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Mike Bishop joined GWAR in 1987 in the wake of the mass exodus
of older musicians. Mike replaced Chris Bopst as bass player
and gave his lifelong nickname, "Beefcake" a new immortal
status. During his tenure, Mike played bass on GWAR's first
four albums as well as "The Road Behind" EP and the 1999 album
"We Kill Everything". Mike also sang lead vocals on many songs
and backup harmony on countless others.
Mike can be seen in all of GWAR's longform videos from this
timeframe.
During the mid 1990's, Mike toured and recorded with his band
"Kepone". In 2003, Mike reunited with fellow GWAR alumni Tim
Harriss to form a new band "American Grizzly"
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Mike Bonner first wandered into the Slave Pit during the
early days and soon began performing with GWAR. Mike was probably
the most recognizable "GWAR-slave" and was the first to play
such a character, creating it out of necessity. Mike went
on to play countless other victims and monsters live as well
as becoming an important costume fabricator in the Slave Pit
shop. Mike toured extensively with GWAR during his years of
involvement and can be seen in all of GWAR's live, and longform
videos from that period.
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Dave Musel already held a BFA in sculpture before coming
to VCU for his MFA. Quickly falling in with the burgeoning
art movement, Dave lent his craftsmanship and technical skill
to the cause. After initially playing a few character roles
on stage, Dave withdrew to a more comfortable "Man behind
the scenes" position. Dave's abilities in a variety of materials,
such as wood and metal, helped round out the Slave Pit shop,
whose other artists were weaker in those areas. For years,
Dave was relied on by many of the other artists as an informal
technical advisor.
Dave's pioneering use of a keyboard for live samples greatly
improved the overall professional sound of the group. It was
this position that Dave held until leaving the group in 1999
to pursue his own fabrication career.
Dave now travels the country working for, and with well known
sculptors in locales from Chicago to Chattanooga.
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Casey Orr joined GWAR in 1994. He was brought in to replace
Michael Bishop as bass player and character of "Beefcake the
Mighty". Casey was well known already to many for his involvement
with early horror metal band "Rigor Mortis" and the Ministry
side project "Revolting Cocks". Casey fit in instantly and
began not only playing bass in GWAR, but also lead vocals
in "X-Cops".
Casey's bass playing can be heard on "Ragnarok", "Carnival
of Chaos" and "Violence Has Arrived" He toured with GWAR for
the entire length of his involvement, except for a brief interlude
in 1998. Returning from Texas in 1999, Casey rejoined GWAR.
He toured and recorded with the band all the way until the
fall of 2002.
Casey has since returned to Texas and is currently touring
and recording with Burden Brothers, The Hellions, and Speeddealer
as well as striving to revive "Rigor Mortis". The rest of his
time is spent with his new family.
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Zach took over where Pete Lee left off as Flattus Maximus.
Zach has been involved with many projects including Hagfish,
Armstrong, Mag Seven, Burden Brothers, and The Hellions.
Zach's guitar styles weigh-in and greatly influenced the
direction on GWAR's "Violence Has Arrived".
Zach, also a Texan, soon returned home along with Casey to
continue their own projects.
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Pete Lee began playing guitar for GWAR in 1992. He became
the second person to perform as the character "Flattus Maximus"
Pete's guitar playing can be heard on three GWAR albums "This
Toilet Earth", "Ragnarok", and "Carnival of Chaos". Pete also
played on the "X-Cops"
album "You Have the Right to Remain Silent"
After surviving a life threatening injury during a 1993 carjacking
incident, Pete's health was very delicate. Pete continued
to perform and tour with GWAR as well as X-Cops, until it
was unhealthy for him to do so.
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Dewey Rowell began playing guitar for GWAR in the spring
of 1987. Upon joining the group he assumed the character name
"Flattus Maximus", a character created by the group especially
for him. At the time of his joining the group Dewey was already
a veteran of several well known touring bands, namely White
Cross and Unseen Force.
From the time of his joining the group until his departure
Dewey contributed heavily to the musical aspect of GWAR. His
playing style is noticeable on GWAR's first two albums, "Hell-O"
and "Scumdogs of the Universe", and felt even on the next
two "America Must Be Destroyed" and "This Toilet Earth" even
thought he did not play on those.
