Bootsy Collins, be-shaded bass legend who has played with James Brown, George Clinton and a list of people far too long to go into here, has a funk/metal concept album out about mental health called, er, Metal Health.
As you’d expect from such a keen collaborator, it features a number of big names, including Eric Gales, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and the actor Samuel L Jackson, but his main foil on the project is Buckethead.
In an interview with the Appetite For Distortion podcast, Collins has explained what the eccentric guitarist, best known for his stint in Chinese Democracy-era Guns N’ Roses, is really like.
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“He is the most pleasant person you could ever be with,” Collins insisted. “He’s so humble. You can’t say enough good things about him. And he really can’t help the fact that that’s where he’s at and that’s where he’s been at. And then if you come up with words to call him, then that’s on you.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPrwjxeSA0A
Buckethead’s reputation for oddness goes before him – there’s the fact he’s never seen without his mask and the bloomin’ great KFC bucket on his head, for starters. But he’s also rarely given interviews and when he has done them he’s preferred to speak ‘through’ his guitar. He and Collins go back to the 1990s and the bass icon seems to be among the few people in the music industry who know him personally.
Invariably, Collins says, people pre-judge Buckethead. “Because he’s not trying to be a rock star, he’s not trying to be anybody else. He’s not trying to do that. He’s found himself early, and people called him a freak.
“So, he’s had enough time to get used to that, because I’m like, ‘Bucket, how are you gonna walk around looking like this and don’t expect people to call you a freak?’ And then we laugh about it. But getting over that hump, it just takes time. And it’s a spiritual thing, as well.”
The pair have established a firm friendship over the years. “It’s like, I know when he’s talking a little sideways and he knows when I’m talking a little sideways. And that’s a good feeling for somebody to know what you mean – without doubting you or questioning you or calling you crazy. We face that every day every single day.”
“Imagine what Bucket faces every day, because he don’t talk to people. We talk, but I’m talking about just people in general. But that’s not a gimmick – he talks with his guitar. And that’s pretty much it.”
