Profile of Daisy Berkowitz on Famous Like Me

Scott Mitchell Putesky, born April 28, 1968 is an American musician more famously known as Daisy Berkowitz and was the lead guitarist and co-founder of shock rock group Marilyn Manson until his forceful removal in 1996, during the recording of Antichrist Superstar.

Background

Scott's first instruments were the flute and the snare drum, and in 6th grade joined the school's chorus, for which he apparently had a talent. His early loves were drawing, movies and, like his later bandmember Twiggy Ramirez, adored Star Wars. His first record was actually the Star Wars soundtrack, the influence that it had on him can be seen in much of his original artwork, which consists of aliens and spaceships. In the late 70's, when Scott was in his early teenage years and Punk had given way, he found admiration for artists such as David Bowie and Talking Heads, influences that are apparent in his later work.

Early Career

Scott's discovery of MTV after his moving to Fort Lauderdale in 1980 gave him the inspiration required to save up until he had enough money to buy a small Casio keyboard. He taught himself to play, and later, in 8th grade, took guitar lessons. Influenced by his early favourites, Scott learned to play songs by The Cure and U2, leading to his development of an odd personal style sometimes described as a fusion between blues and grunge. Scott's first band, The Flying Eggbeaters featured schoolmates Tom Wolf and Jim Neuman as drummer and bassist. This gave him the vital experience needed to later go on to form/join other bands, such as Blue China and 'Ear Wacks.

A period of drifting followed, in which Scott attented a local Art College where he majored in advertising design. Though his musical abilities were sidetracked, he began to visit local metal clubs such as The Gutter and The Cell. In 1988, after being given a small 4-track recorder by his parents, he bought a bass guitar and a drumkit in order to record his music with a full ensemble of instruments. At this time, Scott also played with a surf-rock band called The Hodads, which later led to him forming a band named Kinetic Ritual with Hodads bassist Rick Waters and future 'Spooky Kid' Fred Streithorst on drums. Another drifting period soon set in, however, as Scott was unsure of where to take his unique style.

Marilyn Manson

Scott and Brian Warner met at the bar of a small local party. The two instantly bonded, poking fun at America and its dual obsession with serial killers and beautiful women.

Scott, who had at this point not thought to advance his lyrical ability, began to meet up with Warner and brainstorm after his admission of wanting to start a band as a creative outlet for his poetry-writing abilities. Dual input from both parties gave the band its darkly psychadelic style, and as early as 1989 began to record onto Daisy's 4-track songs that would be seven years later be known as Cake and Sodomy and Dogma. Quickly they assembled a band with Warner's schoolmate Brian Tutunick, better known as Olivia Newton Bundy and, as Warner describes in his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, Perry Pandrea, a gawky teenager given the moniker Zsa Zsa Speck in reference to his unfortunate acne-ridden complexion. The band played its first show at Churchills, a club in Miami.

Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids, with its mix of psychadelic rock and subtle metaphors - candy, for example - quickly built a cult following in Southern Florida, playing at clubs such as Squeeze and The Reunion Room, and later opening for several national acts such as Danzig. The group also won a number of Slammies, Florida's version of the Grammy, for metal acts. In 1993 Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids played their last show, renaming themselves (or rather being renamed by their enigmatic vocalist) to a shorter, 'to-the-point' Marilyn Manson. The line-up had by that time changed to include Fred Streithorst from Scott's previous band as Sara Lee Lucas on drums, Brad Stewart as Gidget Gein on bass, and Stephen Bier as Madonna Wayne Gacy on Keys.

After signing with Trent Reznor's label Nothing Records in the summer of 1993 (Warner had interviewed Reznor years before and remained in touch — Reznor, when asked to come and see a show, was suitably impressed and offered them a contract on the spot) and began work on their first album, Portrait of an American Family. Though Marilyn Manson built up a strong local fanbase throughout these years, it was not until 1995 that they caught the ear of the world with the darkly gothic cover of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, globally praised for its rasping vocals and complex guitar riffs. In February 1996, after opening for Danzig, having two headlining tours and making three more music videos, the band headed back to the studio to begin work on Antichrist Superstar.

