Chris Pitman (born November 16, 1961) is an American musician best known for his involvement with the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

. A

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

, Pitman is known to play keyboards,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, in addition to his role as a

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

. Pitman currently fronts

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band SexTapes and previously worked with such bands as Guns N' Roses, Lusk, Replicants and

Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

Early career

Pitman studied at the Art Institute of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. In 1993, Pitman worked with the controversial artist Les Levine. The following year, Pitman worked with

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

in Dre's home studio. He also joined

on tour, doing things such as a spoken word part on a live performance of the song "Bottom" and playing

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

on Tool's album ''

Ænima ''Ænima'' ( ) is the second studio album by the American rock band Tool. It was released in vinyl format on September 17, 1996, and in compact disc format on October 1, 1996, through Zoo Entertainment. The album was recorded and cut at Ocea ...

''. In 1995, he appeared on the album ''Bourgeois Kitten'' by Blinker the Star.

Guns N' Roses (1998-2016)

left, Pitman in 2006 with Guns N' Roses In early 1998, Pitman joined

as the band's second keyboardist and second bass player as well as performing backing vocals and percussion. Pitman was recommended to the band by Billy Howerdel, who was working with the band as an engineer at the time.''Talking Metal Podcast: Chris Pitman'' hosted by Mark Strigl. November 16, 200
Transcription link
/ref> Pitman spent time writing with vocalist

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

at Rose's house frequently. Pitman was featured on the non-album single " Oh My God" in 1999, and on every song on the long-delayed sixth studio album '' Chinese Democracy''. On the album, Pitman plays mostly keyboards and

sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hea ...

as well as programming and background vocals, he plays a 12-string guitar on "If the World" and a

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

on "There Was a Time". He also co-wrote the songs "If the World" and "

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

" alongside Rose. He was also responsible for the synth orchestra (along with Dizzy Reed and Rose) on the songs " Street of Dreams", "There Was a Time", "Madagascar", "This I Love" and "

Prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

". Pitman co-wrote (alongside Reed) an unreleased song which was performed live at Rock in Rio III entitled " Silkworms". The song was later re-worked as " ABSUЯD" and released as a single in 2021. Pitman started performing live with Guns N' Roses in January 2001. He was one of the longest serving members of the band. Pitman filled in for

Tommy Stinson Thomas Eugene Stinson (born October 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the bass guitarist for The Replacements, one of the definitive American alternative rock groups. After their breakup in 1991, Stins ...

on bass in a 2007 show that Stinson was unable to attend. In February 2016, Pitman made headlines for criticizing the upcoming Not In This Lifetime... Tour, calling it a "Nostalgia tour" and stating “please don’t mention those who are there the last 20 fucking years … oh god no!! … (a money grab) FU.” Pitman later apologized for his comments, stating "Remember kids, dont drink n text!". Pitman left the group soon afterwards, saying in an April 2016 interview "I quit the Oldies band, they just wanna repeat that 30 year old music over and over... boring. Pitman was replaced by

Melissa Reese Melissa Reese (born March 1, 1990) is an American musician who has collaborated frequently with Bryan "Brain" Mantia and is a current member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Early life Reese was born in Seattle, Washington.Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

for $125,000 in unpaid wages. The two parties settled in November 2016. Pitman appears as keyboardist on the 2023 single " The General", written and partially recorded when he was in the band.

Musical collaborations

Pitman has collaborated with a number of acts, as well as founding a number of experimental projects. *XR4 – Vocals, electronics in 1982. * Replicants – Pitman was keyboardist and vocalist of the cover band that featured singer and guitarist Ken Andrews, drummer Greg Edwards, and bassist

Paul D'amour Paul D'Amour (born 1968 or 1969) is an American musician who was the original bassist for Tool. His bass sound is recognized by the aggressive picked tone he developed with his Chris Squire Signature Rickenbacker 4001CS, which can be heard on ...

. * ZAUM – electronics, and lead vocals with Danny Carey of Tool, and Marko Fox of SexTapesTM. *

– In 1994–95, Pitman toured with them and, in 1996, played synths on the song "

Third Eye The third eye (also called the mind's eye or inner eye) is an invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, supposed to provide perception beyond ordinary sight. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna (or brow) chakra. In bot ...

". *

Failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

– Contributed sound effects and sound mixing. * Lusk – Recording, production, mixing, mastering, lead vocals, multi-instrumentation in this

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated band in 1996–97. *Sony Panic – Guitar and live software management with this L.A. experimental/improvisational band in 1997. * Blinker the Star – Contributed keyboards to the song "Kween Kat" of the album ''Bourgeois Kitten'' in 1996. Co-wrote the single "Below the Sliding Doors" in 1998. *Savvy Soviets – Production/collaboration in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in 2003. * Electric Company – Synthesizer on the album '' Creative Playthings''. Played live with this

Brad Laner Brad Laner (born November 6, 1966, in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine (band), Medicine, which he founded and led. Prior to Medicine, he was involved i ...

electronic music project in 2004. *The Source of Uncertainty – Recording with

Danny Carey Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer for the progressive metal band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, Carole Kin ...

and others in 2008. *SexTapes – Working with Kelly Wheeler, Marko Fox, and Ryan Brown starting in 2006. *

– In 1998, Pitman joined this hard rock band as songwriter, co-producer, and multi-instrumentalist. *Beatrazr – EDM music project with Frank Ferrer.
/ref>

Workshop projects

Pitman has also done

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

and electronic work for

Arturia Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, ...

software synthesizers, A Designs Audio eter Montessi

Waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

Plugins, Waldorf Synthesizers, Apple's Logic Audio,

Digidesign Avid Audio (formerly Digidesign) is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machin ...

Plugins, Moog Synthesizers, Celemony's Melodyne, Ableton Live,

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

USA,

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

Music, Serge Synthesis (SMS), PlanB Synthesis (Peter Grenader, Axel Hartmann) Neuron Synthesis, Symbolic Sounds Kyma, Mandala Drums, Steven Slate Drums and

Native Instruments Native Instruments is a German company that develops, manufactures, and supplies music software and hardware for music production, sound design, performance, and DJing. The company's corporate headquarters and main development facilities are lo ...

. Pitman was co-founder of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based art coalition 'Priory of the North,' which focuses on conceptual/

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

art and works primarily with oil painting, lithography, oils, and metal. His Land/Environment projects have been onsite in various Midwest regional farmland sites in Lafayette County and Johnson County, Missouri. His Rio de Janeiro site-specific work titled "Mind/Land" has been delayed until permits and visas for such materials can be imported. This work has been in progress since 2003.

References

External links

*
Official Myspace

Official SexTapes website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman, Chris 1961 births 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century American keyboardists American electronic musicians American heavy metal keyboardists American rock keyboardists Guns N' Roses members Living people Musicians from Missouri Replicants (band) members Lusk (band) members