I like A LOT of different music. I particularly like music that develops as it progresses.
Dream Theater, John Mayer, Sting, Tenacious D, Toto, Transatlantic, Extreme, Nuno Bettencourt, Muse, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie (The Goblin King rules!), Take 6, Jamiroquai, Maroon 5, Nitin Sawhney, 4 Hero, J-Life, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, System of a Down, Paul Gilbert, The Black Mages, MC HAWKING.
Movies
Batman Begins, Braindead, The Last Samurai, Shawshank Redemption, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma, Equilibrium, Kill Bill, Braindead, Leon, The Descent, The Killing of Satan, 300... off the top of my head.
Television
24, Monty Python, South Park, Chappelle's Show, OBE (Ghanaian channel - great when getting back at 4am after playing a gig - serious!!!), Takeshi's Castle, Fawlty Towers, Robot Chicken, Dr Who.
Books
The Sharpe series (Bernard Cornwell)
The Warlord Trilogy (Bernard Cornwell)
The Grail Quest (Bernard Cornwell)
The Starbuck Chronicles (Bernard Cornwell)
Most of Bernard Cornwell's work
The Dune series (Frank Herbert)
The Inner Game of Music (Barry Green)
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook (Bobby Owsinski)
Ben Elton (most of them)
Scarecrow series (Matthew Reilly)
Angry White Pyjamas (Robert Twigger)
Tricks of the Mind (Derren Brown)
The Game (Neil Strauss)
Various books on body language and handwriting analysis et al.
Heroes
Norman Borlaug - the MAN who risked his life living in war torn and famine ridden countries (such as Mexico, Pakistan and India) to figure out ways of increasing that country's crop yield so the inhabitants wouldn't starve to death. The MAN has saved over A BILLION lives!!!!!!!!! Norman Borlaug - A TRUE HERO!!!!Batman - he ain't got no special powers. He didn't get bitten by no radioactive mutant bat. He pure.
David Bowie- particularly as Jareth The Goblin King from the film Labyrinth - "do my every bidding and I will be your slave."?!? Bowie wrote the book (well, the song) about being Heroes.
Mike Portnoy - the drummer from Dream Theater and also, I guess, the band leader. The man works SOOO hard, not just with the band's music but behind the scenes to make you proud to be a Dream Theater fan: Official Bootleg releases, a different set for every gig, 3-4 hour shows (6 hours if it's a DT two-night stand), free clinics, "making of..." albums, covering WHOLE classic albums live.......and shit loads more!
Thames Valley University
London, United Kingdom
Graduated: 2005
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Music Performance
Clubs: The Guitar Institute degree course affiliated by Thames Valley University
About me:
So, I'm from east London, UK. I have graduated from The Guitar Institute in west London and am trying to make a living from music. Music is the elixir of life and is especially effective when mixed with drink and good company.
And speaking of life, life is too short to spend all of it wondering what you're gonna do with it. My love is music, and that is why I choose to pursue it and I have much respect for anyone who has a dream and makes an effort to bring it into their reality.
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Music taste (and a wide variety of flavours)
And speaking of music, I started off being into the whole rock thing in my early teens. My favourite bands were Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Nirvana, The Scorpions and Toto among others. As I grew older I started getting into other styles of music such as funk, jazz, latin, RnB, metal, soul and various "world" music and realised I really liked the progressive element in music (although I didn't know the word "progressive" in a musical context at the time). I'm glad I've developed a wide ranging taste in music as it allows you fit into som many different situations (and also helps quite a bit on the session scene). But despite my eclectic taste, rock still is, and probably always will be, the music of my people. RAWK ON!!!!/ m / >;< / m / Spiral Compass
My main project at the moment is my originals band, Spiral Compass. It's basically a rock band with emphasis on groove, a varied range of styles and progressiveness. Check out the Spiral Compass Myspace page:
Spiral Compass
I've currently got my producer hat on recording and mixing the tracks.
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Tom Likes Dogs
Website: www.tomlikesdogs.co.uk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/tomlikesdogs
I also have a covers band which I put together called Tom Likes Dogs. We play pretty much anything from Jamiroquai to Bad Company to Metallica to Donna Summer and everything in between and around.
