Bill Kelliher
| Bill Kelliher | |
|---|---|
| File:Mastodon-Rock im Park 2014 by 2eight DSC7631.jpg
Kelliher performing live in 2014
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Breen Kelliher |
| Born | March 23, 1971 |
| Genres | Heavy metal, progressive metal, sludge metal, stoner metal, groove metal, alternative metal, technical death metal, noisecore[disambiguation needed] |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Associated acts | Mastodon, Lethargy, Today is the Day, Butterslax, Lunchlady, Wake, Primate |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul Custom Gibson Explorer First Act Guitars |
|
Bill Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is a musician from Atlanta, Georgia, best known as rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mastodon. He is a native of Victor, New York.
Contents
Influence and Style
Kelliher only performs backing vocals in Mastodon. His harsh vocalism was largely applied in Mastodon’s earlier recordings, Remission, Leviathan and Call of the Mastodon, which he utilizes death growls. In the track "Deathbound", he is credited as lead vocalist. He shares guitar duties with Brent Hinds, playing mainly complex rhythm parts, although he occasionally plays solos, such as on 'Sleeping Giant', or harmonized dual leads with Hinds, such as on 'Black Tongue'.
On June 12, 2007, Hinds and Kelliher won the Metal Hammer Golden Gods award for best shredders,[1] Mastodon's first ever award.
Equipment and style
Kelliher uses several guitars in Mastodon: his main guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Custom in a Silverburst finish. He used other Les Paul Customs in Ebony and Alpine White during the band's 2009 tour with Dethklok. He has also used three Gibson Explorers: a vintage Explorer CMT in tobacco burst and two more modern models in black and white. Kelliher has also used two custom Yamaha SBGs and a First Act custom 9-string Silverburst DC Lola, which was built for usage on Mastodon's album Crack the Skye. He also recently (02/2010) took delivery of a Morgan Guitar Works Bird of Prey - a silver futuristic Flying V. Kelliher used Laney amplification at one time (specifically, the VH100R head). After that, he played a Marshall JCM 800 Kerry King signature. Since 2010, Bill and his bandmate Brent Hinds went on playing the Orange Thunderverb series. He can also be seen playing through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier in the bonus features of the Aqua Teen Hunger Horse Colon Movie Film for Theaters DVD. In 2013, Kelliher got a signature Gibson explorer, named "The Golden Axe". It has a mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard with figured acrylic trapezoid inlays, a gold burst finish and Lace Nitro Hemi humbucker pickups.[2]
Kelliher's pedal board includes an Ibanez Tube King, a Boss TU-2 Tuner, an MXR M-135 Smart Noise Gate, and a Digitech Jamman Looper Pedal. Kelliher also uses an Audiotech Guitar Products Source Selector 1X6 Rack Mount Audio Switcher.
Like his bandmate Hinds, Kelliher also uses three tunings in Mastodon: D Standard on the Les Paul (E Standard down one whole step, D G C F A D), Drop C on the Yamaha SGB (Drop D down one whole step, C G C F A D), and another tuning similar to D standard, but with the sixth string tuned down to A (A G C F A D), on the Explorer.
In 2013 Bill collaborated with Lace Pickups on his own signature guitar pickups. Bill came to Lace to realize his vision of a sonically versatile humbucker pickup set with superior dynamic response, unparalleled sustain and impeccable tone. The resultant creation is called “Dissonant Aggressors”. [3]
Bill has just released a documentary and guitar instructional video with Fret12.
Personal
Kelliher is married, with two young sons—the eldest one named Harrison, after Harrison Ford of Star Wars fame. He is also a Star Wars enthusiast, with a large collection of action figures and other merchandise from the franchise.
Kelliher is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland. His father moved to the U.S from Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, at 16.
Game of Thrones appearance
Bill Kelliher along with Brann Dailor and Brent Hinds portrayed "wildlings" on S05E08 episode of Game of Thrones, which was filmed in Belfast in Northern Ireland. As previously reported, the band's original song "White Walker" is featured on the "Game of Thrones" mixtape Catch the Throne Vol. 2, but in the instance of their physical appearance, a press release from Reprise Records reports that the band was personally invited to participate in the show by "Game of Thrones" executive producer Dan Weiss, who is a fan of the band.[4]
Discography
Lethargy
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- It's Hard to Write with a Little Hand (1996) - Guitar
Today is the Day
- In the Eyes of God (1999) - Bass guitar
Mastodon
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Remission (2002) - Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
- Leviathan (2004) - Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
- Blood Mountain (2006) - Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
- Crack the Skye (2009) - Rhythm Guitar
- The Hunter (2011) - Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Deathbound"
- Once More 'Round the Sun (2014) - Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
References
- Pages with broken file links
- All articles with links needing disambiguation
- Articles with links needing disambiguation from October 2013
- Articles with hCards
- 1971 births
- American heavy metal guitarists
- Living people
- Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
- People from Rochester, New York
- Progressive metal guitarists
- Rhythm guitarists
- Today Is the Day members
_live_@_Colos-Saal_Aschaffenburg,_Germany_2011_(2).jpg){kind=link}