Введение
Американский музыкант
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and previously provided vocals in the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, the latter of which he also played guitar for. In 2018, Puciato and visual artist Jesse Draxler co founded the art collective and record label Federal Prisoner. Puciato is noted for the intensity of his live performances, wide vocal and stylistic range, outspoken views, and controversy stemming from his bands' performances and interviews. Rolling Stone said that "few singers live, breathe and often literally bleed their art like he does." Puciato's parents owned many vinyl records by artists such as Elton John, Bee Gees, Prince, Black Sabbath, Mitch Miller and Molly Hatchet, as well as an old victrola, and they bought him a small 7 inch record player. In recent years, Puciato revealed that he grew up in a dangerous, poor neighborhood, which "giant[ly]" influenced him in the sense that he does not "feel uncomfortable in any area," while the African American culture of the area led to his fondness for R&B and hip hop. Around the age of nine, he saw Metallica's video for "One", which was the "darkest thing [he had watched]" and inspired him to learn Metallica songs on the guitar. When recalling the appearance of these or other artists such as Nine Inch Nails on TV, he viewed it as "inspiring" and said it "seemed like the weirdos had infiltrated the system, or created a new one." Puciato had several older friends who traded tapes and they would introduce him to underground music; when Puciato told one of them which were his favorites bands, his friend gave him a tape of I Against I by Bad Brains that "blew [his] mind apart" and subsequently showed him a 1980s' Bad Brains live bootleg that would make a long standing impression on the singer. In 2013 he reflected:
Puciato recorded his first cassette at thirteen, performing original music with his best friend who was a drummer. At the age of fourteen, Puciato started singing for a thrash metal group. While originally their guitarist, he switched to vocals because he was "too much of a control freak to let someone else sing" and could not perform both at the same time, but he continued writing the band's songs on guitar. After people started praising his singing ability and Puciato realized that it came more naturally to him, he shifted his focus to vocals. Although raised in a non practicing home, Puciato attended a Catholic private school. He was a good student and skipped grades, graduating one month after he turned 17. He went to college in Maryland and after a year of studying he took a break, during which he was invited to join the Dillinger Escape Plan. Puciato had already played in some bands from the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area, but, at that time, he preferred to refine his vocal style than commit full time to a band, and waited for the "right opportunity" to do so. In a scenario mirroring that of young Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Puciato started out as a fan of the Dillinger Escape Plan in their earlier days. When the band split with their singer Dimitri Minakakis (due to him wanting to focus more on his graphic design career and personal life), they searched publicly for a new singer by releasing the instrumental version of the song "43% Burnt" (off of their debut album). Puciato sent in a tape with one version of him mimicking Dimitri Minakakis and one with his own take on the song. He was contacted shortly after by the band, auditioned in person, and was subsequently asked to join. Coincidentally, the band's first release with Puciato was for a Black Flag tribute compilation, where they covered "Damaged I and II". Commenting on his entrance to the band in 2013, Puciato recalled:
Puciato follows the same approach in writing for the Black Queen, characterized by moody synths and electronics, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, featuring dissonant, complex rhythms and abrupt changes, despite the stylistic disparity of both bands. He tends to seek the "big picture" of his pieces under development instead of going through them detail by detail; the latter is a common procedure used by some of his musical partners and Puciato believes that both methods balance out the "flipside of their [respective] strengths". putting as much emphasis on the patterns and melodies of the songs as on their lyrics, and discarding those which "mean nothing" to him. PopMatters described Puciato as a "brilliant storyteller, always bringing the listener into the atmosphere of the song", and his lines "wash over you like an emotion — maybe you can't pinpoint its exact meaning or origin, but you know it's there", opined MetalSucks. but he tries to "give their [emotional] source to the listener without it becoming too indecipherable or compromised along the way [of creating the music]." Stage performances by Puciato, particularly as a member of the Dillinger Escape Plan, were noted for their reckless, chaotic nature. The band was already known for its shows, but the addition of the singer in 2001 led to their most infamous performances. The concerts caused him both cumulative and direct injuries, and a news site commented in 2013: "Thankfully, Mr. Puciato has not, as of this writing, actually killed himself while [performing]". and started to light their drums on fire, to run rapidly from the stage onto the heads of the crowd, or to climb through them, as well as invited the audiences to the stage. When asked about his rehearsal schedule, Puciato said that the performances are "completely improvised. I just want to be as pure and in the moment as possible vocally and physically to me it's about trying to transcend and reach the purest part of the moment and live in that completely for the whole performance." Puciato