Well hello there boys and girls! Let me tell you a story of how I first got into playing music and which bands got me inspired to play what I play today.
In middle school the first band I ever got into was “Bush”. My best friend at the time and I started playing guitar around the 8th grade because we were both inspired by Bush and the movie “The Crow” to play the six string. We both thought the guitar scene in that movie was so badass! My very first concert ever was Bush with Veruca Salt at the Great Western Forum. I remember when I got my first guitar at that time which was a black on black fender squire with a maple neck as part of the whole “Strat pack” deal at Guitar Center. The only formal lessons I took when I first started was at a local park where this guitar teacher taught a class in the recreation center. I recall some of the first songs that I leaned were “Machine Head” and “Glycerine” by Bush, “Don’t Speak,” “Just a girl,” and “Spiderwebs” from No Doubt, and a few random Nirvana songs. Other than that I was just self-taught because I would just pick it up quick after I got the basics down.
Later towards the end of the 8th grade into high school I got really into No Doubt whose bassist Tony Kanal inspired me to want to switch from guitar to bass. Something about the way he played and the energy he had while playing took an interest to me. Soooooooo……I got my first bass which of course was a Yamaha because that’s what Tony played. It was a natural wood finished Yamaha BBN4 which had various paint jobs done on it over the years. I believe it was last painted in Neon glow in the dark green and had stickers all over it. Years later I gave it to my second cousin so she can learn how to play. So it now resides somewhere in Florida and probably collecting dust….ha!
To add more fuel to my fire of bass playing, I got into the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was always kind of into them, but I got REALLY into them when my bass playing came along. Flea, their bassist, just took it to another level for me. Of course when you’re young you start emulating every single lick and move in the book that he does. Which I really think helped a lot because it made me learn how to improvise on the spot while playing based on feeling and emotions. To this day I use the same practice of improvising while jamming to come up with some of the coolest riffs, melodies, and hooks for songs. I would practice bass so much that my index finger would have a flat tip from all the skin being grinder away on the strings.
It wasn’t until my junior year that I started to play in a real “band”; with some friends from school, but that didn’t work out as well. Although during that process I got to meet Melissa Koziel (our drummer) and from there the both of us took it to a whole new level. Melissa and I formed our band which was called “Face the Fact” that did A LOT within two or three years (small tours, opening for good bands, played HOB Anaheim and the Glasshouse). But I’ll Let Melissa tell her own story now…………………………………..
In middle school the first band I ever got into was “Bush”. My best friend at the time and I started playing guitar around the 8th grade because we were both inspired by Bush and the movie “The Crow” to play the six string. We both thought the guitar scene in that movie was so badass! My very first concert ever was Bush with Veruca Salt at the Great Western Forum. I remember when I got my first guitar at that time which was a black on black fender squire with a maple neck as part of the whole “Strat pack” deal at Guitar Center. The only formal lessons I took when I first started was at a local park where this guitar teacher taught a class in the recreation center. I recall some of the first songs that I leaned were “Machine Head” and “Glycerine” by Bush, “Don’t Speak,” “Just a girl,” and “Spiderwebs” from No Doubt, and a few random Nirvana songs. Other than that I was just self-taught because I would just pick it up quick after I got the basics down.
Later towards the end of the 8th grade into high school I got really into No Doubt whose bassist Tony Kanal inspired me to want to switch from guitar to bass. Something about the way he played and the energy he had while playing took an interest to me. Soooooooo……I got my first bass which of course was a Yamaha because that’s what Tony played. It was a natural wood finished Yamaha BBN4 which had various paint jobs done on it over the years. I believe it was last painted in Neon glow in the dark green and had stickers all over it. Years later I gave it to my second cousin so she can learn how to play. So it now resides somewhere in Florida and probably collecting dust….ha!
To add more fuel to my fire of bass playing, I got into the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was always kind of into them, but I got REALLY into them when my bass playing came along. Flea, their bassist, just took it to another level for me. Of course when you’re young you start emulating every single lick and move in the book that he does. Which I really think helped a lot because it made me learn how to improvise on the spot while playing based on feeling and emotions. To this day I use the same practice of improvising while jamming to come up with some of the coolest riffs, melodies, and hooks for songs. I would practice bass so much that my index finger would have a flat tip from all the skin being grinder away on the strings.
It wasn’t until my junior year that I started to play in a real “band”; with some friends from school, but that didn’t work out as well. Although during that process I got to meet Melissa Koziel (our drummer) and from there the both of us took it to a whole new level. Melissa and I formed our band which was called “Face the Fact” that did A LOT within two or three years (small tours, opening for good bands, played HOB Anaheim and the Glasshouse). But I’ll Let Melissa tell her own story now…………………………………..