Mike Clark (born October 28, 1964) is an American heavy metal and punk rock guitarist. He is best known for being the rhythm guitarist with

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stormtr ...

, a band he played with from 1987 to 2012, and was the only member besides

Mike Muir Michael Allen Muir (born March 14, 1963) is an American singer who is the lead vocalist and the only sole continuous member of Los Angeles-based bands Suicidal Tendencies, Los Cycos, and Infectious Grooves. He has also released several solo al ...

to return to the band when it reunited.http://metalstorm.ee/bands/band.php?band_id=399&bandname=Suicidal%2BTendencies Metal Storm He originally played in the

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band No Mercy of which Muir was also the vocalist. During Suicidal Tendencies' hiatus he was a member of the thrash/

rap rock Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...

band Creeper. Throughout his time with Suicidal Tendencies, Clark was very active in the band's songwriting, writing much of the music for his first album with the band, '' How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today''. His early compositions were mostly

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

-oriented but stuck to the bands already melodic sound. He continued to write music for the band that covered many different styles, best illustrated by ''

The Art of Rebellion ''The Art of Rebellion'' is the sixth studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released in 1992 on Epic Records. It was the only Suicidal Tendencies album to be recorded without an official drummer; the drum tracks were ...

''. As Clark claimed in an interview, "This is definitely our most diverse album yet, but it wasn't really planned that way, it's just the way we've grown musically." Clark has had endorsement deals with B.C. Rich,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

guitars. He used to play a custom made

BC Rich B.C. Rich is an American brand of acoustic and electric guitars and bass guitars founded by Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969. History The company started making electric guitars in the 1970s. In the following decade B.C. Rich gained a broad expos ...

Gunslinger guitar with a skull wearing the classic ''Suicidal'' flip cap painted on it. Since the mid-1990s, he has played only Fernandes guitars, which he continues to endorse. Clark's early trademark image was his straight long hair and the "Suicidal" flip-cap. He has since cut his hair and began wearing a blue

bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpos ...

. On May 31, 2012, in Santa Cruz, California, Clark suffered a head injury during a pre-show incident resulting in concussion that also required nine staples to a gash on his head. This prompted Clark to leave Suicidal Tendencies. He did, however, provide rhythm guitar on four tracks from the band's 2013 album '' 13'' ("Shake It Out", "God Only Knows Who I Am", "Who's Afraid?" and "Cyco Style"), where he is credited as an "additional musician". On June 6, 2012, a music video by one of Clark's bands, Phenagen, was released. Clark has a daughter named Christina.

Discography

with No Mercy

*''

Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red ''Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red'' is the only studio album by American thrash metal band No Mercy, released in 1987 by Suicidal Records. In 1989 "Master of No Mercy", "Controlled by Hatred", "My Own Way of Life", and "Waking the Dead" were ...

'' (1987) *''OG No Mercy'' (2008)

with Suicidal Tendencies

*'' How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today'' (1988) *'' Controlled by Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu'' (1989) *'' Lights...Camera...Revolution!'' (1990) *''

'' (1992) *'' Still Cyco After All These Years'' (1993) *'' Suicidal for Life'' (1994) *'' Prime Cuts'' (1997) *'' Six the Hard Way EP'' (1998) *''

Freedumb ''Freedumb'' is a studio album by American crossover band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released in 1999 on Suicidal Records. The tracks are rawer than the funk-influenced thrash metal direction they were taking before the hiatus. The album's co ...

'' (1999) *''

Free Your Soul and Save My Mind ''Free Your Soul...and Save My Mind'' is the tenth studio album by crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released in 2000. A music video was made for "Pop Songs". It was the band's first official video in six years, since "Love Vs. Lonelines ...

'' (2000) *''

Year of the Cycos ''Year of the Cycos'' is a compilation album of bands featuring vocalist Mike Muir, released in 2008. It includes new and previously released songs by Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Cyco Miko and No Mercy. ''Year of the Cycos'' was a ...

'' (2008) *''

No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family ''No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family'' is a studio album by American crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, released in 2010. It is considered the follow-up to 1993's ''Still Cyco After All These Years''; like that album, it features some re-r ...

'' (2010) *'' 13'' (2013)

with Great Gods of Greed

*''Great Gods of Greed'' (2012)

Compilations

*'' Friends & Family, Vol. 1'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Mike Living people 1964 births American heavy metal guitarists Suicidal Tendencies members 20th-century American guitarists