Scott Mitchell : Manson's broken family
Guitar World, August 1997
Transcribed by Nick
Until now, He's been known as Daisy Berkowitz, former
guitarist for Marilyn Manson. Now, prepare yourself for Scott
Mitchell, solo artist with an axe to grind--in more
ways than one.
Since being forced out of Manson at the end of the
recording of Antichrist Superstar, Mitchell has been
writing songs, amassing a 30-song catalogue of varied
styles. Working with singer Tyreah Jaymes, the 28-year-old
guitarist is shopping songs under the moniker Three Ton Gate.
He's also been jamming with an outfit called R.O.D., to keep
his live chops up.
"I felt a lot of creative freedom being out of the band," says
Mitchell from his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "Some of the
songs have a psychedelic vibe to them--they seem kind of abstract
and crazy, but there's a common thread running through them. I hate
to compare what I'm doing now to Manson, but my new material is stark
and exotic, and there's even a few acoustic, mellow sounds. There's
a sense of humor, like there was in the old days of Marilyn Manson
--before Marilyn and Twiggy started taking things too seriously. One
of the songs is about people bugging me about the band and about what
I'm doing now."
Another is about the ever-controversial Marilyn. But, Mitchell
says, "That one won't be on the demo."
Mitchell, who wrote a dozen songs for Antichrist Superstar
and saw all but one rejected by Marilyn, says he still feels "gypped" by
the experience. But, he adds, he has no regrets:
"People are really eager to hear my new stuff, and I consider being
in Marilyn Manson a good stepping stone. I did a lot of things I'd never
done before. I can blame particular people, but I don't need to."
Instead, Mitchell says he's "been thinking about writing a book"
about his experiences. What might the opening anecdote to such a book be?
"There was one after-show party in New York, when we were on tour
with Nine Inch Nails, where we went to a very private, exclusive club.
The people that were there, the underage girls, the way money was being
thrown around--it was dark, but not in a good sense." --TOM GOGOLA