later resented that several fans were "frightened" of him due to their perception of him. A few shows afterward, Puciato's face was hit by a guitar, shattering a tooth and requiring emergency dentistry. During a 2002 show supporting System of a Down in Europe, audience members taunted the band and hurled chicken at them, which the singer picked up and ate. unaware that the undertow could have pulled him deep beneath the surface and consequently drowned him. The act caused much controversy and had the Dillinger Escape Plan on the verge of being banned in the UK. Upon returning to Reading in 2016, Puciato played the opening song "Prancer" sitting on an onstage couch reading a newspaper and drinking tea. On June 10, 2006, the Dillinger Escape Plan played in Fredericksburg, Virginia in front of a hostile audience and a spectator stole James Love's guitar, leading Puciato to chase him from the stage to the parking lot where the robber got into his car, ran over the singer's foot and a member of Cattle Decapitation tossed a hammer through his windshield, yet he managed to flee. At the Los Angeles House of Blues, opening for Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008, Puciato jumped into the VIP section and threw a chair to a security guard who was "roughing up" a fan, giving rise to a near riot, the audience beginning to throw objects and the other guards trying to drag the singer off the stage for the rest of their set. The event ended up with six police cars arriving at the place
Грегори Джон Пучато (родился 27 марта 1980 года) — американский музыкант, наиболее известный как бывший вокалист и автор текстов металкор-группы Dillinger Escape Plan. Помимо сольной карьеры, он в настоящее время является фронтменом Better Lovers и ранее выступал в Black Queen и Killer Be Killed, в последней из которых также играл на гитаре. В 2018 году Пучато и визуальный художник Джесси Дракслер основали арт-коллектив и лейбл Federal Prisoner. Пучато известен интенсивностью своих живых выступлений, широким вокальным и стилистическим диапазоном, откровенными взглядами и противоречиями, возникающими из-за выступлений и интервью его групп. Rolling Stone отмечал, что «мало певцов живут, дышат и часто буквально кровоточат своим искусством, как он». Родители Пучато владели множеством виниловых пластинок таких исполнителей, как Элтон Джон, Bee Gees, Prince, Black Sabbath, Mitch Miller и Molly Hatchet, а также старым проигрывателем, и они купили ему небольшой 7-дюймовый проигрыватель. В последние годы Пучато рассказал, что вырос в опасном, бедном районе, который «огромно» повлиял на него в том смысле, что он «не чувствует себя некомфортно в любой обстановке», а афроамериканская культура этого района привела к его любви к R&B и хип-хопу. Около девяти лет он увидел видео Metallica на песню "One", которое было «самым мрачным, что он когда-либо видел», и вдохновило его на изучение песен Metallica на гитаре. Вспоминая появление этих или других артистов, таких как Nine Inch Nails, на телевидении, он считал это «вдохновляющим» и говорил, что «казалось, будто фрики проникли в систему или создали новую». У Пучато было несколько старших друзей, которые обменивались кассетами и знакомили его с андеграундной музыкой; когда Пучато сказал одному из них, какие его любимые группы, друг дал ему кассету I Against I группы Bad Brains, которая «взорвала ему мозг», а затем показал пиратскую запись Bad Brains 1980-х годов, которая произвела на певца длительное впечатление. В 2013 году он вспоминал:
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and previously provided vocals in the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, the latter of which he also played guitar for. In 2018, Puciato and visual artist Jesse Draxler co founded the art collective and record label Federal Prisoner. Puciato is noted for the intensity of his live performances, wide vocal and stylistic range, outspoken views, and controversy stemming from his bands' performances and interviews. Rolling Stone said that "few singers live, breathe and often literally bleed their art like he does." Puciato's parents owned many vinyl records by artists such as Elton John, Bee Gees, Prince, Black Sabbath, Mitch Miller and Molly Hatchet, as well as an old victrola, and they bought him a small 7 inch record player. In recent years, Puciato revealed that he grew up in a dangerous, poor neighborhood, which "giant[ly]" influenced him in the sense that he does not "feel uncomfortable in any area," while the African American culture of the area led to his fondness for R&B and hip hop. Around the age of nine, he saw Metallica's video for "One", which was the "darkest thing [he had watched]" and inspired him to learn Metallica songs on the guitar. When recalling the appearance of these or other artists such as Nine Inch Nails on TV, he viewed it as "inspiring" and said it "seemed like the weirdos had infiltrated the system, or created a new one." Puciato had several older friends who traded tapes and they would introduce him to underground music; when Puciato told one of them which were his favorites bands, his friend gave him a tape of I Against I by Bad Brains that "blew [his] mind apart" and subsequently showed him a 1980s' Bad Brains live bootleg that would make a long standing impression on the singer. In 2013 he reflected:
