Mike Scaccia

Michael Ralph Scaccia (June 14, 1965 — December 22, 2012)[1][2] was an American musician, best known as the lead (and sometimes rhythm) guitarist for several heavy metal and alternative rock acts, including Rigor Mortis, Ministry and Revolting Cocks.

Mike Scaccia
Birth nameMichael Ralph Scaccia
Born(1965-06-14)June 14, 1965
Babylon, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 2012(2012-12-22) (aged 47)
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass guitar
Years active1983–2012
Labels13th Planet, Sanctuary, Warner, Sire, Metal Blade, Capitol
Associated actsMinistry, Revolting Cocks, Rigor Mortis, Lard, BloHole, League of Blind Women, Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters

Life and career

Scaccia was born in Babylon, New York, in the United States of America. He was of Italian descent and had three older sisters.[3]

Scaccia's first band, Spectrum, was formed with high school friends Chuck and Chad Williams on guitar and bass, Johnny Carpenter on drums and Barry (Baron) Lane on vocals. Bruce Corbitt eventually replaced Barry Lane on vocals. Scaccia left Spectrum in late June 1982; the next year, he formed Rigor Mortis with schoolmates Harden Harrison and Casey Orr. Bruce Corbitt was added to the lineup on vocals in the summer of 1986. Within five years they landed a major label deal with Capitol Records in 1987. In 1988, Rigor Mortis released their self-titled debut album on Capitol Records.

In 1989, Scaccia was asked by Al Jourgensen to join his band Ministry for their 1989-1990 The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour. Jourgensen was so impressed by Scaccia's talents that he included him into the band full-time.[1] Scaccia left Rigor Mortis in 1991. He then went on to record and tour for Ministry's next album, Psalm 69 throughout 1992.[1] He also played on their Lollapalooza tour.

Throughout 1994–1995, recording began on Ministry's follow-up to Psalm 69..., Filth Pig. They relocated to Austin where sessions took place. Amidst the recording, on August 29, 1995, Scaccia was arrested at a Wal-Mart for heroin possession. He was originally confronted because he resembled an armed-robbery suspect and he was carrying a case that they thought might contain a gun. When they opened the case, they found heroin instead. Scaccia was arrested and then released on $2,500 bail.[4] He left the band right after completing Filth Pig, in attempt to rid off his addiction.[5]

In 2003, Rigor Mortis, with Scaccia in the lineup, reformed in Texas to positive reviews.[6] Also at this time, a clean, sober Jourgensen again asked him to rejoin for touring their new album, Animositisomina. He agreed, but left Ministry again in 2006 before rejoining with Al Jourgensen in the studio to record what would be Relapse which was scheduled to tour in the summer of 2012. It was confirmed that Scaccia had been working with the original members of Rigor Mortis as they worked on their first album in twenty years.

Scaccia collapsed onstage shortly after 11:30 pm on December 22, 2012 at The Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was performing as part of the 50th birthday celebrations for Bruce Corbitt, the singer for Rigor Mortis; he died onstage between 11:36 pm and 11:40 pm.[7] He was officially pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly after midnight on December 23. Although initial reports suggested a seizure possibly caused by the strobe lighting at the venue, those were false reports and the coroner indicated the cause of death to be "sudden heart attack brought on by heart disease".[8][7][6] He was 47. A memorial service was held for Scaccia on Sunday, December 30 at the Aristide Event and Conference Center in Mansfield, Texas.

Personal discography
With Rigor Mortis
  • Rigor Mortis (1988)
With Ministry
With Revolting Cocks
With Lard
With 1000 Homo DJs
  • Supernaut (1990)
With Skrew
  • Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame (1992)
With League of Blind Women
  • League of Blind Women (1998)
With Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters
Various artists compilation
  • Lucio Fulci: A Symphony of Fear (1999)

References
  1. Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate. p. 694. ISBN 1-84195-312-1.
  2. Lentz III, Harrys M. (2013). "Scaccia, Michael". Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012. Jefferson, NC; London: McFarland. p. 255. ISBN 9781476603858 – via Google Books.
  3. Scaccia, Mike (July 13, 2012). "Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia on Rigor Mortis, Psalm 69 and his friendship with Al Jourgensen". Westword (Interview). Interviewed by Tom Murphy. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  4. "Blog entry". Netrail. May 10, 1996. Archived from the original on May 10, 1996.
  5. Jourgensen & Wiederhorn 2013, p. 225: "[Jon Wiederhorn]: What was your low point when it came to drugs? / [Mike Scaccia]: When we started Filth Pig we were such full-blown junkies. I weighed, like, 120 pounds. I was wearing my girlfriend’s clothes because I was so little. And I’m not a little person, man. It was really dark days. I left the band after Filth Pig because of my addiction, and Al and I had a really bad falling out as well, and it was all due to getting busted and being drug addicts. / [Jon Wiederhorn]: Are you talking about the Marble Falls drug bust? / [Mike Scaccia]: The Austin bust was bad. It took me a really long time to get clean, even after that. I fell deeper into it. I got even worse. After the raid and the arrests Al and I parted ways. I moved back to Dallas and became a hermit; I tried to clean up. I went into AA. I got hit really hard: I had seven years probation, 950 hours of community service, and a lot of legal fees and I had to go into rehab. I cleaned up for six, seven months, and then after an AA meeting, I was like, “Fuck this, man. I’m going to get wasted,” so I went right back into it, full blown. It wasn’t until 1999 that I’d had enough, and with methadone I managed to get myself off heroin. I was clean, but the ironic thing is that three and a half years ago I had neck surgery and I’ve been in pain management since then."
  6. "Mike Scaccia, Ministry guitarist, dies at 47". BBC News. December 23, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  7. Greg Prato (December 23, 2012). "Ministry Guitarist Mike Scaccia Dies After Onstage Collapse | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  8. "Metal band guitarist dies after collapsing during Fort Worth performance". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2018.

Bibliography
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