At this point, creative differences between Warner and Scott reached their peak - Scott, somewhat introverted on stage compared to the riotous antics of Manson, Gacy and Ramirez, began to be pushed off stage by Manson, finding his equipment mysteriously broken, and being criticised at every possible opportunity - his image was, according to Warner, just not shocking enough. Excluded from photoshoots and videos (he features less than any other bandmember in the Dope Hat video, for example) and ignored by production crew, his feelings of isolation and frustration grew. Apathy, however, soon turned into active victimisation, and before Antichrist Superstar was completed, an airline ticket for a one-way flight back to Fort Lauderdale mysteriously appeared in the studio. Scott said nothing, returning home silently with no backup plan, job or opportunity.

Post-Marilyn Manson Work

Abandoning the Daisy Berkowitz name in favor of his own initials, SMP joined up with longtime Marilyn Manson collaborators Jack Off Jill, replacing departing member Ho Ho Spade and playing live guitar on their 1997 West Coast tour. His first recorded work with the band was the 1998 EP Covetous Creature, to which he lent guitar and some production. At the same time, Scott was developing ideas for several of his own bands, including the Linda Blairs (a joke band, featuring Scott and several other South Florida musicians performing cover songs in drag) and Rednecks on Drugs; and recording demos for his "real" solo project, Three Ton Gate (named for the rock formation within the Coral Castle of Homestead, FL, created by one infatuated Ed Leedskalnin). A three-song demo, 3x3, featured music and lyrics written and performed entirely by Putesky, under the name "Scott Mitchell" (his first and middle names). The full-length Three Ton Gate release, Vanishing Century, was released in 1997 in limited quantities, and sold out its entire run of 400 copies. The album, also written and performed by Scott Mitchell, was the first Three Ton Gate release to feature vocalist Tyreah James.

By early 1999, SMP was no longer a member of Jack Off Jill. By most accounts, he simply lost interest in the band and returned once again to Ft. Lauderdale to resume work on his own music, primarily seeking a live band to perform his Three Ton Gate material. In the meantime, he successfully sued Marilyn Manson for what he claimed were unpaid royalties for his contributions to Antichrist Superstar; in the same lawsuit, Putesky was also awarded the rights to 21 unreleased recordings by Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids.

Following his settlement with Manson, Scott kicked around several solo and collaborative projects, including continuing to develop Three Ton Gate as a vehicle for film soundtrack work, joining the backing band of Israeli-born musician Michal Towber, and lending his songwriting skills to Washington, DC, industrial-rock band Godhead (who would later, ironically, become the first and only band on Marilyn Manson's record label, Posthuman Records). He also reestablished the Rednecks on Drugs project with friend and fellow musician Rich Penny (who was also in the Linda Blairs).

Eventually, Rednecks on Drugs metamorphosed into Stuck on Evil, essentially a hard-rock band with gothic, Southern rock, and early rock & roll influences. Stuck on Evil recorded a 10-song full-length album, Suntanic, produced by Scott Putesky, in 2001. Their plan for a national tour starting in August of that year was ruined, however, by a bone-breaking accident on the part of vocalist John Cain Reilly. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the subsequent condemnation of "evildoers" by then-President George W. Bush, the band decided to drop the word evil from its name. Explained Putesky: "Stuck on Evil -- it's a joke! And then nobody got the joke, and therefore it became a silly name, and all of a sudden having evil in your name wasn't so funny." Reilly agreed: "With the whole nation up in arms about evildoers, it just wasn't a good name to be."

Reverting to the original name of Three Ton Gate, Scott recorded the album Lose Your Mind for his own Scorpion Rising label in 2003.

Discography

• Various (Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids, 1990-1993)
• Portrait of an American Family (Marilyn Manson, 1994)
• Smells Like Children (Marilyn Manson, 1995)
• Antichrist Superstar (Marilyn Manson, 1996)
• Vanishing Century (Three Ton Gate, 1997)
• Covetous Creature (Jack Off Jill, 1998)
• Suntanic (Stuck on Evil, 2001)
• Lose Your Mind (Three Ton Gate, 2003)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Daisy Berkowitz