Panama Red, The Eagles, The Stones, The Doobie Brothers, Barry White, Aerosmith (high on the hog!), Frankie Valli (seriously! I still can't shake Sherry), Barry Manilow - these were just a few of the eight track cassette tapes my Mom and I wore out on our endless road trips in the family van. Our "family" at the time consisted of me, her and our doberman - Baron.
From there I was introduced to the album by my step-uncle Kevin (yeah, figure that out - he wasn't much older than me - let's just say Gramps liked'em young) - we're talking RUSH (moving pictures!), Hall & Oates, Journey, Boston, Toto and this introduction led to the summer in whch MTV was launched (we never wanted to sleep after that) you couldn't escape bands like The Thompson Twins, Marc Almond, Soft Cell - Domo Arigato Mister Roboto!
These two major periods would play a huge role in forming my musical foundation - but it wasn't until highschool that I discovered I could actually make music. At that time Depeche Mode was my biggest motivator as the rare videos and demos will show (I'll pay to hide them btw!). I was blown away by what they proved could be done with a sampler and some synths. Just changed me forever.
So how do you go from Panama Red to Depeche Mode you ask?
I dreamed up, formed, created, nurtured, parented, scolded, folded, lied, concealed, tripped, hopped, popped, screamed, fought, wrestled, cajoled and otherwise molded the band Separate Ways from a couple of Casio department store synths (in 89) to what could have been a world class alt/rock band that played with the likes of Charlie Gillingham [keys, Counting Crows] & Steve Bradley [trumpet, No Doubt - amongst many others] on what was to be our last album - Seven Roads to Nowhere (in 98 - how prophetic?) -mixed by the amazing Damien Rasmussen (where are you man?!).
In Highschool I discovered Depeche Mode (as mentioned in my influences) and that was it. For the next five years I had to own every goddamned new synthesizer Korg and Roland released - even if it meant I didn't eat. Those five years behind me I would eventually trade my trusty Emu Rack Sampler and Atari 520ST (running Dr. Ts KCS no less) for a Washburn acoustic and a Roland JC-120 (the best trade I ever made in my entire life - thank you Cousin Isaac!).
This big shift in instrumentation (which some would argue was a huge mistake - hmm, maybe they were right?) brought about a big shift in the band as well. We went from myself and two synth-pop, shoe-gazing, drug loving fools (Ray & Andy) to myself and two long-haired-rock loving, Top40 playing fools from highschool (Ralph and Drew) who replaced aforementioned EMU sampler, Atari PC and drug-lovin' shoe-gazers with some rockin' drums and bass.
Many guitarists shared the stage throughout the life of the band but none like the man who's chops you can hear on the demo tracks (above) from the last album - Seven Roads. Paul A. Schmidt is the best damned guitar player I've had the pleasure of writing with to date. Keep on rockin Paulie!
Now, after almost two decades of music and a little over ten years of Separate Ways (the band has actually been defunct for almost six years now) I finally decided I've got some tunes left in me... Stuff we never recorded because Drew thought it was "too gay" - or - songs I felt had outgrown the band in some way,shape or form. So here I am finally heading back into the studio to begin work on my solo project.
These songs on my demo will give you an idea where I've been and where I'm coming from. But as to where I'm going you'll just have to wait and see - once I've got some demo tracks down - you'll be the first to hear'em here! You won't be disappointed.
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