Puciato recorded his first cassette at thirteen, performing original music with his best friend who was a drummer. At the age of fourteen, Puciato started singing for a thrash metal group. While originally their guitarist, he switched to vocals because he was "too much of a control freak to let someone else sing" and could not perform both at the same time, but he continued writing the band's songs on guitar. After people started praising his singing ability and Puciato realized that it came more naturally to him, he shifted his focus to vocals. Although raised in a non practicing home, Puciato attended a Catholic private school. He was a good student and skipped grades, graduating one month after he turned 17. He went to college in Maryland and after a year of studying he took a break, during which he was invited to join the Dillinger Escape Plan. Puciato had already played in some bands from the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area, but, at that time, he preferred to refine his vocal style than commit full time to a band, and waited for the "right opportunity" to do so. In a scenario mirroring that of young Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Puciato started out as a fan of the Dillinger Escape Plan in their earlier days. When the band split with their singer Dimitri Minakakis (due to him wanting to focus more on his graphic design career and personal life), they searched publicly for a new singer by releasing the instrumental version of the song "43% Burnt" (off of their debut album). Puciato sent in a tape with one version of him mimicking Dimitri Minakakis and one with his own take on the song. He was contacted shortly after by the band, auditioned in person, and was subsequently asked to join. Coincidentally, the band's first release with Puciato was for a Black Flag tribute compilation, where they covered "Damaged I and II". Commenting on his entrance to the band in 2013, Puciato recalled:
Puciato follows the same approach in writing for the Black Queen, characterized by moody synths and electronics, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, featuring dissonant, complex rhythms and abrupt changes, despite the stylistic disparity of both bands. He tends to seek the "big picture" of his pieces under development instead of going through them detail by detail; the latter is a common procedure used by some of his musical partners and Puciato believes that both methods balance out the "flipside of their [respective] strengths". putting as much emphasis on the patterns and melodies of the songs as on their lyrics, and discarding those which "mean nothing" to him. PopMatters described Puciato as a "brilliant storyteller, always bringing the listener into the atmosphere of the song", and his lines "wash over you like an emotion — maybe you can't pinpoint its exact meaning or origin, but you know it's there", opined MetalSucks. but he tries to "give their [emotional] source to the listener without it becoming too indecipherable or compromised along the way [of creating the music]." Stage performances by Puciato, particularly as a member of the Dillinger Escape Plan, were noted for their reckless, chaotic nature. The band was already known for its shows, but the addition of the singer in 2001 led to their most infamous performances. The concerts caused him both cumulative and direct injuries, and a news site commented in 2013: "Thankfully, Mr. Puciato has not, as of this writing, actually killed himself while [performing]". and started to light their drums on fire, to run rapidly from the stage onto the heads of the crowd, or to climb through them, as well as invited the audiences to the stage. When asked about his rehearsal schedule, Puciato said that the performances are "completely improvised. I just want to be as pure and in the moment as possible vocally and physically to me it's about trying to transcend and reach the purest part of the moment and live in that completely for the whole performance." Puciato later resented that several fans were "frightened" of him due to their perception of him. A few shows afterward, Puciato's face was hit by a guitar, shattering a tooth and requiring emergency dentistry. During a 2002 show supporting System of a Down in Europe, audience members taunted the band and hurled chicken at them, which the singer picked up and ate. unaware that the undertow could have pulled him deep beneath the surface and consequently drowned him. The act caused much controversy and had the Dillinger Escape Plan on the verge of being banned in the UK. Upon returning to Reading in 2016, Puciato played the opening song "Prancer" sitting on an onstage couch reading a newspaper and drinking tea. On June 10, 2006, the Dillinger Escape Plan played in Fredericksburg, Virginia in front of a hostile audience and a spectator stole James Love's guitar, leading Puciato to chase him from the stage to the parking lot where the robber got into his car, ran over the singer's foot and a member of Cattle Decapitation tossed a hammer through his windshield, yet he managed to flee. At the Los Angeles House of Blues, opening for Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008, Puciato jumped into the VIP section and threw a chair to a security guard who was "roughing up" a fan, giving rise to a near riot, the audience beginning to throw objects and the other guards trying to drag the singer off the stage for the rest of their set. The event ended up with six police cars arriving at the place
