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Well, I'm sure you've gathered information about me through my website... but here's my musical background in a nutshell. I played song flute for one in 3rd grade. It inspired me, and I took up alto saxophone in 5th grade, and I've played it in the school band from 5th to 8th grade. I played it in marching band in 9th and 10th grade, as well as in pep band for all my high school years so far. I played baritione saxophone in jazz band my freshman year, and alto my sophomore and junior years. I own 2 saxophones: a red Conn and a Bundy. They's both beginner saxes, because I don't take it too seriously. I took up bassoon in 9th grade, and I've played it every year in high school concert band, as well as the last 2 years in symphonic orchestra. The summer after 9th grade, I took up guitar to be in a band with Scott Lynch. Originally I was to play drums, but I ended up playing lead guitar on a Peavy Raptor guitar... the only problem was I didn't know how to play guitar and I didn't take lessons. That "band" with no songs fell apart. The only thing we could play was the chorus of Blink 182's "Dammit". Anyways, in January of that year, Scott had begun to play funk guitar, and we formed a new band called Yo! Brooklyn. I played alto and baritone sax, Scott played guitar, and we also had a blues pianist and an electric violin player. It was the best jazz-funk-blues-classical band ever created. We only did a couple songs, including the Doors' "Light My Fire" and our own song "Hearts of the Wicked". Scott and I recorded one day for his chemistry class. The song was called "PV=NRT" and it sounded TERRIBLE with saxophone. It was that day that I decided to start playing bass. I ordered one online that night and got it in the mail the next week. It was a Blue Johnson bass, possibly the worst bass in the world ever. Anyways, a day after I got my bass, I had my first lesson with Denny Carleton, one of the nicest and most awesome people in the world. Scott and I found a drummer, but he wasn't what we were looking for, so we went searching some more. We eventually found Dave Vanas, the best drummer in the world. We recorded in the studio a couple times... And I soon discovered that I was in a band with the best guitar player in the world and the best drummer in the world. It sucked. Why did it suck, you ask? Well, I didn't really want that. I didn't want to be in a competitive band, I didn't really want to be in a serious band. All I wanted was to be in a band with my friends and have fun being goofy. Weren't Scott and Dave your friends, you ask? Well, sure they were. They still are. But I wasn't the best bass player in the world, but I didn't want to be that. I mean, if I were to be the best bass player I could be, I couldn't be the other things I wanted to be to. Because the only way for me to be the absolute best bass player I could be would be to never see my friends, never make any movies, never do anything else I liked to do. It would have to be all about bass and all about music. I'm not the kinda person to be all about one thing. When you're all about one thing, you end up killing it (well, that's the way I feel, at least). So anyways, after a few months of somewhat unhappiness with the band, I quit, and was replaced with the best bass player in the world. I don't regret it one bit. A professional musician in a well-known band is one thing I don't aspire to be. It's a good path, but it's not mine. So after that I did some thinking. I realized that all this time, from sophomore year to that very moment, the most fun times I had making music were with Steve and Larry, when we would make up awesome songs while walking down the street. I was hanging out with them one day, and out of nowhere, Steve-O came up with an amazing song on the guitar, and the rest... is history.
(how's that for a story "in a nutshell"??)