Steve Broy
Steve Broy (born April 1, 1958), also known by his stage name Dr. Heathen Scum, is an American musician recognized primarily as the bassist and co-founding member of the shock rock band The Mentors.[1][2] Formed in Seattle in 1976 alongside vocalist Eldon Hoke (El Duce) and guitarist Eric Carlson (Sickie Wifebeater), the band pioneered a style of heavy metal characterized by deliberately outrageous, satirical lyrics that exaggerated themes of depravity and rebellion to provoke audiences and critique societal norms.[3] Broy has maintained involvement with The Mentors through multiple lineup changes, including after Hoke's death in 1997, contributing to over a dozen albums and establishing the group as a staple in underground metal scenes despite persistent censorship attempts due to their explicit content. His work extends to side projects like Church of El Duce and appearances in rockumentaries documenting the band's history, underscoring a career spanning more than four decades focused on unfiltered expression in music.[3]Early Life
Childhood and Formative Influences
Steve Broy was born on April 1, 1958, in the United States. He spent his formative years in the Seattle, Washington area, a burgeoning hub for countercultural activity in the Pacific Northwest.[2] During high school, Broy attended Roosevelt High School alongside future musical collaborators Eric Carlson and Eldon Hoke, forging childhood friendships rooted in shared rebellious interests and early experimentation with music. These bonds, as recounted by Broy himself, involved casual jamming sessions and exposure to the raw, DIY ethos that characterized the local scene.[4][5] The mid-1970s punk emergence in Seattle, with its emphasis on irreverence and amateurism, shaped Broy's early musical aspirations, drawing him toward the bass guitar as a foundational instrument for aggressive, underground expression. This period's cultural ferment, including local bands and the influence of broader rock traditions, instilled a commitment to unfiltered creativity that defined his subsequent path.[1]Musical Career
Formation and Early Years with The Mentors
Steve Broy, under his stage name Dr. Heathen Scum, co-founded the heavy metal band The Mentors in May 1976 in Seattle, Washington, alongside guitarist Eric Carlson (Sickie Wifebeater) and drummer Eldon Hoke (El Duce), who were high school friends from Roosevelt High School.[6][7] The trio initially jammed together as a casual group of teenagers experimenting with music, drawing from the raw energy of emerging punk and metal influences in the Pacific Northwest.[6] By 1979, The Mentors relocated from Seattle to Los Angeles, California, seeking greater opportunities within the vibrant punk and underground rock scenes centered in Hollywood.[8] This move aligned the band with the city's club circuit, including venues that hosted early punk acts, allowing them to build a local following through persistent performances despite their unrefined approach.[6] In their early Los Angeles years, The Mentors focused on live shows that emphasized a primitive, high-volume sound characterized by distorted guitars, pounding drums, and Broy's aggressive bass lines, often performed in small clubs to audiences receptive to the era's DIY ethos.[9] These gigs helped solidify their presence in the scene, though formal recordings remained limited until later; initial efforts were confined to rudimentary rehearsals and occasional bootlegs capturing their chaotic energy.[7] The band's persistence in playing unpolished sets during this period laid the groundwork for their notoriety, predating any commercial output.[8]Peak Period and El Duce Era
The Mentors' peak period, encompassing the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, centered on the longstanding collaboration between Steve Broy (performing as Dr. Heathen Scum), Eldon Hoke (El Duce) on vocals and drums, and Eric Carlson (Sickie Wifebeater) on guitar, which produced some of the band's most enduring recordings and live performances. Broy's bass work provided the driving, rudimentary foundation for their heavy, lo-fi metal sound, characterized by simple yet forceful riffs that complemented El Duce's chaotic drumming and Carlson's gritty guitar tones, as heard on the 1985 album You Axed for It!, recorded with the classic trio lineup.[8] [10] This release, featuring tracks like "Phuck 'Em" and "My Re-generation," exemplified their raw production style and commitment to unpolished aggression, drawing from punk and early metal influences while emphasizing shock value in delivery.[8] Broy's performative contributions as Dr. Heathen Scum were integral to the band's stage presence, where the trio donned black executioner hoods to project anonymity and menace, allowing focus on musical provocation amid El Duce's often extreme antics, such as simulated excesses and audience taunts. The group maintained a rigorous touring schedule throughout the 1980s, playing underground venues in Los Angeles and beyond, with documented shows including multiple dates in 1986, 1987, and 1990 that built their cult reputation among heavy metal and punk circuits.