Motograter

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

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.

History

Motograter was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1995 by Bruce Butler aka Grater playing the Motograter, Crispy on drums, Smur on percussion, and Zak 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. 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 they announced their hiatus. They played a re-union show in 2006 in which Nuke returned on guitar, and Bruce returned on the Motograter. Mainstays JR, Ivan, and Crispy rounded out the rest of the lineup.

The New Breed

In 2009, it was announced that the band was "back" with a "new breed" line-up based out of Santa Barbara, California. The new lineup also included a bass player, playing alongside the motograter. The lineup was announced as Nuke on guitar, Tyler Hole on guitar, Angel on vocals, Mylon Guy on bass, Twitch on drums, and Bruce on the motograter

However the touring lineup places Mark Nosler on the motograter, instead of Bruce, leaving Motograter with no original members...either way Crispy had been the only constant original member and was not apart of the new lineup.

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 recordings also do not include percussion or eletronics/samples which were integral parts of the original sound. The use of bass also adds a different feel, further changing the sound, as the Motograter was intended to be in place of the bass, and is now being played along with it.

Discography

Album(s)

Singles

Other songs

"Failure" (Performed in 2004)

External links

• Motograter at MySpace
• Motograter at MySpace
• Motograter at Allmusic