Пучато записал свою первую кассету в тринадцать лет, исполняя оригинальную музыку со своим лучшим другом, который был барабанщиком. В четырнадцать лет Пучато начал петь в трэш-метал группе. Изначально он был гитаристом, но перешел на вокал, потому что был «слишком большим контролером, чтобы позволить кому-то другому петь» и не мог играть одновременно и на гитаре, и петь, но продолжал писать песни для группы на гитаре. После того, как люди начали хвалить его вокальные данные и Пучато понял, что это дается ему естественнее, он переключил свое внимание на вокал. Хотя он вырос в нерелигиозной семье, он учился в частной католической школе. Он был хорошим учеником и пропускал классы, окончив школу за месяц после своего 17-летия. Он поступил в колледж в Мэриленде и после года учебы взял перерыв, во время которого его пригласили присоединиться к Dillinger Escape Plan. Пучато уже играл в нескольких группах из Балтимора и Вашингтона, но в то время он предпочитал совершенствовать свой вокальный стиль, чем полностью посвятить себя группе, и ждал «подходящей возможности». Ситуация напоминала историю молодого Генри Роллинса и Black Flag: Пучато начинал как поклонник Dillinger Escape Plan в их ранние годы. Когда группа рассталась со своим вокалистом Димитрием Минакакисом (из-за его желания больше сосредоточиться на карьере графического дизайнера и личной жизни), они публично искали нового вокалиста, выпустив инструментальную версию песни "43% Burnt" (с их дебютного альбома). Пучато прислал кассету с одной версией, где он имитировал Димитрия Минакакиса, и другой — со своей интерпретацией песни. Вскоре после этого с ним связалась группа, он прошел прослушивание лично и впоследствии получил приглашение присоединиться. Случайно, первым релизом группы с Пучато стал трибьют-альбом Black Flag, где они сделали кавер на "Damaged I and II". Комментируя свое вступление в группу в 2013 году, Пучато вспоминал:
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and previously provided vocals in the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, the latter of which he also played guitar for. In 2018, Puciato and visual artist Jesse Draxler co founded the art collective and record label Federal Prisoner. Puciato is noted for the intensity of his live performances, wide vocal and stylistic range, outspoken views, and controversy stemming from his bands' performances and interviews. Rolling Stone said that "few singers live, breathe and often literally bleed their art like he does." Puciato's parents owned many vinyl records by artists such as Elton John, Bee Gees, Prince, Black Sabbath, Mitch Miller and Molly Hatchet, as well as an old victrola, and they bought him a small 7 inch record player. In recent years, Puciato revealed that he grew up in a dangerous, poor neighborhood, which "giant[ly]" influenced him in the sense that he does not "feel uncomfortable in any area," while the African American culture of the area led to his fondness for R&B and hip hop. Around the age of nine, he saw Metallica's video for "One", which was the "darkest thing [he had watched]" and inspired him to learn Metallica songs on the guitar. When recalling the appearance of these or other artists such as Nine Inch Nails on TV, he viewed it as "inspiring" and said it "seemed like the weirdos had infiltrated the system, or created a new one." Puciato had several older friends who traded tapes and they would introduce him to underground music; when Puciato told one of them which were his favorites bands, his friend gave him a tape of I Against I by Bad Brains that "blew [his] mind apart" and subsequently showed him a 1980s' Bad Brains live bootleg that would make a long standing impression on the singer. In 2013 he reflected:
Puciato recorded his first cassette at thirteen, performing original music with his best friend who was a drummer. At the age of fourteen, Puciato started singing for a thrash metal group. While originally their guitarist, he switched to vocals because he was "too much of a control freak to let someone else sing" and could not perform both at the same time, but he continued writing the band's songs on guitar. After people started praising his singing ability and Puciato realized that it came more naturally to him, he shifted his focus to vocals. Although raised in a non practicing home, Puciato attended a Catholic private school. He was a good student and skipped grades, graduating one month after he turned 17. He went to college in Maryland and after a year of studying he took a break, during which he was invited to join the Dillinger Escape Plan. Puciato had already played in some bands from the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area, but, at that time, he preferred to refine his vocal style than commit full time to a band, and waited for the "right opportunity" to do so. In a scenario mirroring that of young Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Puciato started out as a fan of the Dillinger Escape Plan in their earlier days. When the band split with their singer Dimitri Minakakis (due to him wanting to focus more on his graphic design career and personal life), they searched publicly for a new singer by releasing the instrumental version of the song "43% Burnt" (off of their debut album). Puciato sent in a tape with one version of him mimicking Dimitri Minakakis and one with his own take on the song. He was contacted shortly after by the band, auditioned in person, and was subsequently asked to join. Coincidentally, the band's first release with Puciato was for a Black Flag tribute compilation, where they covered "Damaged I and II". Commenting on his entrance to the band in 2013, Puciato recalled:
Puciato follows the same approach in writing for the Black Queen, characterized by moody synths and electronics, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, featuring dissonant, complex rhythms and abrupt changes, despite the stylistic disparity of both bands. He tends to seek the "big picture" of his pieces under development instead of going through them detail by detail; the latter is a common procedure used by some of his musical partners and Puciato believes that both methods balance out the "flipside of their [respective] strengths". putting as much emphasis on the patterns and melodies of the songs as on their lyrics, and discarding those which "mean nothing" to him. PopMatters described Puciato as a "brilliant storyteller, always bringing the listener into the atmosphere of the song", and his lines "wash over you like an emotion — maybe you can't pinpoint its exact meaning or origin, but you know it's there", opined MetalSucks. but he tries to "give their [emotional] source to the listener without it becoming