[11] [12] By the early 1990s, releases like Rock Bible (1990) continued this momentum, with Broy's bass anchoring extended, sleazy compositions that reinforced the band's thematic obsessions with vice and rebellion.[13] [8] The El Duce era reached its abrupt end on April 19, 1997, when Hoke was struck and killed by a freight train in Riverside, California, an incident ruled accidental and linked to his chronic alcohol consumption. Broy, who had collaborated with Hoke for over two decades, faced the immediate devastation of losing the band's charismatic frontman and co-founder, whose unpredictable energy had defined their joint output.[14] [15] This event halted the core trio's activities, closing a chapter marked by Broy's steadfast role in sustaining the Mentors' notorious underground legacy.[15]Post-1997 Developments and Lineup Changes
Following the death of vocalist and drummer Eldon Hoke (El Duce) on April 19, 1997, The Mentors disbanded temporarily, resuming activities around 2000 with founding bassist Steve Broy and guitarist Eric Carlson (Sickie Wifebeater) recruiting Marc "Mad Dog" DeLeon to handle vocals and drums, replicating Hoke's dual role.[7] This lineup stabilized the band's operations, enabling a return to live performances and recordings while preserving the raw, confrontational heavy metal sound rooted in their earlier work.[16] The reformed group issued Over the Top in 2005 via Mentor Records, featuring tracks that echoed the band's signature themes of excess and rebellion, followed by Ducefixion in 2009, which included songs like "Black Snatch" and "Be a Pervert" recorded primarily that spring.[17][18] These releases sustained the Mentors' underground presence, with Broy providing continuity on bass amid DeLeon's energetic stage presence. Touring persisted through the 2000s and 2010s, including a July 8, 2014, performance at Fubar in St. Louis, Missouri, where Broy, Carlson, and DeLeon delivered sets emphasizing their shock-oriented repertoire.[19] Further albums appeared in later years, such as The Illuminaughty in 2017 and Houses of the Horny in 2022, both upholding the crude lyrical directness and lo-fi production hallmarks of prior output.[17] The band maintained activity into the 2020s, with documented tours as late as 2020. Lineup adjustments continued, incorporating members like guitarist Sickie J and bassist Cousin Fister alongside Broy and DeLeon.[20] The death of guitarist Eric Carlson on December 29, 2024, from cancer at age 66 left Broy as the sole surviving founder, positioning him as the "final torchbearer of the original filthy three" in band communications.[21][20] Post-memorial shows for Carlson in early 2025, as referenced by DeLeon, indicate ongoing adaptations with Broy at the core, focusing on live continuity rather than major stylistic shifts.[22]Solo and Side Projects
Broy formed the band Kill Allen Wrench in the summer of 1998, performing under the alias Dr. Heathen Scum primarily on lead guitar and bass.[23] The group released the track "My Bitch Is A Junky," featuring Broy's contributions on guitar.[24] In collaboration with Dutch heavy metal band Hammerhawk, Broy participated in the short-lived Mentorhawk project, which produced a split CD in 1999 on HMF Records, blending elements of thrash and heavy metal with his bass and guitar work. He contributed to The Mantors, a Mentors-related act co-founded with Eric Carlson, providing songwriting and bass on early recordings including the 2008 album Lust Muscle.[25] Following El Duce's death, Broy established the Church of El Duce around 2002 as its official band, recording under Dr. Heathen Scum or Pope Heathen Scum; the project yielded seven albums and over 300 songs in six years, often serving as tributes with experimental, raw metal styles.[26] Releases included Num-Beer 2, emphasizing El Duce's legacy through Broy's multi-instrumental performances. Under the Dr. Heathen Scum moniker, Broy pursued solo and collaborative efforts, such as the 2009 album Songs of Sex and Love with Hammergirl on Mind Boggler Records, featuring punk-heavy tracks on explicit themes.[27] Later works include the 2018 split Two Outa Three Ain't Bad with The Italian Stallion on 4F Records and singles like "Short Girls Rock" (2024) again featuring Hammergirl.[28] These projects shifted toward personal, provocative expressions outside Mentors' structure, incorporating keyboards and vocals alongside bass.[1]Musical Style, Themes, and Influences
Instrumental Approach
Steve Broy's bass work as Dr. Heathen Scum emphasizes aggressive, driving lines that underpin The Mentors' raw fusion of punk aggression and heavy metal riffing, often described as thumping and supportive of the band's high-energy output.[29] Formed amid Seattle's nascent punk scene in May 1976, Broy's early contributions drew from the era's punk ethos of simplicity and speed, blended with hard rock influences prevalent in 1970s acts, yielding straightforward yet forceful bass parts suited to underground performances.[7] [30] Following the band's relocation to Los Angeles in 1979, Broy's approach evolved alongside The Mentors' shift toward a heavier, more structured metal sound, incorporating denser production and riff-oriented playing while retaining punk's visceral punch.[7] This progression reflected broader underground trends, transitioning from lo-fi garage recordings to polished thrash-infused tracks, with Broy's bass providing foundational propulsion without ornate solos or complexity.[31] In live settings, his technique prioritizes endurance and intensity, aligning with the band's chaotic stage presence under pseudonyms and hoods.[32]Lyrical Content and Provocation
