Josh Freese

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Josh Freese (born on December 25, 1972) is an American drummer and songwriter.

1 Background
2 Studio Musician
3 Solo
4 Current Work
5 Equipment
6 Discography
7 External links

[edit] Background

Josh Freese was born on Christmas Day, 1972 in Orlando, Florida but has lived in Southern California since he was 6 months old. Having been brought up in a musical family (father conducted the Disneyland Band and mother was a classical pianist) he was surrounded by music from an early age and began playing the drums around the time he was 7 or 8 years old. He started playing professionally at the age of 12 (in a Top 40 band at Disneyland) and starting touring and making records at the age of 15, first with Dweezil Zappa and then The Vandals. In the early 1990's Freese was a member of the reformed Simpletones, fronted by original member the late Richard "Snickers" Scott, whose original songs included the teen love anthem "I Have A Date", later popularized by The Vandals . Josh has a younger brother Jason Freese who plays keyboards with such artists as Green Day, Jewel, Goo Goo Dolls, Liz Phair and Dr. Dre. Currently Josh is still a member of The Vandals, Devo and A Perfect Circle, Josh Freese has also worked with many respected artists in the last 10 years perpetually filling in as session drummer and sometimes as a temporary replacement.

[edit] Studio Musician

Aside from being a permanent member for A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, and Devo, Josh Freese is primarily a professional studio drummer, appearing on more than 2,500 records, including but not limited to: Paul Westerberg, Chris Cornell, Suicidal Tendencies, Juliana Hatfield, Mike Ness, Tracy Bonham, The Offspring, and Guns N' Roses. (See Discography for a more current listing.) Josh is currently living in Long Beach, California with his girlfriend, the couple's son, and a baby due in November.

[edit] Solo

In 1998, Freese went solo by recording a number of songs that he wrote and performed himself (including bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals) Resulting in the 6 song EP entitled Destroy The Earth As Soon As Possible, released under the name 'Princess' on T.O.N/Stone Lizard records. In 2000, the songs 'Caffeine and Vaseline' and 'Rock N' Roll Chicken' were revived for the full length album The Notorious One Man Orgy, this time released under Freese's own name. Kung Fu Records contributed in the 2000 release of this 12-song album of straight pop-punk. With guest appearances by the likes of Stone Gossard, Warren Fitzgerald, Michael Ward, Lyle Workman, and his brother Jason, the N.O.M.O. offers a hard driving pop-punk musical insight into what it's like to be Josh Freese on a daily basis.

[edit] Current Work

Freese was a member of Guns N' Roses from 1997 to 2000, replacing Matt Sorum. He recorded the song Oh My God for the End of Days Soundtrack and recorded pieces for the still unreleased Chinese Democracy album. He left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Bryan Mantia. Some people argue that Freese was not an official member and that he was only a studio musician. However, he did sign a contract with the band.

Freese has been a member of punk rock band The Vandals since 1989, and has played on all the band's albums since then, with the exception of 2000's Look What I Almost Stepped In..., on which current Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman deputised due to Freese's commitments with A Perfect Circle. In 2003, The Vandals released a live DVD as part of Kung Fu Records' The Show Must Go Off series. The DVD is of particular interest to Josh Freese fans thanks to the inclusion of the Josh Freese-cam, a camera focused on Freese for the entire duration of the show, also including a picture-in-picture of Freese's kick drum pedal. The band is recently going to start work on a new album for a release in 2006.

He has been a member of the band A Perfect Circle since their first album, and is considered one of the three core members alongside Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel. As of 2006, the band is "on hiatus".

During October 2005, Freese performed as drummer for the fall Nine Inch Nails tour due to the health problems of Jerome Dillon. As of July 08, 2006 he remains the touring drummer for Nine Inch Nails and will be joining the band on their Winter 2007 European Tour. [1]

Freese participated in Sting's "Broken Music Tour" in April 2005 with guitarist Dominic Miller and guitarist Shane Fontayne. The tour kicked off April 1 in San Jose, California and ended on April 30 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Josh also appeared with Sting during the record breaking 'Live 8' concert.

Josh Freese has recently contributed drum tracks for Lostprophets 3rd album - Liberation Transmission. He recorded all his parts in two days. Travis Barker was originally the session drummer of choice for the 3rd Lostprophets' effort, but the producer (Bob Rock) had worked with Josh Freese before and wanted him as the session drummer for the album instead.

Freese's latest project was announced on April 1st, when it was reported that he had provided the drum tracks on two new Replacements tracks, due to appear on the upcoming greatest-hits package.

He toured with Nine Inch Nails on their 2005-2006 With Teeth tour after the illness of drummer Jerome Dillon, and has been confirmed to be their drummer for a European tour starting in February of 2007. He also completed drum tracks for the band Black Light Burns, which consists of Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit, Big Dumb Face), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails) and Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv).

He is also working on ex-Korn guitarist Brian Welch's new album and is also working with ex-Face to Face Singer/Guitarist Trever Keith and bassist Scott Shiflett in Viva death.

He has been the regular drummer for DEVO's live tours since 1996, with the notable exception of their 2003 shows in Japan.