Greg Sage
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Greg Sage | |
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Birth name | Greg Sage |
Born | Portland, Oregon, U.S. | October 21, 1951
Origin | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
Genres | Punk rock, post-punk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 1977–present |
Labels | Enigma Records, Restless, Zeno Records, Jackpot Records |
Associated acts | Wipers |
Greg Sage (born October 21, 1951) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Between 1977 and 1988, Sage was the principal songwriter of the influential Portland, Oregon-based band Wipers.
Early years[]
Greg Sage was born in Portland, Oregon, on October 21, 1951. His involvement with music began with cutting records at home as an adolescent, due to his father being involved in the broadcast industry.[1] Sage’s first instrument was bass guitar, because of the low tones that made larger grooves in the vinyl records due to slower modulations. Basses were harder to find and much more expensive when Sage was in grade school, so he used guitar instead.[2]
Sage has been involved in music professionally since the age of 17, when he worked on a full-length album by the professional wrestler Beauregarde (Beauregard, 1971; re-released 2004). After several years of playing and recording guitar, Sage founded Wipers in Portland in 1977.[2]
The mood of Sage's lyrics is frequently dark, and rife with references to confusion and severe alienation. His song structures often take unexpected turns and are typified by fractured melodic passages punctuated by massive, intricate guitar parts, and use of heavy distortion.[3] He usually plays on a 1969 left-handed Gibson SG with attached Bigsby tremolo.[4][5]
Wipers[]
In 1977, Sage founded the Wipers. The name was inspired by a job he had picked up cleaning windows at a movie theatre; the crystal clear transparency of the glass was what he realized he wanted to emulate with his music. Its inception was at first an exclusive recording project. Then Sage planned to record 15 LPs in 10 years without touring or promoting. He believed it would be possible to avoid live shows, press, pictures and interviews, and this – coupled with the mystique of his unorthodox music – would encourage a deeper, more imaginative engagement with the recordings.[4][6]
In 1979, Sage established his own record label, Trap, and asked several Portland punk bands to record singles. Some of those early bands were The Stiphnoyds, The Neo Boys and Sado Nation. Sage later re-released some of the material on a compilation record entitled The History Of Portland Punk.
Solo career[]
Since the demise of Wipers, Sage has also recorded several albums as a solo musician and operates his own label, , based in Phoenix, Arizona where he currently resides.[1]
Discography[]
Solo albums[]
- Straight Ahead (1985)
- Sacrifice (For Love) (1991)
with Wipers[]
- Is This Real? (1980)
- Youth of America (1981)
- Over the Edge (1983)
- Land of the Lost (1986)
- Follow Blind (1987)
- The Circle (1988)
- Silver Sail (1993)
- The Herd (1996)
- Power in One (1999)
External links[]
- The Wipers official homepage
- Greg Sage at TapeOp.com
- Wayback Machine – Greg says he was 17 when he met Beauregarde in 1969.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hann, Michael (January 22, 2015). "Cult heroes: Wipers – the sound of emptiness and dread". Theguardian.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Greg Sage. "The Wipers' history". Zenorecords.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
- ^ Rabid, Jack (December 30, 2019). "Greg Sage Is Living In The Land of the Lost". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b McMurray, Jacob (May 23, 2011). Book:Taking Punk to the Masses 'From Nowhere to Nevermind. ISBN 9781606994337. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "Greg Sage of Zeno Studios and The Wipers". tapeop.com. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- 1952 births
- American punk rock guitarists
- American punk rock singers
- Living people
- Musicians from Portland, Oregon
- Singers from Oregon
- Guitarists from Los Angeles
- Guitarists from Oregon
- American male guitarists
- 20th-century American guitarists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- Restless Records artists
- Enigma Records artists