Thomas M. Victor (born 1961/1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for heavy metal band

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

, which he founded in New York City in 1986, as well as the guitarist for heavy metal band Danzig intermittently since 1996 and full-time since 2008.

Biography

upright=0.6, left, Victor on the tour bus with Ministry in 2008 In the late 1980s, Victor worked as a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

at the music club

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

in New York City. After the release of '' Rude Awakening'' in 1996, Prong disbanded and Victor moved to Los Angeles, but later revived the band to release new Prong records. He took a break from Prong during which he worked alongside rock musicians including

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

, and Glenn Danzig. Since 2012's ''

Carved into Stone ''Carved into Stone'' is the eighth studio album by American metal band Prong. It reached No. 13 at the Top Heatseekers chart. Released on April 24, 2012, via Long Branch Records/SPV, the work was produced by Steve Evetts with cover artwork by ...

'', Prong have been very active again, releasing albums and touring regularly. 2013 saw the band release their ''Official Bootleg – Unleashed in the West'' album which featured re-recordings of 17 classic Prong tracks. The next studio album, ''

Ruining Lives '' Ruining Lives ''is the ninth studio album by American metal band Prong. Released on April 23, 2014, the album was produced by Tommy Victor and Steve Evetts. On April 29, 2014, a lyric video was released for the song "Turnover". Track listin ...

'' was released in 2014, and 2015 saw the band release their first covers album entitled ''

Songs from the Black Hole ''Songs from the Black Hole'' is an unfinished album by American rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996. Intended to follow Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut album, it was to be a rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mix ...

''. Victor is also part of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, heavy metal,

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

and punk rock

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Teenage Time Killers Teenage Time Killers is a rock supergroup formed in February 2014 by My Ruin guitarist Mick Murphy and Corrosion of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin. Guests include Dave Grohl (former drummer of Nirvana and current lead singer of the Foo Fight ...

. Victor has toured and recorded with

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

and Danzig. He has also provided guest vocals for the

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 199 ...

album '' Omen''. He contributed to the

Argyle Park Argyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000. Signed to Christian m ...

album ''

Misguided ''Misguided'' is Argyle Park's only album under that name. The album was released on March 21, 1995, by R.E.X. Records into the Christian rock market, and sits alongside other early 90s work by Circle of Dust and Mortal as being instrumental in ...

'', and wrote the main

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 ...

for the song "Doomsayer", which he later used on the Prong song "Controller".

Equipment

Victor has been endorsed by

Schecter Guitar Research Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known simply as Schecter, is an American manufacturing company founded in 1976 by David Schecter, which originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibs ...

ever since reuniting with Prong, using both an S-1 and C-1 in early live performances. He would later on start using their Devil guitar, which would be the basis for his second signature model. In 2013, his first signature model would be released, based on the newly introduced Banshee series, but with a mahogany body and neck, ebony fretboard, EMG pickups, and custom inlays. In 2015, his second signature model was introduced, based on the Devil series guitar and with similar specifications to his first signature model, but with black nickel hardware, and a single 12th-fret Prong inlay. Before using Schecter, Victor relied on several guitars, most famously a Charvel Surfcaster. Other guitars he used around that era were a Charvel LSX, Charvel Predator, and

Gibson SG Custom The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...

. Around the release of Rude Awakening, and before Prong's breakup, he was endorsed by

Fernandes Guitars Fernandes Guitars is a Japanese guitar and accessory manufacturer. It originated in 1969 as a builder of flamenco guitars. As the company grew, it expanded production to include electric guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers, and accessories to become ...

, using both a Vertigo and Deuce WS model.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Victor, Tommy 1960s births 20th-century American guitarists Alternative metal musicians American heavy metal guitarists American heavy metal singers American industrial musicians American male singers American male guitarists Danzig (band) members Guitarists from New York City Industrial metal musicians Living people Ministry (band) members New York (state) Republicans Prong (band) members Singers from New York City