The Mentors' lyrics, co-authored by Steve Broy alongside Eldon Hoke and Eric Carlson, prominently feature graphic explorations of sexual excess, degradation, and taboo acts, such as in "Sex Education," which portrays a predatory teacher exploiting a young student with lines like "She’s into sex education/And I am the biggest pervert teacher in the nation/Your daughter, she’s mine/So fresh off the vine."[33] Similarly, tracks like "Golden Showers" delve into scatological fetishes, contributing to the band's self-coined "rape rock" aesthetic that emphasizes raw, unfiltered male sexuality and depravity as a deliberate stylistic choice.[33] Broy has described this content as rooted in "shitty comedy," intended to lampoon puritanical norms rather than endorse literal behavior, aligning with the band's formation in 1976 as a high school project among Broy, Hoke, and Carlson to subvert conventional rock tropes.[33] Broy's contributions extend to crafting stage personas, including his Dr. Heathen Scum alias, which amplifies the provocative billing through anonymous, executioner-hooded performances that obscure individual identity while amplifying collective shock value.[33] This approach frames provocation as an extension of anti-authoritarian rebellion, echoing rock precedents like the band's opposition to 1980s censorship efforts by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), where their testimony highlighted lyrics as jest against overreach rather than malice.[33] Broy has emphasized that the material stems "not from a mean-spirited place," positioning it as comedic exaggeration to challenge societal repression of base instincts, consistent with influences from free-expression advocates in punk and metal who viewed obscenity as a tool for cultural defiance.[33]Controversies and Public Perception
Band's Shock Tactics and Accusations of Misogyny
The Mentors employed deliberate shock tactics from their formation in 1977, including performances clad in blackened executioner-style hoods and lyrics that graphically degraded women, positioning themselves as "rape rock" provocateurs in the punk and heavy metal underground.[33] Examples include the song "Sex Education," with lines such as "She’s into sex education/And I am the biggest pervert teacher in the nation/Your daughter, she’s mine/So fresh off the vine," designed to offend sensibilities and challenge norms of decorum in rock music.[33] These elements extended to album artwork and stage banter, amplifying explicit themes of sexual dominance and female objectification as a core aesthetic.[34] Critics and activists have accused the band of misogyny, contending that such content normalizes violence against women by framing it as comedic entertainment rather than addressing underlying harm.[33] In 1985, the band's track "Golden Shower" drew attention during U.S. congressional hearings on explicit music lyrics, highlighting concerns over promotion of degrading sexual acts.[33] Further scrutiny arose in 1997 on The Jerry Springer Show, where members clashed with a rape survivor over the implications of their material.[33] By 2017, during their "Anti-Antifa Tour," a scheduled Portland performance on September 8 faced organized protests from the feminist bookstore collective In Other Words, which mobilized over 600 people to demand cancellation, citing the lyrics' role in perpetuating rape culture.[34][33] Band members, including bassist Steve Broy (stage name Dr. Heathen Scum), countered that the tactics stemmed from exaggerated humor and satire, not genuine malice or advocacy for harm, intended purely as "shitty comedy" for audience amusement.[33] Broy emphasized opposition to real violence, referencing influences like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and framed the content as non-provocative jest within a tradition of boundary-pushing free speech in shock rock since the 1970s.[33] Supporters, including documentary filmmaker April Jones, described the live shows as interactive and comedic, defending the personas as artistic exaggeration rather than literal endorsement.[34] Despite recurrent venue pressures and cancellations, the band's tactics sustained a niche following among underground fans who valued the unfiltered offense as rebellion against censorship, evidenced by their persistence touring into the 2010s amid backlash from both conservative and progressive critics.[33][34]Conspiracy Theories Involving El Duce and Kurt Cobain
