“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
There’s nothing better than music. It inspires, it moves, it transforms and it brings people together. It impacts everyone. Our memories, our experiences and our emotions are wrapped up in music. It’s the one thing that crosses over social boundaries and connects individuals to a shared experience. Music is the one common thread that transcends through generations and is gladly shared among friends. The notes, the chords and the harmonies resonate through generations.
It can change your mood or it can change the world. One song can make you sing at the top of your lungs while another song will make you breakdown and cry. It educates, motivates and puts us in a better mental state. It can comfort you like an old acquaintance or it can take you somewhere you’ve never been before. It moves, it lives and it breathes. It is alive in all of us. It can make you stand up and shout or it can bring you to your knees. We pay for it, we live for it and we fight for it. Yet, it has never started a war. It’s the backdrop for my past, my present and my future. Like a trusted friend, it’s always there when I need it. And it never lets me down. I stand by it and I believe in it. I could never imagine my life without it.
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The bass lick from "Good Times Bad Times" tumbles out my speakers and I am hooked. I do not know it is Led Zeppelin, only that I am inexplicably drawn to that low end rumble. Elton John, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith. I am young and have discovered my rock and roll. I buy the best stereo and the biggest woofers my yard work jobs can afford. I have graduated from transistor radio to stereo FM. Bass rules supreme...
My birthday in 1978 arrives and I buy myself a gift and begin a dream: a used Fender Precision Bass. Price: $260. I had $250 in varying small bills in my bell-bottomed pockets and I promised the guy I’d bring him the extra $10 in exchange for my driver’s license (which I left with him). I haven’t a clue as to what to do with the four thick strings. I only know that it is the coolest, most elegant instrument I have ever seen…
7:45 am on a typical high school morning, 1979, my senior year is grinding down. I crouch into my Datsun 1200, fire up all four cylinders and push the cassette into the Clarion deck, 6x9’s in the doors, 2 more in the back. Achilles Last Stand, full volume, bass cranked. 10 minutes of blistering rock to the parking lot. I, II, III, IV all ready and now we’re steady; daily Physical Graffiti; Friday night, "Song Remains the Same" at the Bijou Cinema Hermosa Beach. The soundtrack to my soul…
Fast forward past the countless bands, demo tapes, Hollywood, broken deals and battered dreams. I graduated the School of Hard Knocks (with honors) many moons ago. The paint on my P-Bass is worn to the wood. It remains the coolest, most elegant instrument I have ever seen. Elton John, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith; 8-tracks to iTunes. The soundtrack of my youth became the soundtrack of my life. Priceless.
And Zeppelin rules supreme…
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 The music I write comes straight from the heart and I believe people can feel that. I once tried to write trendy music without soul and that didn't workout too well, so from then on I followed my heart and everything fell into place. I've been listening to music since I was three years old. I grew up in Chicago and was heavily influenced by blues and the funk of the Midwest. All of this music comes straight from the heart and that must be the reason I believe so strongly in playing from the heart. This music moved me so much I knew I had to move people in the same way. It's funny in interviews people often talk about their early influences, my early influences are the very same artists I listen to today, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, Aerosmith, Sly and the Family Stone and the Ohio Players. I was so inspired by the music of these bands it made me pick up the guitar at age ten and I started performing live at age twelve, since then I have performed over 1000 shows in 38 states and 5 countries and still love every minute of it. Being on the road and performing every night is when I'm at my happiest. I want to put a smile on peoples faces and take them away from their problems for a little while. So please, kick back listen to the sounds and FEEL THE MUSIC!
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WHY IS THIS GIG COOL... FOR A DRUMMER
a. You get to rock.
b. You get to swing.
c. You’ve gotta groove.
d. You get to play BIG drums.
e. All of the above.
Simply put - if you’re a rock drummer and you haven’t hoisted a pint at the altar of Mr. Bonham, then you’re just not rock. Period.
I've also been well quoted as saying lots of other things, but we don’t have enough bandwidth here to house them all. I would like to mention that I am very thankful for my drum buddies at Paiste, Pork Pie and Drum Workshop. Without them I’d just be another monkey banging on pots and pans.
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