In addition to recording, Dewey toured with the GWAR for the
entire time of his involvement. Dewey is also featured as
Flattus in GWAR's first long form video "Live from Antarctica"
Leaving Slave Pit and GWAR to form his own construction company,
Dewey remained close to the group and even helped on the set
construction of "Phallus in Wonderland". Dewey now resides
in West Virginia.
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Steve Douglas began playing guitar with GWAR at the very
first performance. He departed the fledgling group after their
second show. Steve was heavily involved with other Richmond
bands, namely Death Piggy and Mudd Helmut and decided to devote
more time to them.
When the position for guitar player in GWAR opened up in the
spring of 1987, Steve joined the group again, and assumed the
role of "Balsac". He performed and toured with GWAR in this
capacity until early 1988. Steve also contributed to and recorded
on GWAR's first album "Hell-O"
After leaving the group Steve remained an active musician
in several bands, including his own band "Log". He currently
resides in Richmond and works as a graphic designer.
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Tim Harriss played guitar in GWAR for one performance in 1986.
He played an unnamed character with a big headdress and a spiked
tail. When GWAR needed a temporary guitar player for the 1998
album "We Kill Everything" and subsequent tour, Tim temporarily
rejoined and played the "Flattus Maximus" character. |
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Mike Dunn first worked with the Slave Pit as a drum tech for
GWAR. After touring for several years in this respect, Mike
went on to drum for the Texas based band the Skatenigs. After
completing several other projects, Mike moved to Richmond
in 1994 for full time Slave Pit work and began practicing
with the fledgling band X-Cops. From that point until 1997
Mike was the full time drummer for X-Cops as well as well
rounded worker in every respect of work at the Slave Pit.
Mike is heard drumming on the X-Cops album "You Have the Right
to Remain Silent" as well as his scenes as an extra on the
long form videos " Skul-hed-face" and "Surf of Syn". Mike
currently resides in Denton, TX.
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Jim Thomson was the second person to play drums for GWAR as
the character Hans Orifice. After leaving GWAR, Jim helped
form the Salsa band Bio
Ritmo and currently is involved in two bands from Dry
County Records, Plasmodium and Tulsa Drone.
"One of my fondest memories is playing [in GWAR] nude
during a US/Canada summer tour after finding my costume too
confining night after night, and occasionally pissing on stage
when the moment struck me, and because, how was I to leave
the stage during a battle scene with Techno Destructo???"
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Danny Black was GWAR's first official roadie. At the time of
his joining, GWAR had no touring technical staff. Danny filled
this role, and was considered a member of the band until his
leaving in 1992. Danny is featured as a crack slave in "Phallus
in Wonderland" and one of the four slaves on the back cover
of "Scumdogs of the Universe" |
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Lisa Harrelson was the third person to portray the "GWAR-woman"
character. She was a touring member of the band for the first
year of the "Hell-O" era. |
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Chris played bass for the first two years of GWAR's existence.
Although others wore the "Jaws" costume, Chris was the person
to name that character, while he played it, as "Balsac".
Greg played guitar early on in GWAR's existence. He portrayed
the character "Cornealius Carnage" who was the predecessor
of the "Beefcake the Mighty" character.
Mike Delaney made props for, and performed with GWAR in the
very earliest days. Originally playing the character of the
"Execuioner", Mike went on to regularly play the character
of "Cardinal Syn". After leaving in 1987, Mike returned to help
out on the production of "Skul-hed-face" and the subsequent
tour.
Heather Broome performed with GWAR for the first year. She
was the first to play the role of "GWAR-woman" When a second
female character was added, her character became known as
"The Temptress".
Colette Miller performed with GWAR for a year in the early
days. Her character, the second of two female characters was
known as "Amazina". With the departure of Heather Broome,
Colette became known as just "GWAR-woman"
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Joe sang for GWAR for several months in late 1985-1986.
His character was Joey Slutman.
Ben Eubanks was GWAR's first singer. His character was Johnny
Slutman.
Russ Bahorsky played guitar in Death Piggy. Subsequently, Russ
played guitar for the first two GWAR performances.
Sean Sumner played drums in Death Piggy. Sean also transitioned
into drumming for GWAR until the end of 1985.
Adam Green was the Slave Pit in house sound engineer during
it's earliest days. During this period Adam mixed sound during
GWAR's live performances and also recorded several, if not
all, of the band's earliest demos.
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