Doomed Confessionary: Kelly Waldrip (Sludgebucket)
Sludgebucket is a heavy fusion drum & bass duo from Oakland, California.
Coming on two decades of riffs and grooves, the duo of Kelly Waldrip (bass, music, arrangements, production, engineering, booking) and Marc Kaufman (drums, arrangements) at the heart of Sludgebucket embark on a new era of the band with their latest album »Vampiric Earth«, out on March 10th, 2025.
Though long flying the stoner metal banner, the two piece are leaning into the heavy fusion and progressive influences that have always been their foundation. Locked in with a tightness that can only come from nearly twenty years of making music together, Kelly and Marc lay down seven tracks of delicious bass licks, in-the-pocket drumming, a knack for space and atmosphere. Jazz, funk, prog, you name it, the bass and drum duo capture it all with ease and class.
Can you say a few words about your band?
This is Kelly (bass/songwriter) for Sludgebucket. We are a Heavy Fusion duo hailing from Oakland, California. We are influenced by stoner metal, progressive rock, post-metal, sludge metal, doom metal, funk, jazz, latin, punk, kraut rock, psychedelic rock, and anything else that meets our ears.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
We’ve had many challenges over the years, I think the hardest was when our original guitarist, John Robert Santos, passed away in 2009 and whether to continue or not. I decided I needed to continue this band, as I am the principal songwriter, and I just cataloged and put out the other music we did together (and his solo work) under ZZPot Records and released everything to Bandcamp.
What can you be most proud of so far?
I’m most proud of this current lineup (Marc Kaufman-drums, Kelly Waldrip-bass) as an instrumental bass and drum duo and being able to continue to do the music we want to do with so much more freedom. I don’t have any regrets with deciding to stop doing vocals or any other decision we’ve made in this band, at least, nothing that springs to mind.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We’ve had a lot of good shows, no tours due to us both being parents with day jobs and all the responsibilities that come with that. Hopefully, the best one will be our upcoming show April 25th @ Ivy Room, Albany, CA with Smoke, Volume, and Vangozeer.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Both Marc and I listen to everything from jazz to noise and everything in between. I’ve personally been listening to the new Young Widows album, Deep Sea Diver, Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Pelican, and Emma Ruth Rundle, to name a few.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Our plans as a band for the future are to rehearse and record a single, and another full length release that we have the material currently in the works, play some good shows, keep meeting killer bands to play with, and consistently get our music in to the ears of more and more people who would dig what we are creating. As for our fans, the best way to support us is to come out to a show, buy merch, buy our physical releases, download our music, and tell a friend.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
We appreciate all the people who check us out, become fans, and support us. We appreciate all our friends and family who help us along the way, and all the bands we are fortunate to meet and play with, and to all of the PR people like you, Bojan who get the word out. We really appreciate it.
Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well