| Ginger
Bio
Ginger
Fish was born Frank Kenny Wilson on September 28 1966, in Framingham Massachusetts,
near Boston. His father was a singer who associated with the likes of Frank
Sinatra and Paul Anka, and his mother was a tap dancer for Warner Bros.
As
a boy Frank idolized bands like Rush and Black Sabbath, citing Neil Pert
as on of his heroes. Frank started taking drums in the second and third
grades. In grade seven he started playing in pit bands, and did drum corps
for three years. After his family moved to Las Vegas he played in the college
corps at the University of Nevada, and the Nevada All-State Big Band. He
played for various Las Vegas bands and was rumoured to have backed up Paul
Anka and Barry Manilow for a couple weeks. However after that Frank found
little oppourtunies for him to work so he began to hustle as a carney at
the Circus Circus Casino.
With
his tolerance for the casino at it's breaking point, he ventured to Orlando
where his parents, being the theatre buffs they were, had bought a theatre.
There Ginger started playing drums for the shows like "A Chorus Line" and
"Jesus Christ Superstar". He was on unemployment untill he got the call
to play for Marilyn Manson
It
was simply word of mouth that led him from playing the skins for Christ,
to playing them for the Antichrist. Frank joined the band in 1995, replacing
Sara Lee Lucus (aka Freddy Streithorst). He was named after the notorious
moon maniac killer Albert Fish and movie starlet Ginger Rogers. But it
wasn't loving relationship between Manson and Ginger. More than once during
the time that the band was touring, promoting "Smells Like Children" and
"Antichrist Superstar", Ginger was repeatedly hit in the head with the
base of the mike stand that was flung by Manson, and sometimes putting
Ginger in the hospital. "Every night I get on stage I realize that this
could be the night I'm killed", he said. "If Manson hits me enough times
I'm going to end up killing the guy myself and going to jail. But I've
got to play it out, 'til death do us part. I've traveld the whole world
and been everywhere with Manson. The only place I havn't been is jail".
But
it's seemed to have been reconciled. "Part of me thinks that's over with,
but in the back of my mind I remember that I know these guys better than
that," he says. "As soon as they get pissed off about something, they're
going to start throwing stuff. I have a temper too. If someone pushes me,
I'll push back. But it's kind of immature to start kicking and screaming
and throwing temper tantrums. I hope that the whole band has grown out
of that, but I could still see it happening. And the way my drums are going
to be set up, I'm going to be a sitting target". As Ginger put it in his
most famous quote, "I'm Ginger... I an handle it!" The two seemed to have
worked out their differences and Ginger seems finally content in his role
in the band. There was a tour of Europe scheduled for the summer of 1998
but Ginger contracted had Mono Nucleosis. So rather than replace him for
the tour the band cancelled every show. Although his place in the band
has grown since he arrived, has had some more obstacles to overcome.
When
Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Hole) was recruited to produce "Mechanical
Animals" Ginger actually had to audition for him. Beinhorn is known for
firing drummers who don't meet his expectations, like Patty Schemel from
Hole. "So here I was", said Ginger. "Three years in the band, I'd done
two albums with the band and now I've got to audition for this producer
because he's going to end up firing me. It's like, why doesn't the producer
come in and just make the band sound as good as it can? How many times
do I have to prove myself?" Beinhorn never showed up. When the band got
into the studio, Ginger was never actually told if he was going to appear
on the album. But as time went by it was apparent that he had met Beinhorns
grade.
Ginger
is definitely very unique among the members of Marilyn Manson. He's been
described by Manson as "the quietest and most dangerous of us all, a ticking
time bomb gingerly waiting a cataclysmic explosion. Manson's also named
Ginger as "the strangest and quietest person in the band". Ginger doesn't
do drugs, which for those who know the antics of the band is rather uncommon.
Though, at times Ginger can be a very bad, silly, drinker.
Morgan Roberts
FreeForm 1999

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