Scott Mitchell Putesky Biography
Taken from www.spookykids.com/threetongate/
Scott Mitchell Putesky was born on April 28th,1968 in Los Angeles (California, not Padagonia)
and grew up in quiet suburb of New Jersey called West Orange. Scott's first instruments were
flute,trumpet and snare drum learned in 3rd,4th and 5th grade respectively and in 6th grade was in
school chorus or Glee Club (they even sang "Pop Musik" by the group M). Early on he developed a
love of drawing,art and film. The first record Scott bought on his own was the Star Wars soundtrack
and his early drawings produced many varieties of aliens and space-ships. The late 70's made for an
exciting time in music and Scott was sucked in by early videos (before MTV) from performers like
Blondie,Talking Heads and David Bowie on shows like Night Flight
In 1980,the Putesky family moved to Florida
and with a little whining from Scott, mom & dad
agreed to get cable which came with a new
channel called MTV. "I couldn't believe it,I
couldn't get enough...here was all this great
innovative music from all over the world with
performances,visual treatments crazy
scenarios... definitely one of the strongest
musical influences in my life...and almost none of
it was on the radio at the time..." Scott reminices
fondly. "...however,there was a great radio
station in south Florida called K-102...they
played The Pretenders,The Police,The Cars,The
Fixx,U2,The Go-Go's,Gary Newman ...super
stuff no one else was playing...I remember the
day they went off the air. I was in the school
cafeteria and the school was cool enough to play the last few songs over the intercom...I felt
crushed."
After having MTV for a while,the instrument bug had bitten Scott again and he bought a small Casio
keyboard (which he still has and can be heard sampled on the song Honor). He taught himself the
keyboard courtesy of Encyclopedia Britanica's "M" book. Later, attending J.P. Taravella High
School in Coral Springs,Scott took guitar lessons in tenth grade. "Everyone else wanted to learn Jimi
Hendrix,Ozzy Ozbourne and Journey songs .....I wanted to learn songs by The Cure,U2,The
Cars...the one thing I had in common with the other students was my love for the group Rush..."
Scott's first musical partners were Tom Wolf (drums) and Jim Neuman (bass). They were a
garage/practice band called The Flying Eggbeaters. Later,Scott and Tom (with other members)
played a 'battle-of-the-bands' at a Coral Springs roller- skating rink under the name Blue China.
Scott also played with other friends from school under the name Ear Wacks.
In 1986 Scott attended the Art Institute of Ft.Lauderdale majoring in advertising design. His musical
pursuits were slightly side-tracked in favor of graphic arts but he began to visit local clubs like
Penrods Underground,The Gutter and The Cell to see local bands play. Upon graduating in
1988,mom and dads graduation present to Scott was a 4-track recorder. Within a few months he
bought a bass guitar and a small drum kit to record his original music with full instrumentation. Also at
this time Scott ocassionally played with a surf-revival band called The Hodads. In 1989 Scott formed
a band called Kinetic Ritual with Rick Waters on bass and Fred Streithorst on drums. Through this
band Scott met with singer/lyricist Scyndie Dietz (now of the band Backwash...) and the two began
to write and record psychedellic-drama tunes under the name India Loves you.
By 1990 Scott had developed a strong sense of songwriting and a unique guitar style but he didn't
know of the major career change ahead of him. One night at a party he met local music journalist
Brian Warner. Warner had never been in a band before but wanted to put his poetry/creative writing
to music. Since Scott had not yet developed lyric writing and singing,getting together to have creative
fun seemed logical. After exchanging "that's-so-crazy-it-just-might-work" ideas about serial
killers,mass media and childrens movies/television,the duo formed Marilyn Manson & the Spooky
Kids. It was with Scotts 4-track that they began recording songs like Cake & Sodomy and
(Strange,Same) Dogma and quickly assembled a live band with original bassist Olivia Newton Bundy
and keyboardist Zsa Zsa Speck. The band played it's first show on April 28th,1990 at Churchills in
Miami.
Despite the bands unusual songs and psychedellic-Saturday-morning live show, Marilyn Manson &
The Spooky Kids built a strong cult following in south Florida playing at clubs like Squeeze and The
Reunion Room and opening for several national acts. The band also appeared at numerous awards
shows taking honors such as best local release,best new band and band of the year. In 1993 the
band name was shortened to just Marilyn Manson with the line-up being Mr.Manson (vocals),Sara
Lee Lucas (drums),Gidget Gein (bass),Madonna Wayne Gacy (keys/ sampler) and Scott as Daisy
Berkowitz (guitar).
After signing with Nothing Records,the band recorded their first album,Portrait of an American
Family in the summer of 1993 and afterwards,toured all over the U.S. and Canada with Nine Inch
Nails and the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. In 1995 Marilyn Manson caught the worlds ear with their
haunting cover of Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams(are made of this)" from the EP Smells Like Children.
After doing two headlining tours and opening for Danzig (not to mention four videos and some
television appearences...) the band began to record Antichrist Superstar in February, 1996 at Trent
Reznors New Orleans studio.
It was at this time that mounting tension
between Scott and Brian was reaching it's
peak. "I was getting completely fed up...I was
being told my make-up was wrong,my guitars
were being broken,I was being knocked off
stage,my songs were being rejected,I was
told I didn't look good enough,I was
excluded from interviews and photo
shoots.....It basically comes down to a total
lack of respect for me by Brian and Geordie"
(Geordie White a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez
replaced Gidget Gein on bass in early
1994.....Ginger Fish replaced Sara Lee Lucas
on drums in 1995) Even before Antichrist
Superstar was completed,an airline ticket had
ben purchased for Scott to go back to Florida while the rest of the band continued to record. In the
first week of May,1996-creatively stifled and fed up with being harassed-Scott left Marilyn Manson.
The name Daisy Berkowitz would no longer be a part of his identity. He had no back-up plan and no
other projects to pursue but he did know one thing,
Scott Mitchell now had the freedom to do whatever he wanted to.
That summer Scott knew he was going to start a new project. He had musical material for it but it did
not have a name. After visiting the historical tourist site Coral Castle (Homestead,FL) he became
fascinated with the bizzare coral rock sculptures created mysteriously by Ed Leedskalnin. Can you
guess the name of the first structure you reach upon entering Coral Castle? Throughout late 1996 and
1997,Scott wrote and recorded as many as fifteen new songs for the first Three Ton Gate demo
called 3x3 (three by three) and included the songs Honor,Hollywoods Heaven and Head (all of
which can be heard on the new EP "Vanishing Century") Scott played all instruments and recorded
all the vocals. After some consideration,he wondered about working with a female vocalist again and
discovered Tyreah James.
"She didn't have much experience but I liked the sound of her voice and her extensive knowledge of
mysticism" Scott recalls. So after some one-on-one rehearsals and tape exchanges,Tyreah's vocals
were recorded on the songs Keep Me Warm and X Files Girl. All of which brings us to now. The
premiere Three Ton Gate Ep "Vanishing Century" is now available to everyone who has kept interest
in Scott Mitchells musical career and is sure to create a buzz in the business.
Thanks to friendly business contacts, personal friends, family and thousands of fans around the world,
Scott is back.
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