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I Proudly Play
Bands I have Collaborated With
Serpent Underground (current)
Mike Levitsky Quartet (current)
UCR Jazz Ensemble
Scarlet Reign
Jonny May Trio
Influences
Guitarists
Zakk Wylde John Petrucci Steve Morse Adrian Smith Steve Vai Eddie Van Halen Joe Satriani Dimebag Darrell Hendrix Randy Rhoads George Harrison Neal Schon Roy Z Mike Stern Django (a little) Bach Victor Wooten
Short List of Bands (In No Order)
The Beatles
Iron Maiden
Dream Theater
Slipknot
Black Label Society
Iced Earth
Pantera
Jeff Scott Soto
Victor Wooten
Tenacious D
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dio
Judas Priest
AC/DC
Otep
Bruce Dickinson
Dixie Dreggs
Guns n' Roses
Black Sabbath
Ozzy Osbourne
Stone Sour This List Could Go Forever
Here's a video Jason & I did for musician1.com. We discuss a little about the importance of stepping out of the box when in a band with two guitars.
Hope you dig it.
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Born July 10, 1981, Cody grew up in Riverside, California. He began playing guitar at age 11, and upon his first few weeks of lessons realized he had a natural understanding for music. He spent the next 2 years studying classical music. After 3 and a half years of formal study, he began studying independently. Quickly fell in love with groups such as Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera and the like. Metal became his driving passion and he dedicated most of his time to learning the compositional and playing techniques that made those groups (and their guitarists) what they were...The best musicians in the business.
As he continued, Cody took to studying many other types of music. He entered UC Riverside and received his Bachelor's degree in Music Composition. During that time he studied Classical, Jazz, Funk, and Blues. He played as much as he had the opportunity to. He was a member of the UCR Jazz Ensemble, The UCR Pep Band, was granted a gluck fellowship. He gained a working knowledge of
Piano, Drums and Bass as well as improving his guitar and compositional techniques. Throughout his years at UC Riverside he composed progressive rock tracks, classical guitar pieces, canons, fugues, minuets, and many others. But his true love remained with Rock and Metal.
Shortly after graduating Cody started looking for a band that not only had a great sound but had the passion, talent and determination to reach for the top of the music scene. He was not interested in sounding like most of the other bands in the scene. He wanted to have the freedom to be a musician not merely a guitar player. He wanted to be able to experiment and not be confined by certain closed minded ideals that are common in many musicians. He wanted a "Hell yeah let's try that" attitude rather than a "that won't work" mind frame. To explore any and all ideas that inspiration brought him and his band mates without fear of criticism.
In January of 2007 he was contacted by Serpent Underground who were looking for a lead guitarist. It didn't take long to realize that Cody had found the band he had been looking for. Now after 2 years Serpent Underground is growing stronger than ever. The passion for the music that the band creates only fuels the fire within each band member. They are constantly striving to better themselves and continue to improve with new material. Being a member of Serpent Underground is something that Cody takes great pride in. He along with his brothers in SU find sanctuary in the music they create and share an extreme dedication to the band, the music and most of all their fans.
Please Note: I have been dedicating most of my time to my work with Serpent Underground. So these tunes I've uploaded are a few years old. But they're all I have at the moment. I am in the process of composing new material, and I'll record it as soon as I can!
Estoy Tocando Mi Guitarra: I was going through my old jam files, and came across this. I haven't heard this in years but overall I thought it was pretty solid for a 1 take deal. When I did this I threw down a rhythm track, and then went back and jammed over it just to get some improvisation practice in. There's a few places where you can hear me "thinking" too much lol. But like I said, for a single run through I thought it was pretty good.
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Sweet Surrender: I composed this piece during my last quarter at UCR. It was kind of a response to Shabba Labba Ding Dong. I wanted something a little more mellow. I perform all rhythm, lead, guitars as well as bass. Mike Levitsky is on the drums. He did an awesome job complimenting my playing. I'm extremely proud of this tune.
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Shabba Labba Ding Dong: This was my first independent composition at UCR. Before this I was composing canons, fugues and stuff like that. So I let my Metal chops loose for this one. I based this tune off of the rhythmic feel when you actually say the words "Shabba Labba Ding Dong". If you listen to the first figure by the guitar you can hear the words. I got a lot of positive feedback on this one. Particularly at the slow section, and the harmonies. Once again I'm on all lead, rhythms, and bass with Mike Levitsky on the Drums. My only problem with this piece is during the recording we didn't quite get the drum sound I was looking for. I spent a long time trying to get the best sound I could. Mike did an awesome job recording, but the bleed through was a little much on the drum mics. I'll re-record this again so Mike & I can actually mic the drums the way we want to. But not bad for my first independent recording!
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Crazy Stairs: Hahahaha! This song was written by Mike & I. We are both huge fans of "Family Guy" and the idea of crazy stairs comes from the episode "Brian Goes to College". It is a reference that Stewie makes to MC Escher's "Relativity". For us, it became a term we used to describe something as crazy! This entire song was done by 2 people. Everything you hear is either Mike or Me. Ain't that some Crazy Stairs!? I'm on vocals, background vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, clapping, and bass. Mike was on vocals, background vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, clapping, drums and percussion.
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The Lie: This is the title track from the up coming Serpent Underground album. It was written by myself and our vocalist Ralph. Check out the official Serpent Underground Myspace For more music!
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God on the Mic: This is the first single off of Serpent Underground's new album "The Lie". I am very proud to have been a part of this project. This album is amazing. Every song is great. Check out Serpent's myspace page for the latest info as well as the "Telling The Lie" video trilogy.
I'll bet you are feeling stir crazy! It's cold, rainy, and windy here too! Brrrr........Sorry your day off was a boring indoor day. Those are the days to pull out a bag of skittles and a sprite...LOL. For me, hmmm....something a bit stronger