too indecipherable or compromised along the way [of creating the music]." Stage performances by Puciato, particularly as a member of the Dillinger Escape Plan, were noted for their reckless, chaotic nature. The band was already known for its shows, but the addition of the singer in 2001 led to their most infamous performances. The concerts caused him both cumulative and direct injuries, and a news site commented in 2013: "Thankfully, Mr. Puciato has not, as of this writing, actually killed himself while [performing]". and started to light their drums on fire, to run rapidly from the stage onto the heads of the crowd, or to climb through them, as well as invited the audiences to the stage. When asked about his rehearsal schedule, Puciato said that the performances are "completely improvised. I just want to be as pure and in the moment as possible vocally and physically to me it's about trying to transcend and reach the purest part of the moment and live in that completely for the whole performance." Puciato later resented that several fans were "frightened" of him due to their perception of him. A few shows afterward, Puciato's face was hit by a guitar, shattering a tooth and requiring emergency dentistry. During a 2002 show supporting System of a Down in Europe, audience members taunted the band and hurled chicken at them, which the singer picked up and ate. unaware that the undertow could have pulled him deep beneath the surface and consequently drowned him. The act caused much controversy and had the Dillinger Escape Plan on the verge of being banned in the UK. Upon returning to Reading in 2016, Puciato played the opening song "Prancer" sitting on an onstage couch reading a newspaper and drinking tea. On June 10, 2006, the Dillinger Escape Plan played in Fredericksburg, Virginia in front of a hostile audience and a spectator stole James Love's guitar, leading Puciato to chase him from the stage to the parking lot where the robber got into his car, ran over the singer's foot and a member of Cattle Decapitation tossed a hammer through his windshield, yet he managed to flee. At the Los Angeles House of Blues, opening for Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008, Puciato jumped into the VIP section and threw a chair to a security guard who was "roughing up" a fan, giving rise to a near riot, the audience beginning to throw objects and the other guards trying to drag the singer off the stage for the rest of their set. The event ended up with six police cars arriving at the place
Пучато придерживается схожего подхода к написанию песен для Black Queen, характеризующегося меланхоличными синтезаторами и электроникой, и для Dillinger Escape Plan, с диссонирующими, сложными ритмами и резкими переходами, несмотря на стилистические различия обеих групп. Он склонен искать «общую картину» своих разрабатываемых произведений, а не разбирать их по деталям; последнее — распространенная практика среди некоторых его музыкальных партнеров, и Пучато считает, что оба метода уравновешивают «обратную сторону их [соответствующих] сильных сторон», уделяя одинаковое внимание паттернам и мелодиям песен, как и их текстам, и отбрасывая те, которые «ничего для него не значат». PopMatters описал Пучато как «блестящего рассказчика, всегда погружающего слушателя в атмосферу песни», а MetalSucks отметил, что его строки «омывают тебя, как эмоция — возможно, ты не можешь точно определить ее значение или происхождение, но ты знаешь, что она есть». Однако он старается «передать [эмоциональный] источник слушателю, не делая его слишком неразборчивым или искаженным в процессе создания музыки». Живые выступления Пучато, особенно в составе Dillinger Escape Plan, отличались безрассудством и хаосом. Группа уже была известна своими шоу, но с приходом вокалиста в 2001 году они стали еще более скандальными. Концерты приносили ему как кумулятивные, так и прямые травмы, и новостной сайт прокомментировал в 2013 году: «К счастью, мистер Пучато, на момент написания этого текста, еще не убил себя во время выступления». Он начинал поджигать свои барабаны, быстро бегать со сцены на головы зрителей или пробираться сквозь толпу, а также приглашал публику на сцену. На вопрос о своем репетиционном графике, Пучато сказал, что выступления «полностью импровизационные. Я просто хочу быть максимально чистым и присутствующим вокально и физически. Для меня это попытка трансцендировать и достичь самой чистой части момента и жить в нем полностью на протяжении всего выступления». Позже Пучато возмущало, что некоторые фанаты «боялись» его из-за их восприятия. После нескольких шоу лицо Пучато ударили гитарой, сломав зуб и потребовав экстренной стоматологической помощи. Во время выступления в 2002 году в поддержку System of a Down в Европе зрители издевались над группой и бросали в них курицу, которую певец поднял и съел, не подозревая, что подводное течение могло утащить его глубоко под воду и утопить. Этот поступок вызвал много споров и поставил Dillinger Escape Plan на грань запрета в Великобритании. Вернувшись в Ридинг в 2016 году, Пучато начал песню "Prancer", сидя на диване на сцене, читая газету и попивая чай. 10 июня 2006 года Dillinger Escape Plan выступили во Фредериксбурге, штат Вирджиния, перед враждебно настроенной публикой, и зритель украл гитару Джеймса Лава, заставив Пучато преследовать его со сцены на парковку, где вор сел в свою машину, переехал певцу ногу, а член группы Cattle Decapitation разбил его лобовое стекло молотком, но ему удалось сбежать. В Los Angeles House of Blues, выступая на разогреве у Cavalera Conspiracy в 2008 году, Пучато прыгнул в VIP-зону и бросил стул в охранника, который «грубо обращался» с фанатом, что привело к почти бунту, зрители начали бросать предметы, а другие охранники пытались вытащить певца со сцены до конца их выступления. В результате на место прибыли шесть полицейских машин.
