July 5, 2010
Flattus MaximusFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchFlattus MaximusFlattus Maximus live on Stage in EdmontonBackground informationBirth nameDewey RowellPete LeeTim HarrissZach BlairCory SmootBornunknownOriginRichmond, Virginia, rolex listino , USAGenresThrash metalPunk rockShock rockOccupationsGuitaristYears active1985-presentLabelsMetal Blade RecordsDRT EntertainmentSlave Pit Inc.Associated actsGWARWebsiteGWAR official siteFlattus Maximus is a guitarist in the heavy metal band GWAR. He is known by his red face, white dreadlocks, dinosaur-head shoulder pads and reptile feet. The name ” Flattus “implies (verified by various concerts) a flatulent character. His speaking mannerisms suggest a childlike intelligence and naivety (until recently; his entries in the current website blog depict a different, more violent Flattus). Contents1 GWAR lore2 Flattus history3 Costume evolution4 Equipment5 External links [edit] GWAR loreVery little about Flattus Maximus is explained in GWAR lore. What is known is that he originates from the planet Home, he is illiterate, and that he attributes his “explosive guitar style” to a strict diet of vegetarians . [edit] Flattus historyThe first man to portray the “armored clown” (taken from the pre-2005 web bio) was Dewey Rowell, who played on Hell-O and Scumdogs of the Universe. He left the band shortly after the ” Tour De Scum “tape, and before America Must Be Destroyed, GWAR third album, was recorded. Until mid-1992, after GWAR now-(in) famous” Phallus In Wonderland “was released, there was no Flattus Maximus character. America Must Be Destroyed had all of its guitar parts (save two solos) played by Balsac the Jaws of Death. When playing those songs live today, in particular “The Road Behind” (that album big single), it is typically Balsac, not Flattus, who plays the lead.For the filming of “Phallus in Wonderland,” a sculptor friend of the band, who goes by the name of “Stretch,” played Flattus in the few scenes in which he was featured (the video for “Gor- Gor “features Stretch falling off of a building, and he plays piano in” Have You Seen Me? “). Flattus Maximus live on stageAfter a mini-tour in early 1992, Peter Lee was hired, at the recommendation of Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia , as the new guitarist (Scaccia had turned them down to continue working with Ministry – Scaccia and Lee were both in a band together, along with future GWAR bassist Casey Orr; it was Lee who enlisted Orr in 1994). He first played on This Toilet Earth. In 1993, Lee was shot in an attempted carjacking, and was unable to film much of “Skulhedface” due to injuries to his stomach. He did manage to film a commercial segment with Dave Brockie, where Lee first suggested the idea of police officers (both were dressed as policemen) playing rock music. This turned into GWAR first true spin-off band, X-Cops. One music video from that period, “Jack The World,” features Lee as Flattus, and he is seen wearing a colostomy bag, which he also wore during a brief tour in October 1993. Lee played on the next two albums, RagNaRok and Carnival of Chaos, and was in the films from that time frame (1995-late 1997), “Rendezvous With RagNaRok “and” Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Penguins. “In the interview segments of” Rendezvous …,” Flattus is seen more than any other character (the others were a paranormal investigator played by Bob Gorman, Beefcake the Mighty, Balsac the Jaws of Death and Techno Destructo), and it is here where the childlike mannerisms truly surface. Lee left in December 1997, due to his recurring stomach problems stemming from the carjacking. His leaving of GWAR also forced the dissolution of the X-Cops.In 1998, there again was no Flattus for some time. When GWAR 1998 Halloween tour came around, Michael Bishop, who was filling in for Casey Orr as Beefcake, suggested Tim Harriss (who had previously played one GWAR show twelve years prior) of his band Kepone. Harriss would remain the Flattus character through the recording of We Kill Everything.In 1999, after Orr returned, and before We Kill Everything was released, GWAR auditioned several guitarists for the role of Flattus Maximus. Zach Blair won the part, and became the reptilian cro-mag guitarist. He is seen in the film “It Sleazy,” and the music video for “Fuckin n Animal,” the last song on We Kill Everything. In 2001, GWAR, with Blair on guitar, recorded Violence Has Arrived, from which one music video, the concert favorite “Immortal Corrupter,” was recorded. However, Blair was not featured in the “Immortal Corrupter” video, and was replaced by Tim Harriss for the video shoot. Blair, along with Casey Orr, left after the Blood Drive 2nd Campaign Tour (the second tour for Violence Has Arrived). In September 2002, a new Flattus was needed, and Cory Smoot (Mensrea / Locus Factor), who had previously auditioned in 1999, was recruited. Smoot, being a talented producer, lent his technical skills to the recording of “War Party,” and co-produced, as well as co-mixed with Devin Townsend (Steve Vai / Strapping Young Lad) GWAR 2006 release , titled Beyond Hell. The two albums were recorded at Karma Studios, owned and operated by Smoot. Smoot has been the longest running Flattus thus far and is in the videos for “War Party”, “Bring Back The Bomb”, tiffany milano , “Womb With A View”, “School Out” and “Eighth Lock”. Smoot also produced the follow-up to “Beyond Hell”, Lust in Space, along with other members of GWAR, and even sang lead vocals on the track “Release the