C. Bryan Lavigne, and his guitars, Fiona and Sarah.
Influences
A lot of musicians have influenced me, although I doubt you can really hear it in my music. My Dad, who's fingerboard prowess leaves me red-faced with jealousy. My uncle Jon (Dad and Scott's littlest bro) was a big help -- albeit without being fully aware -- in my learning how to write lyrics and arrangements.
In the realm of mainstream musicians, many have had their impact. Tool. Andrew Bird. Bob Schneider. Blind Melon. Fiona Apple. Pink Floyd. The list goes on. You probably can't hear it, but Tool has probably had the most effect.
Sounds Like
You tell me.
....
And you better not fucking say John Mayer you bastard, 'cause I'll fucking kick out your teeth and shit on your cat. Bloody fucking cuntrags, the lot of ya.
Writting, writing, writing, and starving. Ah, the life of an artist. I've got mucho good things in the works, though I'm hesitant to remark on them. Possibly gigging solo soon. Possibly recording in a real studio. Possibly going crazy and fucking off to a mountain shack to scrawl obscenity laden manifestos on tree-bark paper with ink made from a precise mixture of my own blood, feces and semen. You never know with me.
Previously....
I was gigging with Steve McConihay and Scott Lavigne under the nom-de-musique SideSlip. I am not exaggerating when I say that we were pretty bad ass, but Steve went away to be an airline pilot and Scott wouldn't set gigs for less than some large figure, which meant we didn't get many. Plans were to have Matt Wolfe, of Byzantine fame, bringing his guitar and percussion chops to the group as well, but that fell through for reasons I never inquired about. Still waiting for the SideSlip reunion bash.
In the Beginning....
Well, an old drunken hobo once told me you can only really know a person by finding out what their parents think about them, so here's the word from my mum:
I knew by the way he spit-up his baby cereal with such flourish that my boy was destined for artistic greatness. He's always had a voracious curiosity and a helpful spirit (who can forget my micro-cassette recorder that ended up in a hundred pieces in a baggie (never quite worked right after that.) He's been a champion of the underdog since an early age and always a true gentleman. As was witnessed when he so stoically took the blame when his little sister, utilizing a huge speaker magnet, turned our color TV into a rainbow of pretty hues. Albeit, he might not have been so willing had my fury not been directed mostly at his Uncle Rusty for showing them the magnet trick in the first place, but I prefer the true gentleman explanation. Generous to a fault (I swear Im going to pay you back!), he will always help a friend in need -- unless of course you need a piece of his cheesecake, then youre on your own. He's smart (sometimes too smart for his own good), witty, an extremely talented artist and writer, compassionate, loyal, reliable, honest, stubborn, loud, ornery, opinionated, argumentative.... Wait, I'm only supposed to tell you the good stuff, oops. Seriously, he's a good person and that's everything I ever wanted him to be. I'm proud of him.
She forgot acerbic, but then, I'm only acid when I'm not retarded, and that's pretty much of the time.
I asked dad what he thought, and he grunted and handed me the bong, so we're cool.
Words of Wisdom....
"Anarchism does not depend on theory or programs, which try to grasp man's life in its entirety. It is a teaching, which is based on real life, which outgrows all artificial limitations, which cannot be constricted by any system." --Nestor Makhno
"Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us." --Leo Tolstoy
"[Voting is] merely a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable... It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the bully, and the bullet." --Benjamin R. Tucker
"Propaganda in favor of enlightened self-interest appeals to reason by means of logical arguments based upon the best available evidence fully and honestly set forth. Propaganda in favor of impulses that are below self-interest, offers false, garbled, or incomplete evidence, avoids logical argument, and seeks to influence its victims by the mere repetition of catchwords, by the furious denunciation of foreign or domestic scapegoats, and by cunningly associating the lowest passions with the highest ideals." --Aldous Huxley
"None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free." --Johann Von Goethe
"Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience & through rebellion." --Oscar Wilde
"Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others." --Edward Abbey
"If I can't dance, I don't want any part of your Revolution." --Emma Goldman
As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day, A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray, Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses, For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men, For they are women's children, and we mother them again. Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread. Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew. Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days, The rising of the women means the rising of the race. No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes, But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.
Im about as hippie as fuckin Charlie M. I LOVE Blind Melon though, and a few songs of a DVD they put out really reminds me of old Good Question? Do you still play music? "Im about to ask you the most important question i will ever ask you as long as we know each other." "Whats that man?" "Do you play music?" "Yeah man, I play a little." That was 12 years ago or more we shared that exchange, i hope the answer is still the same.
Thanks for dropping by and making friends, I see you also found a curiously static Youtube video of me. Have no idea where that came from. Never mind! At least you didn't find the video of me busting out of the London GUKPT and bitching about it, that one's embarrassing.
Anyways, very lovely to meet you, sir, do drop by again...
Man, I been tellin your ass for years now, you and Elzibeth need to do a song together to which your reply was often a litany of curse words. Worked out pretty good didnt it?