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. In addition to being a solo artist, he currently fronts Better Lovers and previously provided vocals in the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, the latter of which he also played guitar for. In 2018, Puciato and visual artist Jesse Draxler co founded the art collective and record label Federal Prisoner. Puciato is noted for the intensity of his live performances, wide vocal and stylistic range, outspoken views, and controversy stemming from his bands' performances and interviews. Rolling Stone said that "few singers live, breathe and often literally bleed their art like he does." Puciato's parents owned many vinyl records by artists such as Elton John, Bee Gees, Prince, Black Sabbath, Mitch Miller and Molly Hatchet, as well as an old victrola, and they bought him a small 7 inch record player. In recent years, Puciato revealed that he grew up in a dangerous, poor neighborhood, which "giant[ly]" influenced him in the sense that he does not "feel uncomfortable in any area," while the African American culture of the area led to his fondness for R&B and hip hop. Around the age of nine, he saw Metallica's video for "One", which was the "darkest thing [he had watched]" and inspired him to learn Metallica songs on the guitar. When recalling the appearance of these or other artists such as Nine Inch Nails on TV, he viewed it as "inspiring" and said it "seemed like the weirdos had infiltrated the system, or created a new one." Puciato had several older friends who traded tapes and they would introduce him to underground music; when Puciato told one of them which were his favorites bands, his friend gave him a tape of I Against I by Bad Brains that "blew [his] mind apart" and subsequently showed him a 1980s' Bad Brains live bootleg that would make a long standing impression on the singer. In 2013 he reflected:
Puciato recorded his first cassette at thirteen, performing original music with his best friend who was a drummer. At the age of fourteen, Puciato started singing for a thrash metal group. While originally their guitarist, he switched to vocals because he was "too much of a control freak to let someone else sing" and could not perform both at the same time, but he continued writing the band's songs on guitar. After people started praising his singing ability and Puciato realized that it came more naturally to him, he shifted his focus to vocals. Although raised in a non practicing home, Puciato attended a Catholic private school. He was a good student and skipped grades, graduating one month after he turned 17. He went to college in Maryland and after a year of studying he took a break, during which he was invited to join the Dillinger Escape Plan. Puciato had already played in some bands from the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area, but, at that time, he preferred to refine his vocal style than commit full time to a band, and waited for the "right opportunity" to do so. In a scenario mirroring that of young Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Puciato started out as a fan of the Dillinger Escape Plan in their earlier days. When the band split with their singer Dimitri Minakakis (due to him wanting to focus more on his graphic design career and personal life), they searched publicly for a new singer by releasing the instrumental version of the song "43% Burnt" (off of their debut album). Puciato sent in a tape with one version of him mimicking Dimitri Minakakis and one with his own take on the song. He was contacted shortly after by the band, auditioned in person, and was subsequently asked to join. Coincidentally, the band's first release with Puciato was for a Black Flag tribute compilation, where they covered "Damaged I and II". Commenting on his entrance to the band in 2013, Puciato recalled:
Puciato follows the same approach in writing for the Black Queen, characterized by moody synths and electronics, and the Dillinger Escape Plan, featuring dissonant, complex rhythms and abrupt changes, despite the stylistic disparity of both bands. He tends to seek the "big picture" of his pieces under development instead of going through them detail by detail; the latter is a common procedure used by some of his musical partners and Puciato believes that both methods balance out the "flipside of their [respective] strengths". putting as much emphasis on the patterns and melodies of the songs as on their lyrics, and discarding those which "mean nothing" to him. PopMatters described Puciato as a "brilliant storyteller, always bringing the listener into the atmosphere of the song", and his lines "wash over you like an emotion — maybe you can't pinpoint its exact meaning or origin, but you know it's there", opined MetalSucks. but he tries to "give their [emotional] source to the listener without it becoming too indecipherable or compromised along the way [of creating the music]." Stage performances by Puciato, particularly as a member of the Dillinger Escape Plan, were noted for their reckless, chaotic nature. The band was already known for its shows, but the addition of the singer in 2001 led to their most infamous performances. The concerts caused him both cumulative and direct injuries, and a news site commented in 2013: "Thankfully, Mr. Puciato has not, as of this writing, actually killed himself while [performing]". and started to light their drums on