New MERCYFUL FATE bassist BECKY BALDWIN opens up about suffering from prosopagnosia, or 'face blindness'
04-03-2024
New MERCYFUL FATE bassist Becky Baldwin has opened up about her battle with prosopagnosia, a condition where her brain can’t recognize faces or facial expressions in spite of having normal vision. This can make it hard for her to recognize the faces of familiar coworkers, friends or even close loved ones.
Although there are no comprehensive estimates of how prevalent face blindness is, some studies suggest that between 2% and 2.5% of the population is born with congenital prosopagnosia.
Last weekend (Friday, March 1), Becky took to her social media to write: “Face blindness affects about 1 in 50 people. At first I noticed that I struggled understanding films when two actors had similar hair colours, because I assumed I was seeing the same person every time. I thought I was just disinterested in Hollywood celebrities and that’s why I could rarely recognise anyone famous. But I guess over time, with the nature of my work meeting a lot of people, with sometimes years between seeing them… I started to realise this was a problem that I have that is much worse than other people around me.
“It is probably weird meeting me in person, you don’t know what you’re going to get. You might get a lot of vague questions where I’m desperately trying to place you. You might get a look of bewilderment, which I swear isn’t a reflection on you, it’s just me trying to process a situation that I’m terrible at. You might also get an over-the-top friendly and familiar attitude, because I’m wondering if we’ve met a dozen times and I just can’t get my brain to recognise you, and I don’t like to come off as cold and disinterested (which is a criticism I get a lot). Or maybe, I’ll remember you and it’s totally fine!
“It doesn’t mean I can’t recognise anybody, it’s just faces, so I might meet someone only once but remember the bass they played, so if I see them with that bass again I know them. Sometimes I remember a unique make up or hair style, or clothing. Of course I can remember people I see regularly, or celebrities or people I follow online if their faces come up a lot on my social media. However, if someone makes a big change in their appearance, it’s really hard for me to adjust. Many times in my life when people close to me have changed their style, my subconscious can’t make sense of it. I feel myself missing someone who is still there, and it takes a while to settle into the fact that this isn’t a completely new person I’m now hanging out with.
“So, 1 in 50 people, that’s thousands of you guys following this page, but I’ve so rarely heard people talk about it. So I thought I’d share my experience, maybe some of you can relate, and others can understand the real experience. Thanks for reading! #faceblindness #prosopagnosia”.
As this year’s Metal Hall Of Fame gala at the Delta Marriott Garden Grove in Garden Grove, California, Becky was asked by The Metal Voice if her addition to MERCYFUL FATE as a permanent member has been in the works for a while. She responded: “I guess the idea was floating around for a while, but it’s quite recent still, the news that I was going to be permanent in MERCYFUL FATE. But I guess, as any band does when you’ve got a lot coming up and there’s some kind of — I don’t wanna say insecurity within the band, because it’s not that; it was just kind of, like, a question about how busy Joey was, and I guess it was kind of in the back of their minds. And the way that the fans reacted when I did the tour was very positive. So it was a natural progression, I guess. But yeah, it all just kind of came about very, very recently in terms of being solidly, like, ‘Yes, this is what’s happening. And you are gonna be a full-time member of MERCYFUL FATE.'”
Regarding how she came to play for MERCYFUL FATE originally, Becky said: “I think the main person for bringing me into the picture was (MERCYFUL FATE guitarist) Hank Shermann. So he was the person who suggested me when they started looking at, like, ‘Okay, well, actually, this whole list of male bass players that we’re looking through, it doesn’t have to be a guy. Who else do we know? Should we start looking somewhere else? Because there aren’t any women on this list, and maybe that could be a thing, that could work out for MERCYFUL FATE.’ And then I was kind of at the top of Hank’s list. And then when he showed King (Diamond, MERCYFUL FATE frontman) and the rest of the management and stuff some of my videos, it was literally the weekend of Bloodstock (Open Air) festival in the summer of 2022. And they were, like, ‘Okay, let’s go. Let’s go to Bloodstock. And she’s gonna be at Bloodstock festival. Let’s ask her there.'”
