Biography
The Seattle quartet known as Sea Hags assembled in 1985 around Ron Yocom on vocals and guitar, Frankie Wilsey on guitar, Chris Schlosshardt on bass, and Adam Maples on drums. Seeking proximity to Hollywood hair metal aspirations, the members shifted their base to San Francisco. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett assisted with their debut demo, whose quality prompted Chrysalis Records to sign the band and assign Guns N’ Roses engineer Mike Clink to produce the self-titled 1989 album. The record filtered 1980s sleaze metal through the Pacific Northwest’s darker and more enigmatic atmosphere—an approach that quietly anticipated grunge—earning strong critical notice yet scant commercial traction. Substance problems and canceled shows fractured the group during a European tour, prompting their manager to observe, “There’s only so far you can get with three junkies and one alcoholic.” Revival discussions stayed unrealized; Schlosshardt’s fatal heroin overdose in 1991 closed the chapter permanently. Yocom has stayed out of the public eye ever since, while fleeting rumors once cast Maples as Steven Adler’s possible successor in Guns N’ Roses. Wilsey, after adopting the name Wilsex, later joined Stephen Pearcy’s Arcade for a brief stretch.
Albums