Michael McKeegan
Michael McKeegan |
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Michael Robert McKeegan born March 23 1971, in Larne, Northern Ireland. He is best known as bassist with the rock band Therapy?.
Evil Priest
In 1988, McKeegan, along with his two brothers Ciaran and Charlie, formed a heavy metal band called "Evil Priest". The group recorded two demo cassettes - "Pretention Is Not Excuse" and "Hear No Evil...". The fledgling group disbanded in 1989 when Michael joined Therapy?[1].
Therapy?
In 1989, while Michael was still at school, his classmate Fyfe Ewing handed him a four song cassette that he had recorded with Andy Cairns, entitled "Thirty Seconds Of Silence". McKeegan was so impressed he immediately joined as Therapy?'s bassist, and soon recorded his first material with the band; another four track demo tape entitled "Meat Abstract". He has since recorded ten full-length albums, two mini-albums, two compilation albums and numerous EP's with the million selling outfit. Along with Cairns, McKeegan is the only original member still with the band[2].
Gear
In the March 1998 issue of "Guitar Magazine", Michael had the following to say:
Chris Sheldon recommended I hired in this Music Man StingRay - then we wangled that the hire cost came off the price, so in the end I bought it for 500 quid which is a bargain. It's the best bass I've ever played. I got a new Mesa/Boogie head and a Mesa/Boogie cab as well, 2x15"s whereas I usually use an 8x10" - I needed something to really give a big bottom end 'cos on some tracks I tuned down to D or even C. I used a Boss Bass Overdrive too, but some of the more fuzzy bass is Mr Coloursound and his wonderful pedals again. Then I used the pitch-shift on a Digitech Whammy pedal for some of the higher notes... oh, and I attacked the bass with the leg off Martin's cello. It's a very useful thing to have around.
In August 2003, Michael posted the following message on the official Therapy? website:
For Troublegum and Infernal Love I used the black Status bass with an Ampeg Svt1 head and an Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. For Semi-Detached I used the Sunburst Musicman and a Mesa Boogie 4oo+ through a Mesa Boogie 2x15 cabinet. Suicide Pact was the Sunburst Musicman with the Mesa 400+ head through the Ampeg 8x10, Shameless was the Blue Musicman through a Mesa 400+ and a 2x15 Mesa cabinet. High Anxiety was the Blue Musicman with various weird heads through a Harke 4 x10 cabinet. In conjunction with all these set ups I normally use a Sans Amp bass driver pedal and Boss Bass Overdrive and Morley Bass wahs for the squally sounds… Hope you are confused. I am. For the record I NEVER had a Westone Thunder 1a. That is a reference to Andy’s first ever bass guitar but I never dabbled. Aria Pro II when I could afford them! Other guitars… Status Buzzard, Fender Sunburst Precision and a Sunburst Fender Jazz have all made appearances on record and live[3].
Personal
Nicknamed "The Evil Priest", Michael is known for his friendliness towards Therapy?'s fans - during gigs he often converses with members of the audience between songs, and regularly posts messages on the bands' official message boards. He lives in Belfast, with his Dutch wife whom he married in September 2008. He appeared as a judge on BBC Northern Ireland's ATL Rock School 2007.[4]
Discography
Albums
- Babyteeth (1991)
- Pleasure Death (1992)
- Nurse (1992)
- Troublegum (1994)
- Infernal Love (1995)
- Semi-Detached (1998)
- Suicide Pact - You First (1999)
- So Much For the Ten Year Plan - A Retrospective 1990-2000 (2000)
- Shameless (2001)
- High Anxiety (2003)
- Never Apologise Never Explain (2004)
- One Cure Fits All (2006)
- Music Through A Cheap Transistor: The BBC Sessions (2007)
- Crooked Timber (2009)
Singles
- "Meat Abstract" (1990)
- "Teethgrinder" (1992)
- "Shortsharpshock" (E.P.) (1993)
- "Face the Strange" (E.P.) (1993)
- "Opal Mantra" (1993)
- "Nowhere" (1994)
- "Trigger Inside" (1994)
- "Die Laughing" (1994)
- "Isolation" (1994)
- "Femtex" (1994)
- "Stories" (1995)
- "Loose" (1995)
- "Diane" (1995)
- "Stories" (re-release) (1996)
- "Bad Mother" (1996)
- "Church Of Noise" (1998)
- "Lonely, Cryin’, Only" (1998)
- "Hate Kill Destroy" (2000)
- "Bad Karma Follows You Around" (2000)
- "Gimme Back My Brain" (2001)
- "I Am The Money" (2001)
- "If It Kills Me/Rust" (2003)
- "My Voodoo Doll' (2003)
- "Polar Bear/Rock You Monkeys" (2005)
- "Rain Hits Concrete" (E.P.) (2006)
- "Crooked Timber" (2009)
Other releases
- Pretention Is Not Excuse (1988) - Demo tape (with Evil Priest)
- Hear No Evil... (1989) - Demo tape (with Evil Priest)
- Meat Abstract (1989) - Demo tape
- Caucasian Psychosis (1992) - a US compilation of the first two mini-albums
- Have a Merry Fucking Christmas (1992) - a 7" given away at Dublin and Belfast gigs
- Born In A Crash (1993) - a European only mini-album
- Hats Off to the Insane (1993) - a US and Japan only mini-album
- Live In Japan (Fan Club Edition) (1994) - a fan-club only cassette recorded live in Tokyo in October 1993
- Official Fan Club (1996) - a fan-club only CD recorded live in Arnhem in July 1995
- Scopophobia (2003) - a DVD release recorded live in Belfast's Mandela Hall in June 2003, plus promo video clips and extras
- Gold (2007) - a DVD release featuring promo video clips
- Webgig (2007) - a live studio video/audio download from the official website, recorded in September 2006
External links
- Therapy? Bio
- ATL Rock School 2007 at bbc.co.uk