Currently, as a solo artist, Tony has no bandmates, as he is performing & programming all of the instruments himself, as well as handling the majority of the vocal duties. This is quite a departure from the backing vocal style that he contributed to while in Prodigal Son. As a lead vocalist, his range is a bit lower, & less pretty as is fitting with his more aggressive musical approach as a solo artist. He attributes this to a basic desire of change, as well as his continued interest in the additional range of the 7 string guitar. Having the lower additional range warrants a voice that is more befitting the style of playing that he's grown into, & his voice is just a natural extension of that.
Influences
While his earlier influences include, but aren't limited to: Queensryche, Rush, Dream Theater, Metallica, Fates Warning, Yngwie Malmsteen, & a few others, more recently Flying Squirrel has delved into some of his older influences of Judas Priest, Neal Geraldo(Pat Benatar), and Gary Moore, while some newer influences outside of his "comfort zone" as a player such as Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, The Kidney Thieves, Lacuna Coil, Better Left Unsaid, Celldweller, & a host of other "underground" bands that he's been exposed to. As a keyboardist/synth player, he's delved into some world music for additional influence such as Enigma, Enya, Loreena McKinnett, & various independent film soundtracks. More recently, he has been incorporating more of his Cherokee culture into some of his writing as he cites Bill Miller as a major current influence.
Of his gear, his favorite guitar still remains to be the TFS6, a signature model he contracted to be constructed in 1996 by John Jordan of www.jordanmusic.com. It is a derivative of the B.C. Rich Bich model, designed by Neal Moser in the mid 1970's, but with some design modifications. Over the last few years, Tony has gotten an opportunity to meet Mr. Moser & develop a friendship with him. They communicate with each other periodically & Mr. Moser has provided Tony with some helpful insight as Tony persues furthering his lutherie skill to construct his own instruments.
Additionally, his 2nd favorite guitar is his Ibanez RG7620 7 string guitar. He also has an Ibanez Acoustic guitar, and a Warmoth Z body/KL Hetfield Neck tuned down a whole step to D.
For Keys/synth, Tony rely's on his faithful Alesis QS7 that he's had for several years. He uses a few of its stock presets, has others that he has edited for his own use, & has downloaded many of his own created & edited samples to the PCMCIA card that inserts into the QS7. More recently, he has delved into the seamingly endless sonic possibilities of VST technology.
For recording, he is currently using Cakewalk's Sonor Producer Edition version 6 recording/editing/sequencing software, and intends to begin receiving instruction on Digidesign's Pro Tools in 2009.
After years of using a 20 space rack full of various preamp & effects components, Tony is now a strong advocate for digital amp modeling technology. In recent years he has used a Johnson Millenium Amplifier Head, & more recently has obtained a Line 6 POD XT Live with the Metal Shop Model Pak installed. His presets can be found at www.customtone.com under the searches, "TFS", "TFS6", & "MCC".
See if you can tell which of the clips posted on this site are done with amp modeling, & which ones are not.
Other music can be found at:
www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=268162
Sounds Like
Hard to describe, just wait & hear for yourself when the clips are updated with new material from his new effort, which will hope to be a blend of Native American Progressive Hard Rock/Metal incorporating hosts of multiple genre' influences.
So for a Genre' description, call it, "Red-Metal" or "Alter-Native".
Lead Guitarist/Keyboardist with Prodigal Son from 1994 through 2001. Played extensive shows throughout Northern California & Nevada. 2nd Place winner 1995 H.A.R.D. Bay Area Battle of the Bands.
More recently, he's been an active participant in leading church worship in the Pacific Northwest area bringing the 7 string crunch to the 7th day.
2009 may see him involved in recording projects outside of his own solo work.
Our Record Label is about to forgo business, and is trying to get rid of its stock before it does, so both our albums are now just £0.01 +postage, basically free from http://d67.bigcartel.com, Thanks for your support, Isle of Avalon
Merry X-mas Tony. Looks like you are doing great. Take a close look at your top friend Bill Miller, it looks dead on Danny G.. lol. Love ya man, LARRY B...
Hey man I just took a listen to the demo song. Nice! I really dig your tone. I just bought the new Digitech RP 500. I like some of the tones. Now I wish I had bought the Line 6 Pod unit like you have. I could've snaked your tone! I'm a bonehead... Good stuff Tony!
Tony! How you be bud? Cool new pics you posted! Nice to finally see your lovely wife Tina. Great to see Anthony all grown up now too. Man how the time zooms bye my friend. Hope you are all doing well. Lets catch up again soon bro. Peace, Todd
Brother Tony! Man it was really good talking to you today. Nice to be able to catch up with you and taking a trip down memory lane. I was really thrilled for you to hear how happy you are working at Warmoth. It must be nice to get paid working a dream job like that...I will try to post "Beyond" on our Myspace band site today. Hopfully you can copy it. I will also send it out with the other material for you. You and Tina take care and we will keep in touch my friend. Peace, Todd.
man that's awesome! i'm happy for you Tony! well i'm back to playing instrumentals for now. things kinda went south with that last band but i'm thinking this is for the best things were a little stifling creatively probably getting Kevin and Larry to back me up with these new tunes on my page would like to find another singer at some point i'm going for a more heavy, melodic and grooving and a little less prog sound ;p let me know when you post new stuff and i'll check it out take care my friend and have a great week Cheers!
thanks Tony! yeah man the Ibanez didn't get the kinda sound i needed for this band. i play way more rhythm than Leads now and the EMGs get you that heavy sound without losing clarity so you working on some new tunes? tunes on your player sound good bro Rock on!
Yah man, James did a cool entro like you said. All on the guitar, but totally synth /techno cool stuff. Unfortunatly I had too cut it out in order to meet the 6 minutes or less constraints of myspace songs..Bastards! Actually and unfortunatly because of this, a lot of the epic stle of Gateway/ Prodigal Son Music will have to be butchered down to what my heart allows in or out... It's tough because these are all our sweat and blood if you will and I'm playing god at times when I really just want people to enjoy them the way we ment them to be...
Hey my friend! Thanks for all the wonderful picture comments on our new Gateway /Prodigal Son Page. I wish I had a way with words as you do. Just know that I regard you as the best lead/solo guitarist I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Not to take away from the fact that there was a great family chemistry with us! Your talents far exceed the mastery of the guitar and this page is fun because it does remind me of all of the hard work we did and yet still managed to have a sense of humor through it all.. I will call this weekend. Peace man.
Hey man, I start my four day weekend wed. night. I will try to call you or give me a call. We have some catching up to do!!!! Luv ya man... Below: looks like one of our serious Prodigal Son band meetings? lol
Brings back some fond memories my friend! Those were great times!!!(you on the left and me on the right, just in case the old age has you wondering) Glad we found each other again.You are and always have been a great guitarist and friend. Lets be a little better about keeping in touch. Peace my brother, Todd.
