Mikey Welsh

Michael Edward Welsh (April 20, 1971 – October 8, 2011) was an American artist and musician who played bass for several bands, including the rock band Weezer. During Weezer's hiatus, he played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in the band Homie, during Cuomo's time in Boston. Following original bassist Matt Sharp's departure from Weezer, Welsh joined as bassist and played with them from the time that they unofficially regrouped in 1998 until August 2001, when he experienced mental health problems. Shortly afterwards, he retired from music to focus on his art career.[2] Welsh died from a drug overdose on October 8, 2011.

Career

Welsh was born on April 20, 1971 in Syracuse, New York.[4] He began his career as a Boston-area musician, playing in bands such as Heretix, Chevy Heston, Jocobono, Left Nut, and Slower.[5][6][7][8] He was a touring bassist for Juliana Hatfield and Verbena.[9] In 1997, he joined the first incarnation of the Rivers Cuomo Band, the side-project of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo.[8][9] He joined Weezer following the departure of Matt Sharp in 1998.[5][10]

During Weezer's hiatus, he played with Verbena and the first incarnation of Patrick Wilson's band the Special Goodness. He wrote a large number of basslines in this period, recorded them and sent them to Rivers Cuomo for writing inspiration,[11] although Cuomo never used any of them. Instead, he contributed four of these to Juliana Hatfield's 2000 album Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure.[12] Welsh was given a co-writing credit for four songs.[13]

He toured with Weezer beginning with their resurgence in the summer of 2000 and first appeared on their limited edition Christmas CD EP later that year (re-released in 2005 as Winter Weezerland). He subsequently played on 2001's Green Album as well as a number of B-sides and unreleased songs from the era, and also performed with the band most of the way through tours supporting the album.

Mental illness and exit from Weezer

In 2001, Welsh suffered a breakdown brought on by drug use, undiagnosed mental health problems, and the strain of touring. After attempting suicide by drug overdose, he left Weezer. The reason for his exit was not made public until some time later.[14] He was checked into a psychiatric hospital in August 2001.[15] He later spoke about the ordeal in an interview with the website Rock Salt Plum:

Basically, a lifetime of doing drugs and being undiagnosed as having bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder finally caught up with me when I was 30 years old. At the beginning of a 3-month European tour with Weezer, I started slowly falling apart. Without getting too graphic, by the time the tour was winding up, my weight had gone down to about 140lbs (I'm 6'2") [63,5 kg – 1,88 m] and mentally completely wiped out. When I returned to the States, my family had made plans for me to see a psychiatrist in Boston. First though, we had to play a few dates around the U.S., and perform on The Tonite (sic) Show (which ended up being my last performance with Weezer). By the time I got to Boston, I was having a complete nervous breakdown. It ended with a severe suicide attempt (an overdose). I was found and rushed to the hospital where I had come to within minutes of my heart completely stopping. I was in a coma for a few days, and woke up in a lockdown psychiatric ward.

— Mikey Welsh, Feb. 2007 Rock Salt Plum Interview[14]

Weezer shot a new version of the video for their song "Island in the Sun" without Welsh.[16][17] Following Welsh's departure in 2001, the band hired Scott Shriner to replace Welsh.[18]