Josh Freese

Josh Freese
Freese performing live with Devo, in 2008
Background information
Born	(1972-12-25) December 25, 1972 (age 44) Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Genres	New wave rock heavy metal industrial rock hard rock alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer
Instruments	Drums guitar bass vocals
Years active	1988–present
Associated acts	A Perfect Circle Paramore Nine Inch Nails Devo The Vandals Sting The Replacements Paul Westerberg Guns N' Roses Ween the Offspring Weezer the Desert Sessions Mötley Crüe Sublime with Rome Evanescence Seether

Josh Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. He is a permanent member of the Vandals and Devo, having formerly played drums for Nine Inch Nails from 2005 until 2008, A Perfect Circle from 1999 to 2012, and Guns N' Roses from 1997 to 2000. He has appeared on nearly 400 records. He is currently performing live with Devo, The Vandals, Weezer and Sublime with Rome. In December 2010, Freese began touring with Paramore on their South American tour, temporarily replacing the drummer Zac Farro after he and his brother Josh Farro left the band earlier the same month.

Josh Freese was born on December 25, 1972, in Orlando, Florida. His father, Stan Freese, conducted the Disney World (Florida) and Disneyland (California) band, and his mother was a classical pianist. Freese began playing the drums when he was 8 years old. He started playing professionally at the age of 12 (in a primarily Top 40 band at Disneyland). He played electronic drums in the teen-and-tween rock band named Polo, a Junior Star Search winner. Polo already had a drummer before joining the Magic Kingdom, band founder Jimmy Keegan, but they found room on stage for the son of Disneyland's Director of Bands, Stan Freese. Other bands on the same stage were limited to performing Top 40 hits, but such constraints did not apply to Polo. The band recorded and released an eponymous EP that received some airplay on KROQ, the premier alternative music station in the Los Angeles area.

The young Freese's familial connections and corresponding exposure led to an endorsement deal with the Simmons electronic drum company. There is an old Simmons commercial (directed by Mitch Brisker), featuring Freese on the additional content section of the Vandals' Live at the House of Blues DVD. At the age of 16, he left high school and started touring and making records, first with Dweezil Zappa and then with the Vandals. He has worked with many respected artists in the last 15 years, as a first call session drummer and sometimes as a temporary replacement. Freese's younger brother, Jason Freese, plays keyboards in Green Day and has also recorded and toured with the Goo Goo Dolls, Dr. Dre, Jewel, Lenny Kravitz, Liz Phair, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Joe Walsh, and Weezer.