Gizz Butt

Infobox musical artist | Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | Instrument = Guitar
Name = Gizz Butt
Birth_name = Graham Butt

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Born = 1966
Manchester, England
Alias =
Genre = Punk
Thrash metal
Associated_acts = English Dogs
The Prodigy
Sabbat
Label =
Notable_instruments =
Years_active = 1984 to present
URL =

Gizz Butt (born Graham Butt, in Manchester, England in 1966) is a British musician, best known for playing the guitar during live performances by band The Prodigy in the late 1990s.

Biography

Early years

Born August 3rd 1966 Graham Anthony Butt acquired the nickname "Gizz" from the character 'Gizzard Puke' "The Kenny Everett Show". Coming from a musical background, Gizz began playing the guitar at the age of eleven, taking lessons with a jazz guitarist in Manchester. In 1978, his family had relocated to Peterborough, where Butt formed his first school band, The Northern Lights.Within a few months 12 year old Graham changed the band name to The Exits and wrote a whole 40 set of original material including guitar solos. Enjoying this experience he turned the band into a 3 piece called The System and began booking his own shows locallt ."I started playing in that way when I was 13 and I heard Motorhead’s “Bomber” back to back with The Damned’s “Love song”. My sister was dating a musician called HARRY SAYERS ,a black guy who was into Heavy Metal and he left his Fender strat and distortion unit at my house. He showed me a bunch of stuff by Sabbath , Iron Maiden , Motorhead , Thin Lizzy and Hendrix. My first goal was to play better than him. It took me 12 months. He was my idol at that time though and stayed that way until I heard Van Halen for the first time and THAT changed my life. Bear in mind that all this time I was in a Punk rock band and learning and writing Punk rock songs . I was adding a metal edge to all of it". He was quickly recruited by another band, The Destructors. During the years 1981 - 83 Gizz was co-writing and recording the bands stream of singles (Senseless Violence , Religion , Jailbait , Forces of Law , Wild Thing) and albums (Excorcise the demons of youth , Armaggedon in action , Bomb Hanoi , Merry Xmas and F*** off) By 1984 he had left The Destructors to join English Dogs. [Ian Glasper, Burning Britain, London: Cherry Red, 2004, p. 209.] While in The English Dogs he toured the USA, and it was at this time Gizz's fusion of punk and metal based guitar playing was started to get him noticed by the likes of Metallica and helping influence the thrash metal genre. By 1987 the English Dogs came to a halt and Gizz had moved on again, forming another band, Wardance.

Gizz auditioned for the guitarist position with The Prodigy, on hearing that Jim Davies had left. He toured with The Prodigy for 3 years when they were at their most successful. After playing with The Prodigy throughout the 1996–97 period, Gizz formed Janus Stark in 1998 who had US chart success with ‘Every Little Thing Counts’, and formed another band in 2003, The More I see, a thrash metal 5 piece.

Butt has performed with British thrashers Sabbat since the D.O.D festival, replacing original bassist Fraser Craske. He will continue to perform with the band for the remainder of their 2007 festival appearances, and all European and American dates in 2008.

Outside of performance work, Butt teaches, formerly at Stamford School, now at Hampton College, Peterborough.

The More I See released there 2nd album the Unholy Feast in 2008 and played the Riverside Festival in Stamford on July 5th 2008.

External links

* [http://www.gizzbutt.com Official website] .
* [http://www.myspace.com/gizzbutt Gizz Butt Myspace]
* [http://www.transcendmediagroup.com Management and Label]

References