In 1997, Eldon Hoke, known as El Duce, publicly alleged that Courtney Love offered him $50,000 to kill Kurt Cobain in late 1993 or early 1994, claiming he declined but that an acquaintance accepted the contract.[35] Hoke repeated the assertion in outlets including The Jerry Springer Show and Nick Broomfield's documentary Kurt & Courtney, where he underwent a polygraph examination administered by Edward Gelb, which he reportedly passed.[36] Proponents of Cobain murder theories, such as private investigator Tom Grant, cited Hoke's statements as evidence of Love's involvement, suggesting Hoke's knowledge implicated him in a cover-up.[37] Hoke's death on April 19, 1997—eight days after his Kurt & Courtney interview—intensified speculation, with theorists positing murder by Love's associates to prevent testimony, drawing parallels to Cobain's ruled suicide by shotgun on April 5, 1994.[38] However, Riverside County coroner's records indicate Hoke, aged 39, was struck by a freight train near University Avenue after witnesses observed him intoxicated and staggering onto the tracks; toxicology revealed a blood alcohol concentration of approximately 0.24%, consistent with accidental misadventure rather than homicide, as no defensive wounds or external trauma beyond the impact were noted.[36] Seattle police and subsequent reviews, including by forensic experts, affirmed Cobain's death as suicide, supported by his suicide note, high heroin levels enabling self-infliction, and absence of forced entry or struggle at the scene.[14] Theories linking Hoke to Cobain lack corroboration beyond Hoke's uncorroborated account; polygraph results are scientifically unreliable, with error rates up to 10-20% in controlled studies, and inadmissible in most U.S. courts due to susceptibility to deception and physiological variability. Hoke's history of alcoholism, erratic behavior, and The Mentors' deliberate provocation—centered on fabricating scandals for notoriety—undermines his reliability, as bandmates including Steve Broy have characterized such claims as extensions of Hoke's publicity-seeking persona rather than factual disclosures.[39] No financial records, witnesses, or forensic ties substantiate a bounty or Hoke's involvement, reflecting broader 1990s rock scene suspicions amid high-profile suicides but devoid of causal evidence implicating Broy or the band.[40]Responses to Criticism and Defense of Free Expression
Broy has consistently rebutted accusations of misogyny and harm promotion by framing The Mentors' content as satirical comedy rather than literal advocacy, emphasizing personal opposition to violence. In response to 2017 protests against the band's Portland performance, where critics labeled their lyrics as endorsing rape culture, Broy asserted, "I’m against violence in general and a turn-the-other-cheek guy... I follow the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King," while denying mean-spirited intent and noting audiences typically enjoy the shows without conflict.[33] He characterized the material as "shitty comedy and shitty music," inviting detractors to debate rather than censor, and expressed annoyance at "blatantly not true" personal attacks like claims of racism or advocacy for abuse.[33] The band's defense invokes a history of resisting censorship, positioning shock tactics as a deliberate challenge to restrictive norms akin to 1980s PMRC efforts that spotlighted Mentors lyrics for explicitness. Supporters highlight this endurance—spanning over four decades of bipartisan backlash from conservative moralists to progressive activists—as empirical validation against suppression, arguing that subjective offense does not justify limiting artistic exploration of taboo subjects through hyperbole and parody.[33] [41] Broy underscores fanbase resilience over elite narratives, observing in interviews that backlash predates modern "cancel culture" but has never eroded core support, with no presumption of universal appeal.[42] This prioritizes direct audience response—sustained attendance and enjoyment—over mediated outrage, reinforcing a first-principles commitment to expression unbound by prevailing sensitivities.[33]Legacy and Impact
Influence on Underground Metal and Punk
The Mentors, with Steve Broy as bassist under the pseudonym Dr. Heathen Scum, pioneered elements of shock rock within underground punk and metal scenes by blending crude, provocative lyrics with a raw punk-metal hybrid sound starting in 1976.[43] This approach emphasized deliberate offensiveness and anti-establishment rebellion, predating and influencing subsequent acts that adopted similar shock tactics to reject mainstream commercialization of punk and metal in the 1980s.[7] Their outsider status—too metallic for punk audiences and too punkish for metal—helped preserve an uncompromised ethos amid the era's shift toward polished hardcore and thrash variants.[44] Broy's contributions to the band's guitar-bass interplay supported a gritty, lo-fi aesthetic that echoed early punk's DIY aggression while incorporating metal's heaviness, influencing shock-oriented performers like G.G. Allin, whose extreme stage antics and lyrical extremity built directly on The Mentors' template of audience provocation.[43] Similarly, the Dwarves cited The Mentors as forerunners in underground shock rock, adopting their fusion of humorously depraved themes with fast-paced, abrasive riffs to sustain a niche resistant to industry sanitization.