I put this band together for fun after I finished the intensive 1 Year Diploma at the Guitar Institute. Although we play covers, we tend to put our own little twist on many of the songs. We are kind of like the Dr Frankenstein of the cover band scene where we may add some ridiculous jingle to join two songs, simply just segue some interesting song choices together. So if you're reading this, you SHOULD come to see us play live!! Why? Because you'll have a good time :-)
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Other work
I've done a few sessions for various artists including Amy Studt (her "False Smiles" album), which I believe got to around number 14 in the UK charts and Chinch Woo (formerly Urban Dove) a London based group who write good songs but wrapped in exciting and often aggressive rock/electric arrangements.
Recently, I've been on and off tour with UK Gospel heavy weights Four Kornerz. They were up for a M.O.B.O award (among other prestigious silverware honours) and have a large following in the UK and overseas. Those guys have a similar music philosophy to me in terms of diversity of styles. I can relate to the "no boundaries" point of view.
In the jazz world, I've been playing with singer/pianist Faye Patton. She has some cool songs which I really like because it gives me a chance to play some "adult chords" which I have to work out by ear. I've also played for Marcina Arnold who writes the most amazing and stylistically diverse songs. She fuses jazz with soul, latin, and Indian classical. Again, obscure and unorthodox chords.
I have also played for Malarchi, an up and coming star on the rap scene and have done a few radio appearances for the BBC. Apart from playing, I also teach guitar.
I'm also into martial arts. I've done a few over the years but I'm particularly fond of Jiu Jitsu, particularly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to train like I used to but I am proud to have been awarded my blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu by the legend himself, Royce Gracie. He's a super nice guy but kicked my ass when I asked to spar with him. It was an honour.
Recently, I've been getting into magic. My favs so far are card tricks and mind reading. One the tricks I learned (which I've wanted to know how to do for years) is the one where you stuff a hankerchief in your hand and make it disappear. Unfortunately, the last time I did that trick the hankerchief completely disappeared even from me. I still haven't been able to make it re-appear. I'm hoping to get a few more tricks together and create a little reportoire.
"Oh baybee ah wanna get witcha, an' take yo' pitcha. My homeboys tried ta warn me but that butt you got makes memeMe so hawnie. LA waist with an Oakland booty!" - Text from Martin to me
Who I'd like to meet: Need:
Mike Portnoy, Steve Lukather, Sting, Dominic Miller, Simon Phillips, Dave Gorman, Derren Brown (all that spring to mind at this moment. I'm sure there have to be some females in there somewhere too).
Got:
John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, Nitin Sawhney, Daniel Bedingfield, Natasha Bedingfield, Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Royce Gracie, Albert Lee, Jimmy Tarbuck, Jeff Coffin, Futureman, Paul Gilbert (of Mr Big fame), Courtney Pine.
Yes thats right our friend Olia has finally got her hands on a pub and low and behold its the Kings Arms and ryan will be playing there Friday 24th of October!.
Name: The Kings Arms - Location: Acton Address: The Vale, Acton, London, W3 7JT
Its 4/5 stops on the number 70 bus from East Acton Staton( the acton park stop) which is on the central or a 10 minute walk from central acton which is on the overland.
I had tendonitis on my right arm for a year and a half so haven't been rocking that hard :( I just recently got back to playing and put a band together to play my songs. Should have something ready for myspace soon. How are you?
I moved to the south of Brazil last September and feeling loads healthier. Doing lots of music, going to the beach and having BBQs with the neighbours. Lots of mad stuff here; jungle is a short walk away from the house, eagles and vultures flying around waiting for lunch, and one of my neighbours is a big fan of Cliff Richard. Hope all is going great with you. All the best,
Yo! Nashwan's one and all, our time has come! The album: 'Turn on. Engage.' is now finally available from HMV.co.uk, iTunes, Amazon, the lot! And you can order it in from the counter of any music store, so get in there and tell your friends! Exclamation mark!!11! =)
Online Now!