Being a musician, I figured that a page based on music
would be an absolute must. I have been playing guitar since age 8. Singing,
playing bass, drumming, and playing the keyboard are other talents I have, but I am first
and foremost a guitarist. I studied several styles under various instructors until
entering William Paterson College (now University) in 1988. I graduated with my
degree in music in 1993. I just wanted to learn, and boy, did I learn a lot!
My favorite types of music are hard rock, progressive rock, and classical. I have
written and recorded many songs and compositions over the last 12 years or so. Most
of my stuff is structured hard rock with a classical feel. I believe that good music
should tell a story, and everything I write is a story. Whether a composition (I
consider my pieces to be compositions, not songs) has lyrics or not, I aim to paint a
picture with sound.
I have spent all of my
adult life in one band or another. In the 80's I was
in a couple of what you would call "hair metal"
bands. Hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? In the
early nineties, it was more prog rock type stuff, but doing
original material was getting me nowhere fast at that time.
So I did a very funny thing and joined the New Jersey based cover
band Bachelor Party. As it turns out, I spent 6 years in
that band. We had loads of fun playing everywhere from
Lake George NY to the Jersey shore to Pennsylvania to New York
City and virtually all points in between. I got a bit
frustrated after a while because despite playing to hundreds of
people every weekend, nobody really knew what I REALLY sounded
like. Therefore, I quit to pursue my own musical
interests, which is where I am today. The new project
is presently unnamed, but we have a great sound and it appears
that the sky is the limit for what we can do. We also double
as a Dream Theater Tribute band called
Erotomania. You can
register onto our newsgroup here.
Expect to hear
from us real soon.
In
more recent news, I am currently playing with the band Visions.
We play a combination of Classic, Progressive, and Heavy rock
covers. Bands we cover include Dream Theater, Boston, Styx,
Queensryche, Rush, Journey, Rainbow, Kansas and Deep Purple.
As far as my tastes go, I hover at to extremes. First
and foremost, I enjoy loud, blood pumpingly intense music. Always have. It
fits right into my personality. I like to feel motivated to action when I listen to
something, so much of my listening is to some pretty intense stuff. I also have a
passion for classical music. Especially from the Romantic period (late 18th to
mid 19th century). The dynamics are very similar to the hard stuff of today. I
also like the feeling of completeness I get from classical music. I grew up
surrounded by Beethoven and other great composers, and I studied classical music
extensively in college. The beauty of it is that I will probably still be listening
to classical music till the day I die.
By now you have had enough of my prattle. Here's
a list of my favorite artists/composers (not necessarily in order of preference):
Rush - The best power trio
ever. Heck, the best BAND ever!!
Dream
Theater - Power
prog-rock at
it's finest
Judas Priest - Nothing fancy
here. I grew up listening to these guys. I think I got into them in
1982. Mom always hated them with a passion!!
Kings X - One of the most
underrated bands ever. Great vocal capabilities and deep spiritual messages made
these guys great. The best live act I have EVER seen.
Yngwie Malmsteen - If I could only
listen to one guitarist for the rest of my life, he would be it.
Ludwig Von Beethoven - The Father
of Romantic music. His fire and passion redefined music as we know it.
Queensryche - The thinking man's
band. They always put interesting stuff out and never seem to get stale.
Anything involving Bruce Dickinson
- This includes Iron Maiden.
Mathew Sweet - Okay, he's real
cheesy and my girlfriend loves him, but I must admit that I love listening to him to
lighten my mood at times.
Fear Factory - Opposite of above.
SlipKnot - Freaky ensemble out of
Demoines Iowa. Perhaps the loudest thing I have ever heard.
Felix Mendelsohn - An early
Romantic composer who wrote colorful symphonic pieces.
Rammstein - Nasty, evil German
industrial metal. Great stuff to listen to while working out.
