Dave Baksh

SUM 41 Guitarist Life

David Nizaam Baksh (born 26 July 1980 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is the lead guitarist and vocalist of heavy metal/reggae band Brown Brigade, but most notably, he is the ex-lead guitarist of Canadian rock band Sum 41.

Baksh's father, who is of Indian origin, emigrated from Guyana to Canada before Dave was born.

Baksh is married to Jennifer Baksh and still enjoys listening to his old band Sum 41, as well as bands like NOFX, Metallica, Green Day, Tenacious D, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, and Rage Against the Machine.

Baksh joined Sum 41 as the third member, after Deryck Whibley and Steve Jocz formed the band in the summer of 1996. In addition to being the lead guitarist, Baksh also provided back-up vocals. He generally plays a Paul Reed Smith McCarty Double Cut Solid body, but he also plays Paul Reed Smith Single Cuts and Gibson Les Pauls and also a Gibson X-Plorers studio (Alpine White). For his pedals, he uses MXR Effects, a Digitech Whammy, and Dunlop wah Pedals. He uses Marshall Amplification as well. Baksh was Diagnosed with OCD at age of 13.

Baksh went by the name Pleasure in Sum 41's alter-ego band, Pain for Pleasure. Baksh also goes by the name Dave Brownsound Baksh, or also "Hot Chocolate", probably playing off of both his Indian heritage and brown sound, the name Eddie Van Halen coined for his own guitar tone. He has stated his favorite Sum 41 songs are Mr. Amsterdam, Machine Gun, Pain For Pleasure, and The Bitter End.

On May 11, 2006, Baksh announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 for personal reasons. He explained that he couldn't keep trying to express himself through guitar skills without being a pain to the band. During the post-Chuck hiatus, he decided it was time to move on from Sum 41 and to focus on his side project "Brown Brigade", his new band that he founded with his cousin Vaughn and with which he currently plays lead guitar and does vocals.