fire, to run rapidly from the stage onto the heads of the crowd, or to climb through them, as well as invited the audiences to the stage. When asked about his rehearsal schedule, Puciato said that the performances are "completely improvised. I just want to be as pure and in the moment as possible vocally and physically to me it's about trying to transcend and reach the purest part of the moment and live in that completely for the whole performance." Puciato later resented that several fans were "frightened" of him due to their perception of him. A few shows afterward, Puciato's face was hit by a guitar, shattering a tooth and requiring emergency dentistry. During a 2002 show supporting System of a Down in Europe, audience members taunted the band and hurled chicken at them, which the singer picked up and ate. unaware that the undertow could have pulled him deep beneath the surface and consequently drowned him. The act caused much controversy and had the Dillinger Escape Plan on the verge of being banned in the UK. Upon returning to Reading in 2016, Puciato played the opening song "Prancer" sitting on an onstage couch reading a newspaper and drinking tea. On June 10, 2006, the Dillinger Escape Plan played in Fredericksburg, Virginia in front of a hostile audience and a spectator stole James Love's guitar, leading Puciato to chase him from the stage to the parking lot where the robber got into his car, ran over the singer's foot and a member of Cattle Decapitation tossed a hammer through his windshield, yet he managed to flee. At the Los Angeles House of Blues, opening for Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008, Puciato jumped into the VIP section and threw a chair to a security guard who was "roughing up" a fan, giving rise to a near riot, the audience beginning to throw objects and the other guards trying to drag the singer off the stage for the rest of their set. The event ended up with six police cars arriving at the place
Мнения о музыкальной индустрии
Я думаю, что если у вас есть что-то, что вам дорого, лучше всего самому участвовать во всех аспектах этого. [Некоторые люди] говорят: "Ах, мне просто всё равно", как будто эта апатия и безразличие – это чем-то, чем можно гордиться. Есть вещи, о которых не стоит заботиться вообще, но когда дело касается того, что ты предлагаешь миру, нужно отдаваться этому полностью. [Делая так] ты в итоге тратишь целую вечность, одержимо прорабатывая каждую деталь, как на творческом этапе, так и на этапе выпуска, и это меня вполне устраивает. Мы получаем от этого удовольствие.
— Puciato о самостоятельном управлении большинством аспектов своих групп, 2016
Певец выступает против нелегального скачивания, особенно в отношении андеграундных артистов, которым сложно поддерживать карьеру, и подчеркивает, что удобство покупки музыки в интернете не оставляет "никаких оправданий для разорения сцены или группы, которая вам нравится". Песня "Good Neighbor" группы Dillinger Escape Plan 2010 года посвящена этой теме. В связи с этим он отказался запускать краудфандинговые кампании, например, через Kickstarter или другие платформы, для своих проектов, считая, что это творчески и морально "слабо".
Личная жизнь, общественное восприятие и споры
Пучато переехал в Лос-Анджелес, штат Калифорния, около 2009 года. Он назвал основной причиной своего дискомфорта от холодной погоды американского Восточного побережья. Пучато – страстный читатель и во время своей карьеры прошел несколько онлайн-курсов в Калифорнийском государственном университете в Лонг-Бич, включая курсы по психологии, социологии и экономике. Пучато начал заниматься спортом в пятнадцать лет, считая это полезным хобби помимо музыки, и "просто продолжал, потому что это как-то уберегало меня от многих проблем. То есть, я не пью и не употребляю наркотики, ничего подобного. Так что, чем еще заняться?". В интервью ESPN 2010 года Пучато рассказал, что рассматривал возможность стать профессиональным бодибилдером, но в итоге отказался от этой идеи из-за разочарования в этой индустрии. После того, как это стало известно, певец выразил смущение, но при этом подумал, что это было "в некоторой степени неизбежно" из-за их публичности в то время. В 2013 году у певца диагностировали синдром дефицита внимания, который он впоследствии лечил. Пучато был рад, что наконец-то выяснил причину, потому что до этого он не понимал некоторых своих особенностей, таких как гиперфокус и недостаток кратковременной памяти при занятиях музыкой, а также искажение восприятия времени. В развернутом интервью для Kerrang! в 2018 году Пучато откровенно рассказал о своих внутренних переживаниях, чтобы помочь людям, находящимся в подобных ситуациях. Позже он был арестован во время тура Dillinger из-за забытой оплаты штрафа. 23 июля 2010 года Бен Вайнман и Лиам Уилсон сфабриковали смерть Пучато, опубликовав в своих аккаунтах в Twitter сообщение о том, что певец скончался во сне. Вскоре после их выступления на Warped Tour вокалист Every Time I Die Кит Бакли опроверг слух, написав в Twitter: "Если Грег Пучато мертв, то его труп только что отыграл отличный сет на главной сцене сегодня". В январе 2012 года певец попал в отделение скорой помощи после употребления галлюциногенных грибов в смеси с другими веществами, что вызвало состояние, которое он описал как "что-то между клинической смертью и выходом из тела". В начале 2015 года все личные вещи Пучато были украдены во время переезда на новое место жительства.
