Eric Carlson (musician)

Eric Carlson
Also known as Sickie Wifebeater
Born May 22, 1958
Origin Seattle, Washington
Genres Shock rock, heavy metal, punk rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1970s–present
Associated acts The Mentors,
Sickie WifeBeater's 4F Club XXXperience,
Northwest Breeders
Jesters of Destiny,
Mentorhawk
Website Sickie Wifebeater at MySpace

Eric Carlson (born May 22, 1958, in Seattle, Washington) is a founding member and lead guitarist of American heavy metal band The Mentors.[1] Under the stage name Sickie Wifebeater, Carlson started The Mentors in Seattle in 1976 with bass guitarist Steve Broy (Dr. Heathen Scum) and singer/drummer Eldon Hoke (El Duce) who attended Roosevelt High School together.[1]

Style

Wifebeater's playing style when soloing (with hand above and over the fretboard) is one of the things that gave the Mentors' guitars a unique sound. His signature sound is fluid with alternating bottom-heavy crunch with fast-noted metal runs.[2]

When performing, Wifebeater wears a black executioner’s hood, according to a Guitar World "Behind the Mask: A Brief History of Guitarists with an Identity Crisis", Guitar World, September 5, 2008</ref>

Equipment

Guitars

Wifebeater plays or has played the following guitars

  • A 1964 red Gibson SG with one P-90 pickup and one DiMarzio super distortion Humbucker
  • A 1965 red Gibson SG stock P-90 pickups
  • Early 1980s silver Boogiebodies Stratocaster
  • A 1970s black Ventura Les Paul Copy (used in early 1980s)

Amplifiers

Sickie Wifebeater uses a 1978 or 1979 Marshall MKII 100 Watt Lead with checkerboard speaker cabinets. Originally, he used the fullstack as pictured on the Get Up and Die album cover but in later years he mainly ran it as a halfstack.

Discography

With The Mentors

With other groups

  • Jesters of Destiny - Fun at the Funeral 1986
  • Mentorhawk - Motel 7 1999
  • Northwest Breeders - Northwest Breeders EP 2001

Videography

  • Get Up and Die (1983)
  • Mentors Fuck Movie (1987)
  • A Piece Of Sinema (1990)
  • The Wretched World of The Mentors (1990)
  • Mentors Tour De Max '91 (1991)
  • El Duce, The Man. The Myth. The Video. (1993)
  • Mentors - El Duce Vita DVD (2007)

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 The Mentors, at Allmusic
  2. ↑ Lana Cooper, The Mentors:El Duce Vita [DVD], PopMatters, 16 May 2007
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