BRAD WILK

'Brad Wilk' (born September 5, 1968 in Portland, Oregon) is an American drummer, famous for being the drummer in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.

Contents

Personal life

Musical career

Rage Against the Machine (1990-2000; 2007-present)

Audioslave (2001-2007)

Other projects

Equipment

Discography

Trivia

Personal life

He is of Polish roots, Wilk (pronounced: Villk) being Polish for Wolf. He lived in Chicago in his childhood, and then later settled in Southern California. Wilk started to play the drums when he was 13 years old and got his first kit when he was 14. Brad is a Buddhist, and is seen by many as being very grounded and compassionate. He is also a Type 1 Diabetic, and has said in a recent interview with Countdown magazine, that if he were not making music, he would be finding a cure for the disease.
In late 2005, Brad Wilk married his girlfriend of 10 years Selene Vigil. The low key wedding ceremony took place on the 10th of December at Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe with only family in attendance. Vigil, lead singer of girl band Seven Year Bitch, was a punk icon throughout the 90s and has appeared in several films as well as cult grunge documentary “Hype!”. Seven Year Bitch released their major label debut “Gato Negro” in 1996 but ended up calling it quits soon after.

Musical career

Rage Against the Machine (1990-2000; 2007-present)

Brad's success as the drummer of Rage Against the Machine came from the failure of a different band; he once auditioned for a band called Lock Up, who released one album (titled ''Something Bitchin' This Way Comes'') through Geffen records in 1989 and broke up when the album received little media attention upon release. Former Lock Up guitarist Tom Morello was looking to pick up where Lock Up left off and start a new band, and called up Brad to see if he was interested in playing the drums. A short while after, the duo met Zack de la Rocha, a rapper, and through de la Rocha met bassist Tim Commerford (a childhood friend of Zack's) and Rage Against the Machine was born. Brad Wilk combines 70's funk and modern alternative/rock geniously.
An announcement was made on January 22 that all original members of Rage Against the Machine would be re-forming to perform at the 2007 Coachella festival. Originally thought of as a one-off, the band then confirmed 4 more dates planned for the band as part of Rock the Bells with Wu-Tang Clan, and later an additional night in NYC after the first night sold out in twenty minutes.

Audioslave (2001-2007)

After Zach de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, music producer Rick Rubin suggested the three remaining members of Rage get together with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, and “see what happens”.
By May 2001, they had began to work in the studio, writing their first song “Light My Way”. By April of 2002, the newly formed band had split due to “outside” pressures, mainly from management companies. They soon got back together though, and on November 19, 2002 they released their eponymous debut, which would attain triple platinum status. Audioslave attained a large amount of success, and released another two studio albums. On May 5, 2005 Brad & Audioslave played a free concert in front of 65,000 Cuban fans, becoming the first American rock band to play a concert within Cuba.
On February 15, 2007, Chris Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, leaving the bands future in question.

Other projects

Wilk and bandmate Tom Morello joined with Maynard James Keenan of Tool and Billy Gould of Faith No More to record the song "Calling Dr Love" for the 1994 Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass. The lineup was billed as Shandi's Addiction.
Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford have also been listed as contributing artists in Keenan’s side project Puscifer. The extent of Brad’s contributions are unknown thus far.
In addition, Brad composed the song "Snoop Bounce (Roc N Roll Remix)" for Snoop Dogg's ''Death Row's Greatest Hits'' CD.

Equipment

The following are the Drumkits used by Brad Wilk during his musical career:

★ Rage Against the Machine (1991-2000) era:

★
★ Premier Signia Marquis Drums and Zildjian Cymbal [1]

★
★ 12x9" Tom

★
★ 16x16" Floor Tom

★
★ 14x6.5 Premier Pork Pie or Tama Bell Brass Snare

★
★ 22"x18" Bass Drum

★
★ 14" New Beat Hi-Hats

★
★ 18" Z Custom Crash

★
★ 19" A Custom Crash

★
★ 20" A Medium Ride

★
★ 18" Zildjian China or 19" Zildjian Crash (Only used until 1995)

★
★ LP Cowbell (x2)

★ Audioslave (2002-2005) era:

★
★ Gretsch Custom Drums and Paiste Cymbals [2]

★
★ 12x9" Tom

★
★ 16x16" Floor Tom

★
★ 18x16" Floor Tom

★
★ 14x6.5" Tama Bell Brass Snare

★
★ 22"x18" Bass Drum

★
★ 14" Paiste Signature Sound Edge Hi-Hats

★
★ 18" Paiste Signature Power Crash

★
★ 19" Paiste Signature Power Crash

★
★ 19" Dimensions Power Crash

★
★ 22" Paiste 2002 Ride

★
★ LP Cowbell

★ Rage Against the Machine Reunion (2007):

★
★ Gretsch USA Custom Maple Drums and Paiste Cymbals [3]

★
★ 12x10" Tom

★
★ 16x15" Floor Tom

★
★ 14x6.5" Tama Brass Snare

★
★ 22"x18" Gretsch Red Bass Drum

★
★ 14" Paiste Signature Sound Edge Hi-Hats

★
★ 18" Paiste Signature Power Crash

★
★ 19" Paiste Signature Power Crash

★
★ 20" Paiste 2002 Ride

★
★ LP Cowbell (x2)

★
★ Brad Wilk also uses DW Hardware (9000 Series), Remo drum skins (Emperors & Ambassadors) and Vic Firth 5B sticks (hickory with wood tips).

Discography

'Studio albums:'

★ '1. ''Rage Against the Machine''' (November 3, 1992)

★ '2. ''Evil Empire''' (April 16, 1996)

★ '3. ''The Battle of Los Angeles''' (November 2, 1999)

★ '4. ''Renegades''' (December 5, 2000)

★ '''1. Audioslave''' (November 19, 2002) Epic

★ '''2. Out of Exile''' (May 24, 2005) Interscope

★ '''3. Revelations''' (September 5, 2006) Epic

Trivia

★ Brad performed as an actor for the first time as star of Sleeping Dogs Lie with Maynard James Keenan and Ed Asner.