Заявления и убеждения
Помимо своей музыки и сценических шоу, Пучато известен своей прямотой. Несколько его заявлений в социальных сетях и интервью стали заголовками новостей. Пучато выразил большее сочувствие прогрессивным принципам панка и хардкора, чем хэви-метала, и последовательно поддерживает права ЛГБТ, критикуя гомофобию в субкультуре хэви-метала, выпустив футболку в поддержку ЛГБТ вместе с Dillinger Escape Plan, а также представив видео Black Queen на сайте журнала Out. В 2018 году Пучато объяснил, что испытывает "сильный отторг" к артистам, которые неискренни со своей аудиторией или идут на компромиссы ради выгоды. Он упомянул Джареда Лето из Thirty Seconds to Mars, назвав его переход от актера к рок-музыканту "отвратительной постановкой" и добавил, что он "заставляет Фреда Дёрста казаться Джимом Моррисоном". Его выпады против Лето и Fall Out Boy произошли после того, как он узнал, что они будут хэдлайнерами фестивалей, в которых также выступят Slayer и Melvins. По словам Пучато, он начал негативно отзываться о группе после тура Take Action Tour в 2003 году, где Avenged Sevenfold выступали на разогреве у Dillinger Escape Plan, и, как он утверждает, их участники брали еду со стола питания Dillinger, не спрашивая разрешения и не представляясь. Он также назвал альбом Discordance Axis "The Inalienable Dreamless" "вероятно, моим любимым грайндкор-альбомом всех времен" и выразил восхищение Neurosis.
В интервью 2013 года Пучато заявил, что не "держит язык за зубами" в своих заявлениях, живых выступлениях и текстах песен, и раньше считал это своим "плюсом". Он утверждает, что это привело к тому, что его социальные сети стали "отвлекающим фактором" и исказили их первоначальный замысел – более тесную связь с поклонниками. В конечном итоге он закрыл все свои аккаунты в конце 2012 года, включая Facebook, Twitter и Instagram. В списке 2009 года, составленном главным директором и редакторами Roadrunner Records, Пучато был включен в число "50 величайших метал-фронтменов всех времен" (исключая артистов, подписанных на Roadrunner). В 2013 году MetalSucks назвал его номером один в своем списке "25 лучших современных метал-фронтменов". На сайте было написано: "[Пучато] – это воплощение таланта, гнева, печали и дерзости, которые привлекают людей в метал и хардкор. Такого больше не будет. Он единственный". В 2015 году Uproxx поместил его на 17-е место в рейтинге "20 самых динамичных, хаотичных и захватывающих фронтменов и фронтвумен всех времен". В 2018 году Loudwire расположил его на 9-м месте в своем списке "Топ-30 фронтменов и фронтвумен 21-го века". Многие авторы называют Пучато одним из величайших вокалистов в хардкор-панке и металле, одним из лучших современных вокалистов в популярной музыке и одним из самых разносторонних певцов в роке. Фронтмен The Bled Джеймс Муньос сказал, что после прослушивания Option Paralysis он "захотел бросить петь", "но это всегда происходит, когда [он] слушает альбомы [Dillinger Escape Plan]". Некоторые музыканты также хвалили Пучато после сотрудничества с ним: Макс Кавалера из Sepultura заявил, что их совместная работа над песней Soulfly "Rise of the Fallen" сделала ее "одной из самых захватывающих песен в моей карьере". Услышав вокал, записанный Пучато для своей песни "The Mighty Masturbator", Девин Таунсенд заметил: "Дамы и господа, Грег Пучато только что порвал мне задницу. Черт возьми, потрясающе!"