Peter Mengede (born 1962) is an Australian musician best known as a former guitarist for

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

band

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

. He formed his own group, Handsome, in 1995 with former members of

Quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among th ...

and Murphy's Law. They released one album in 1997 before disbanding.

Early life

Mengede was born and raised in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. His mother was of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

descent.Mengede, Peter. ''BoostingShapes'' podcast, 2019. Mengede performed in high school cover bands as a teenager, doing covers of artists such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

and

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

. At the age of 16 he dropped out of high school and started playing in local Brisbane bands. In 1981 he moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, continuing to play in local bands. He also spent time in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

working at Monash Records, located in the student union building on the

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

campus. Mengede saved up enough money to move from Melbourne to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the mid-1980s. He eventually settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, due to his dislike of the Los Angeles music scene. Shortly after arriving in New York, he supported himself through a series of odd-jobs, including working at a video store. Mengede later got hired to work in distribution for the Dutch East India Trading record label, which led to him meeting

Page Hamilton Page Hamilton (born May 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he ...

Career

Helmet (1989–1993)

Helmet was formed in New York City in 1989 by singer-guitarist Page Hamilton, with the group's lineup being Mengede, bassist

Henry Bogdan Henry Bogdan (born February 4, 1961 in Riverside, California), is an American musician. He is perhaps best known as the original bass guitarist and a founding member of the alternative metal band, Helmet. Henry Bodgan played bass for all of Hel ...

and drummer John Stanier. They released their debut album, '' Strap It On'', in 1990. After signing with

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

, the group released their second album, '' Meantime'', in 1992 to chart success. The album peaked at number one on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Heetseekers Chart while it also peaked at number 68 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The single " Unsung" also peaked at number 32 and 29 on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

and Modern Rock Charts respectively. On 18 February 1993, Mengede left the group.

Handsome (1994 –1998)

Handsome was started by Mengede after departing Helmet. By 1995, Handsome's lineup included former

guitarist Tom Capone and former

and Murphy's Law drummer Pete Hines as well as bassist Eddie Nappi and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

native Jeremy Chatelain. Their debut album, titled '' Handsome'', was released on 4 February 1997 through Epic/

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. In support of the album, the group toured with

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and founde ...

and

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

in the US, while they supported

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

and

Voodoo Glow Skulls Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spa ...

in Europe. Following the completion of their 1997 tour, Handsome disbanded.

Recent years

After living in New York City for fifteen years, he moved back to Brisbane in late 2001, and started playing with a new band called El Gordo. Guitarnerd published a 2010 article on the Les Paul he used to record with Helmet and Handsome. On 23 June 2011 in Brisbane, Peter joined Helmet on stage for the first time in nearly 17 years and played a number of classics from ''Strap It On'' and ''Meantime''. Mengede currently teaches guitar in Brisbane, and has a daughter, who was born after he moved back to Australia.

Discography

with Helmet

Studio albums

* '' Strap It On'' (1990) * '' Meantime'' (1992)

Compilations and live albums

* '' Born Annoying'' (1995) * '' Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991–1997)'' (2004) * '' Live and Rare'' (2021)

with Handsome

* '' Handsome'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mengede, Peter 1962 births Living people Australian people of Russian descent Mengede. Peter Musicians from Brisbane Noise rock musicians Post-hardcore musicians Helmet (band) members Alternative metal guitarists