[43] These causal links appear in genre retrospectives, where The Mentors are credited with opening pathways for such acts rather than achieving broad commercial success themselves.[7] In underground histories, The Mentors' anti-mainstream persistence is noted for countering the 1980s-1990s punk commercialization, as seen in the PMRC hearings where their track "Golden Shower" was highlighted as emblematic of unfiltered extremity, reinforcing their role in documenting and embodying subcultural defiance.[15] This documentation underscores a verifiable impact: citations in indie metal narratives portray them as sustainers of raw, ideology-free expression amid rising genre dilutions, with Broy's consistent involvement anchoring the band's longevity in tape-trading and zine circuits.[7]Endurance and Recent Activities
In the 2020s, Steve Broy has sustained The Mentors' presence through reformed lineups, positioning himself as the primary surviving founder and bassist under his Dr. Heathen Scum persona. These iterations often incorporate "super group" elements, blending original members or associates like Mad Dog Marc Duce and Cousin Fister with newer collaborators to maintain live performances amid lineup changes following the deaths of key figures such as Sickie Wifebeater in 2023.[20] This approach has enabled sporadic tours and gigs, adapting to contemporary underground circuits while retaining the band's signature confrontational stage dynamics.[45] Notable activities include tribute events honoring past members, such as the August 9, 2024, gathering at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, which featured Mentors alumni in a memorial for Sickie Wifebeater, with Broy central to the proceedings. By 2025, Broy-led performances continued in regional venues, including a show in Sheridan, Oregon, documented in March, and an upcoming historic gig in Lawndale, California, highlighting the "super group" Mentors variant.[46] These outings underscore Broy's role in perpetuating the act's raw, unfiltered ethos amid evolving punk and metal scenes, without significant new studio releases reported since earlier decade efforts.[47]Discography
With The Mentors
- You Axed for It! (LP, August 1985, Death Records).[48]
- Up the Dose (LP, December 1986, Death Records).[49][50]
- Live in Frisco (EP, 1987, self-released).[6]
- Up the Dose / You Axed for It! (compilation LP/CD, 1989, Death Records).[6]
- Rock Bible (cassette, 1990, Mentor Records).[51]
- To the Max (cassette/CD, 1991, Mentor Records).[52][53]
- Over the Top (CD, November 18, 2005, Mentor Records).[54]
- Ducefixion (CD, July 28, 2009, Mentor Records).[18]
With The Mantors
The Mantors, initially formed as a tribute to The Mentors, released Lust Muscle in 2008 on Mad Dog/Mentors Records, with Steve Broy performing guitar on the album. The 12-track effort included covers and original material in a similar shock rock style, such as "Four F Club," co-written by Broy alongside Eric Carlson. In 2009, the band issued Matando Emo on the same label, again featuring Broy on guitar across its tracks. This release maintained the raw, provocative aesthetic, with songs targeting emo culture, distinguishing it from core Mentors output through its tribute-band origins and lineup including Marc "Mad Dog" DeLeon.[55] No further full-length albums under The Mantors involving Broy have been documented.[56]With El Duce
In the early 1990s, Steve Broy, performing as Dr. Heathen Scum, provided guitar and bass instrumentation for El Duce's solo album Booze and Broads, released in 1992 on Mind Boggler Records. El Duce handled vocals and drums on the project, with Broy also contributing as producer.[10] Broy continued the collaboration on Musical Pornography (1993, Mind Boggler Records), where he again played guitar and bass alongside El Duce's vocals and drums, maintaining the raw, explicit style characteristic of their joint output.[57] The duo co-wrote all tracks for Buttfucking Man (1995), with Broy on guitar and bass supporting El Duce's performances, further exemplifying their focused partnership outside full Mentors lineup recordings.[58]With Hammerhawk / Mentorhawk
Mentorhawk was a short-lived collaborative project formed in the late 1990s between Steve Broy (under his Dr. Heathen Scum persona) and members of the Dutch heavy metal band Hammerhawk, blending thrash and heavy metal styles with influences from The Mentors' shock rock aesthetic. The sole release under this banner was the split album Motel 7, issued in November 1999 via HMF Records (catalog HMF DUCE 39). Broy contributed lead vocals to Mentorhawk's tracks on the CD, which also featured material from Hammerhawk and The Mentors, highlighting a hybrid of raw, aggressive riffs and provocative lyrical themes.[59]As Pope Heathen Scum
Under the alias Pope Heathen Scum, Steve Broy released the full-length album A Man's Way to Relax in 1999, performing all instruments and vocals on the independent production.In 2008, he issued Lady Killer as a self-released CDr, handling guitars, bass, and vocals in a punk-heavy metal style.[60]