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness. The classic example is demonstrated with two similarly-tuned ...

'' (2011)

With Motor Sister

* ''Ride'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
1963 births Living people American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Anthrax (American band) members Progressive metal bass guitarists American male guitarists Fates Warning members Engine (American band) members Armored Saint members OSI (band) members Seven Witches members 20th-century American guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub