Motograter is an American nu metal band. They are best known for their homemade instrument the "motograter" - designed with industrial cable and guitar pieces that creates a very deep bass sound. The "motograter" instrument originally took place of the original bass guitar but now accompanies it. The band is also known for painting themselves in a tribal style body paint for concerts.
Motograter was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1995 by Bruce "Grater" Butler playing the Motograter, Joey "Smur" Krzywonski on percussion, Chris "Crispy" Binns on drums, and Zak "The Waz" Ward on vocals.
In 2000 during the recording of their first album, Indy, they added Eric Gonzales who handled electronics and samples.In 2001 they added guitarist Neil Godfrey. 2002 saw the departure of Godfrey, Gonzales, and Zak. They found a new guitarist in Matt "Nuke" Nunes, and a new vocalist in Ivan "Ghost" Moody.
In 2003 they released their first major label album entitled Motograter. It was the first Album to feature real guitars instead of samples. Before the album was even released, they added second guitarist JR, and Zak re-joined the band handling electronics/samples and also providing back-up vocals, making the band a 7-piece.That summer, Nuke left the band and they remained a 6-piece for a little while but eventually replaced Nuke with Ty Fury.
In the summer of 2004 Ty Fury would be replaced with Aaron aka "A-Bomb", and the band announced that they had begun work on a new album. Later on, Zak would leave the band again. The band chose not to replace him.
In the fall of 2004, the band toured without Bruce and Smur, leaving drummer Crispy as the only constant original member. In place of using the Motograter, they were accompanied by bassist Johnny Nailz. It was emphasized that this line-up was only for this tour but it was unclear whether or not Smur and Bruce had left for good or not.
In 2005 Motograter announced their hiatus to give time for side projects. However, the band played a one time re-union show in 2006 at the Delicious Rox Festival in which Ivan made it perfectly clear to fans and band members alike that he was finished with Motograter. Nuke and JR returned on guitar, along with Bruce on the Motograter with Crispy rounding out the rest of the lineup. After this show it was unclear what the rest of the members would choose to do.
In 2009, it was announced that the band was "back" with a "new breed" line-up based out of Santa Barbara, California. This lineup also included a bass player, playing alongside the motograter. The lineup was announced as Angel on vocals, Nuke on guitar, Tyler Hole on guitar, Mylon Guy on bass, Twitch on drums, and Bruce on the motograter.
The lineup played one show in Las Vegas, NV under the name "Out Of Curiosity" to test the new material on a live unbiased crowd before deciding to adopt the Motograter name. The set did not feature the Motograter.Before any touring commenced Bruce left and was replaced with Mark Nosler, leaving Motograter with no original/consistent members.
The "New Breed" sound is more in the direction of extreme metal and away from the tribal/aggro-rock of the original Motograter. The band's current demos do include electronics, however do not feature percussion which was an integral part of the original Motograter sound. The use of a traditional bass also adds a different feel, giving the band an even more full low end sound.
Motograter announced that they would be joining Mushroomhead in the fall of 2011 on a tour, called The Slaughterhouse Roadshow and featured Psychostick, Blue Felix, Ventana and Tenefly Viper. One week before the first day of the tour, Motograter posted to their Facebook page that they had disbanded, and would therefore not participate in the tour. Many rumors have been circling on the reasons for the disbanding, however it is unclear as to what really happened.
The band apparently removed Nuke from all administration privileges on their Facebook page, but he has released a statement on his personal page stating that:
”In regards to recent events involving former members of my band, I would like to say that those members are of no consequence to the ultimate outcome of Motograter and the music produced under that name... Unfortunately, those former members decided to step out of the project at a crucial time and sabotage their careers and an inevitably successful tour, but the music will continue and Motograter will morph into something bigger and better, as we have always proven to do. Much love to our loyal fans and keep an ear open for what is next.”
“Nuke decided he was going to fire members for no reason. My fellow band members and I had enough of his controlling ways and quit in support of our brothers.”
In February 2014, Motograter reunited under another new lineup, including returning members Angel on vocals, Nuke on guitar and Mylon Guy on bass. The line up was rounded out by new members Noah "Shark" Robertson on drums, Kery "Venom" Glennon on guitar, Lane Steele on percussion and Michael Stewart on the motograter. Originally J.R. Schwartz was announced as a returning member, but didn't make it to the band's rehearsals. The band played their first show in two years on February 8, 2014 in Santa Ana, CA, after which Lane Steele was let go. The band will not comment on the reason. The band stated on stage that they will be releasing a new album this year.
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…shrink me down again