Asked if she is looking forward to perhaps contributing to the songwriting in MERCYFUL FATE as well, Becky said: “I think the songwriting is still gonna be very much King Diamond and Hank Shermann kind of heading up most of that, but definitely writing bass lines. I’ve studied all of Timi‘s (Hansen, original MERCYFUL FATE bassist) bass lines very meticulously now, and so I really feel like I can bring some of that into the new bass lines for the next record.”
Pressed about whether MERCYFUL FATE‘s legacy scares her, with “their history of all this satanic stuff,” Becky responded: “No, not really. I mean, I guess just their legacy in itself is scary. It’s such a big thing. It was such a big part of my life growing up that it’s all just very daunting, I guess. And trying to get it right is daunting and scary. But the satanic stuff, no, not really. (Laughs)”
The Birmingham, England-based musician previously toured with MERCYFUL FATE in the fall of 2022 as the temporary replacement for Joey Vera who was unable to make the dates due to a scheduled conflict with his longtime group ARMORED SAINT.
When Baldwin’s addition to MERCYFUL FATE was first announced earlier in the month, she said in a statement: “It is a great honor to now be a permanent member of MERCYFUL FATE. I can’t wait to join the recording of the new album.
“When I joined as a stand-in on the 2022 U.S. tour, the acceptance and encouragement from the fans was exceptional. A huge thanks to the band, team and fans for the warm welcome.
See you in Chile and Brazil this coming April.”
After playing the piano as a child, Becky picked up the bass guitar as a teenager and began performing with bands at school. In 2009 she moved from Trowbridge to Bristol to study at BIMM Bristol and became closely involved in Bristol’s music scene. Becky holds a BA Honours degree in Professional Musicianship and now lives in the birthplace of heavy metal — Birmingham, U.K.
Becky is an energetic live performer and efficient recording musician who specializes in fingerstyle bass guitar playing, and rock and metal genres. Since 2012, Becky has performed approximately 100 gigs per year, offering her skills for a wide variety of bands (including covers and original bands, genres ranging from metal to folk, urban, funk, pop, jazz and more.) Music has taken Becky all over Europe and into the USA for touring and recording sessions.
Becky is a co-founder of specialist private tuition company Bristol Rock Centre, which runs a teaching and rehearsal studio in Mangotsfield. She has aided exam board Rockschool in the writing and proofing of tuition/exam books including “Let’s Rock Bass”, the “Popular Music Theory” collection and the 2014 Vocal syllabus. She has led workshops with Bristol Rock Centre and Rockschool, and has given lectures at BIMM Bristol, ACM Birmingham and Access Creative College. Becky has received tuition from top musicians such as Stuart Clayton (CARL PALMER band), Damon Minchella (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE, PAUL WELLER) and Jim Barr (PORTISHEAD, GET THE BLESSING).
Earlier in the month, it was announced that MERCYFUL FATE and Vera had “mutually” decided to part ways.
MERCYFUL FATE frontman King Diamond said in a statement: “Our friendship and respect for each other will always remain the same, and we all sincerely wish each other the absolute best for the future.”
MERCYFUL FATE completed its first North American headlining tour in over two decades in November 2022. Stepping in on bass for MERCYFUL FATE at these shows was Becky Baldwin, a British musician who has previously played with FURY, TRIAXIS and CONTROL THE STORM. She filled in for Vera, who was unable to make the trek due to a scheduling conflict with his longtime band ARMORED SAINT.
In 2019, it was announced Vera would be replacing original MERCYFUL FATE bassist Timi Hansen for the band’s summer 2020 European festival appearances due to Hansen‘s cancer diagnosis. Hansen passed away in November 2019 and MERCYFUL FATE‘s 2020 summer festival appearances were rescheduled for 2021, and then to 2022.
MERCYFUL FATE‘s North American tour, which featured support from KREATOR and MIDNIGHT, followed the band’s headlining performance at the 2022 edition of Psycho Las Vegas.
MERCYFUL FATE is currently working on a new album and recently gave fans a taste of the new material when they debuted a song called “The Jackal Of Salzburg” in Germany in June 2022 as well as at Psycho Las Vegas. The band’s current lineup is rounded out by Hank Shermann and Mike Wead on guitars, and Bjarne T. Holm on drums.
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