Flies”. [edit] Costume evolutionCorey Smoot as Flattus Maximus in 2004As GWAR evolves from album to album, so must their characters. Flattus began life with a helmet with large horns, dinosaur-skull shoulder pads , a painted red face and long dreadlocks. During the 1990 Tour De Scum, Flattus elmet changed into something resembling the horns of a ram, but this was a short-lived change. Two of Flattus three appearances in “Phallus In Wonderland” used his “Scumdogs” helmet (the second of the three, the video for “Have You Seen Me?,” has him wearing a tuxedo, and no armor whatsoever). The second incarnation did away with the helmet, and the shoulder pads were enlarged. By “RagNaRok,” the shoulder pads were brown dinosaur heads instead of skulls, and he had a tail and loincloth (scaly and brown). His face was still red, but was a mask, and his dreadlocks were shorter and stuck out like a palm tree. His shoulder pads changed slightly for “Carnival of Chaos,” and would be the last change until after “We Kill Everything” was recorded. “We Kill Everything” has a photo of Flattus (presumably Michael Derks in said costume ), and he is more or less the same (it is the same costume), minus the tail and taller. Blair Flattus is the most drastic change: the shoulder pads became green (with some exposed bone and muscle, but mostly scale), the tail reappears (for the “WKE” photo shoot, Derks did not wear one), and, ghd piastra , like the feet, shoulder pads and loincloth, is green and scaly. The face is less comical , and more like a bulldog (still red, though). The dreadlocks are white, and at their shortest. In the “Fuckin n Animal” video, Blair Flattus costume featured a tail, though in subsequent tours and videos it did not. Smoot changes to the costume (to coincide with War Party) were mostly in the face and hair. The face is larger and more distorted, and the dreadlocks are white and black, and are pulled back. They are also considerably longer than before. The tail is gone. The shoulderpads are a bit larger and longer, whereas Blair were more compact.Beyond Hell-era Flattus has grey shoulderpads, green feet and a slightly redesigned face. The face closer depicts a Cro-Magnon (or GWAR take on one ), which fits Flattus current description of himself (“It is me Flattus Maximus your reptilian / cro-mag / alien of flatulance and fury.” Taken from his Oct. 18, lacoste scarpe , 2005 blog entry), as well as the pre-historic theme of the costume. [edit] EquipmentFlattus uses Schecter guitars and has a signature guitar based on the Schecter Devil Series which features a single EMG 81 pickup in the bridge position, Original Floyd Rose locking tremolo , killswitch, and a custom cutaway and graphic. (Smoot) uses discontinued Marshall Valvestate amplifiers and a Marshall JMP-1 preamp as his main rig (though, Krank amplifiers are used as backup). Also, he is known to use a Floyd Rose bridge extensively, and a Morley Bad Horsie wah-wah pedal. [edit] External linksGWAR Official WebsiteGWAR Picture Gallery with Flattus Maximusv? d? eGWAROderus Urungus? Flattus Maximus? Balsac the Jaws of Death? Beefcake the Mighty? Jizmak Da Gusha? Sexecutioner? Sleazy P. MartiniSlymenstra Hymen? Techno Destructo? Nippleus Erectus? Johnny Slutman? Joey Slutman? The Temptress? Amazina, Gwar Woman, Mr. Magico? Lee Beato? Stephen Sphincter? BalSac? Cornelius Carnage? Hans Orifice? Sean Sumner? Sluggo P. Martini? Müsel? Scroda MoonStudio albumsHell-O? Scumdogs of the Universe? America Must Be Destroyed? This Toilet Earth? RagNaRok? Carnival of Chaos? We Kill Everything? Violence Has Arrived? War Party? Beyond Hell? Lust in SpaceEPsThe Road BehindLive albumsYou e All Worthless and Weak? Germany Must Be Destroyed? Live from Mt. FujiCompilationsSlaves Going Single? Let There Be GWARSinglesHate Love Songs / Penguin Attack 7 “? The Art of War? RAWGWAR? K? sz? n? m? Wolfgang AM – A New World of Sound? MC Rhythmless? GWAR Lite? A Soundtrack to Kill Yourself to? School Out? Stripper Christmas Summer Weekend / Hell-O Medley (Live) 7 “Videos and DVDsShimmy Disc Video Compilation V.1? RAWGWAR? The Next Mutation? Live from Antarctica? Phallus in Wonderland? All the Sex? Twice the Violence? Tour De Scum? TVD? Skulhedface? Return of Techno-Destructo? Rendezvous with Ragnarok? Surprising Burst of Chocolaty Fudge? Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Penguins? It Sleazy? The Gwarnage Campaign? Blood Drive 2002? Ultimate Video Gwarchive? War Party Tour 2004? Blood Bath and Beyond? Beyond Hell LiveRelated articlesDiscography? Videography? Members? Slaves? Dave Brockie Experience? Death Piggy? X- Cops? Slave Pit RecordsRetrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattus_Maximus” Cate gories: Collective pseudonymsGwar membersAmerican heavy metal guitaristsPersonal toolsNew featuresLog in / create accountNamespacesArticleDiscussionVariantsViewsRea dEditView historyActionsSearchNavigationMain pageContentsFeatured contentCurrent eventsRandom articleInteractionAbout WikipediaCommunity portalRecent changesContact WikipediaDonate to WikipediaHelpToolboxWhat links hereRelated changesUpload fileSpecial pagesPermanent linkCite this pagePrint / exportCreate a bookDownload as PDFPrintable versionLanguagesDansk This page was last modified on 18 June 2010 at 17:52. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.See Terms of Use for details . Wikipedia ? is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact usPrivacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimers
Flattus Maximus – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia