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If we were to trace it back to the beginning...we'd probably all fall asleep. I nabbed a nylon-stringed classical acoustic guitar collecting dust in the garage and pretended to shred away. Although only 12 years old, I was determined to become the greatest guitarist on the scene. Unfortunately, I lacked the discipline and patience to practice enough to become the best. I struggled with lessons for 3 solid years and then decided it was time to start writing my own music.
Along with some friends, I formed a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band in high school and played locally. The band, Technicolor Yawn, soon underwent lineup changes while morphing into TubeSteak, Gophercide and eventually Zero Tolerance. Given that Orange County, CA was filled with ska and punk bands, I yearned for something different.
I'd call my style a fusion of Joe Satriani's melody mixed with a strong blend of Vernon Reid's legato shredding. If I move my hands and fingers really fast, something cool might happen...sometimes. Unfortunately that style didn't mesh so well with the music scene I was part of and thus, Zero Tolerance was formed.
Zero Tolerance met that need as I began collaborating with fellow musician's Mike Baas, Allan Goodman, Roger Smith and Adam Burgener. After having been disqualified from my high school's Battle of the Bands while playing with Gophercide, Zero Tolerance won it all the following year and subsequently released a 17-song CD (and yes there are definitely copies of that still floating around).
Ultimately, the band broke up as I left California for school and ended up in NYC. I soon joined "Soul Brother," a 70s'-style funk, blues band as their bassist. The band featured musicians Joe Cavallo, Mike Toscarelli and Mike Marotta and played all over Manhattan. Eventually, the band dissolved, I picked up the old 6-string and was lucky enough to fall into a great situation with my buddies from NYU. Kaluka Bone, coming off the release of their first CD, added me to the lineup and quickly began work on a new album. Kaluka Bone toured all over the East Coast playing shows in NYC, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Boston and more. Unfortunately the band's demise came about after a blistering set opening for Robin Trower (Procul Harum) at NYC's Irving Plaza. Citing scheduling overload and hectic work schedules, the bandmembers threw in the towel.
I continued to appear onstage filling in for bands like Mrs. Grundy on occasion, but then began digging up old tunes I had written and gained inspiration to write even more. I continue to write and record my material and I'm looking for a new band to play with while I've put roughly 30 songs back in the archives to be broken out in case of emergency.
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