Jizmak Da Gusha

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Jizmak Da Gusha is a character in the rock band GWAR. According to GWAR mythos, Jizmak Da Gusha was a beast of tremendous power, native to a planet known as "The Wide Wide World of Sports," and he was frozen in a block of ice, presumably near the GWAR headquarters in Antarctica, for millennia. When GWAR's former drummer Nippleus Erectus sadly dissolved after ingesting copius amounts of hydrochloric acid, GWAR decided to thaw Jizmak to replace Nippleus. Although the costume has undergone many changes since the charecter was introduced, Jizmak's onstage get-up somewhat resembles a monsterous dog with very large teeth. He is usually seen wielding a large warhammer, most likely a reference to his role as drummer in the band.

When GWAR was first formed, their drummer was a character named Hans Orifice. Hans was originally played by Sean Sumner but was replaced after a few shows by Jim Thompson. By the time GWAR's first album Hell-O was released, the character of Hans Orifice had been replaced by Nippleus Erectus, played by Rob Mosby. However, following the album's release, Mosby left the band and Pete Luchter served as GWAR's drummer under the alias Lee Beato. Luchter had to leave the band after only a few gigs due to a nervous breakdown. Shortly afterwards, Brad Roberts joined the band as drummer and created the character Jizmak Da Gusha. Roberts played drums on Scumdogs of the Universe even though a misprint in the pressing accredited Mosby. Roberts also drums for GWAR spinoff bands RAWG, X-Cops and The Dave Brockie Experience. Roberts played drums for two X-Cops songs, "Beat You Down" and "Junkie," replacing Mike Dunn. He is also featured as a vocalist on the song "Barbells" on the album "You Have The Right To Remain Silent...," though is not the drummer.

Jizmak is the only character who does not wear his armor during concerts. Him being a drummer, this makes perfect sense. The only additions to the Jizmak costumes besides the mask are two bladed arms coverings resembaling dragon mouths, a "gut-plate", and a loin cloth. These costume pieces have undegone minor changes, getting more detailed as time progressed. His head piece mostly had subtle changes until 2004. In "Scumdogs of the Universe" and "America Must Be Destroyed" Jizmak had 2 big ears and a very large red jaw, but the top half of his head was Roberts in make-up. Starting in "This Toilet Earth" and lasting until "Violence has Arrived" Jizmak had a similar red headpiece, except the ears were slightly shrunk, and a top half of the head was added. This had a dog like nose, beady black eyes, and a top jaw. The hair was removed from the costume (it being Roberts' real hair, and he wore it short for a time). For the most part, the lower jaw stayed the same. This was the longest lasting Jizmak head. For the 2004 album "War Party" and 2005's "Live in Mt. Fuji" the headpiece was changed to closely resemble a wolf, with grey coloring and distorted features. His hair was again long (like it is in real life). This is the current Jizmak costume. Though not confirmed, it can be assumed that, like all other GWAR costumes, his will change for the Beyond Hell album due in August 2006 (every studio album had such a change).

Jizmak Da Gusha and Oderus Urungus are the only two (of the five) central GWAR characters who have been played by only one person. Roberts first started playing with GWAR in 1989, after the year's North American tour.

Jizmak plays GMS Drums - 10” 12” 14” 16” toms, 22” kick drums, and a 14” Ludwig super phonic snare drum, Paiste cymbals - 18” 2002 crash, 18” signature power crash, 20” dimensions power crash, 20” 2002 chinas, 20” 2002 power bell ride, Promark sticks - 707 hickory nylon tip custom JiZMak signature stick, and Evans G2 and ST coated drumheads. Sometimes Jizmak's drums have been painted to resembled distorted eyes or skulls, adding to Gwars distinct visual appearance. Currently, his drums are unpainted except for the words, "FUCK", "OFF", "YOU", "CUNT", "COCK" and "BLOW" scribbled on some of the drums. The entire drum kit is underneath a large arch-like structure. The first incarnation was seen in the "Live From Antarctica" video, though the current arch looks nothing like it. There are also lights mounted to it.

Official Website [link]

Japanese Official Website [link]

(Image: [link]) This is in-costume picture of Jizmak. It was taken from www.calarts.edu.

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