Member since Fall 2006
Bass Guitar ~ Backing Vocals ~ Staff Writer

BIRTHDAY :  Much Too Late

GEAR:  MusicMan Stingray 5 string, Rickenbacker 4003, Fender Japanese fretless jazz bass (work in progress). Ampeg SVT-4, DbX Compressor, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Things with blinky lights on them, Ashdown ABM410 and ABM115 cabinets, Mogami cables, Wedding cake, X2 digital wireless system, I can usually be seen playing the MusicMan Stingray 5 for 56Daze.
 
MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Captain Beefheart, The Soft Machine, Mike Watt, Ornette Coleman, Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson), Henry Cow, James Jamerson, Jerry Jemmott, Jaco Pastorius, Waylon Jennings, Fela Kuti, Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Gustav Estjes.  Hairy freaks in general.

FAVORITE ALBUMS:   I am very specific and discerning in my musical tastes.  A few albums that top the list: Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica, Magma - 1001 Centigrade, Henry Cow - In Praise Of Learning, Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity, Television - Marquee Moon, The Soft Machine - Third, John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vanguard, Il Balletto Di Bronzo - YS, The Stooges - Funhouse, YES - Close To The Edge, Funkadelic - Maggot Brain, Elton John - Madman Across The Water... this list will spiral out of control if I don't stop it now.


FAVORITE SONGS:  I listen to ALOT of weird music.  I tend not to single songs out, but rather, listen to an entire album as a complete statement.  I guess a few songs that have struck me would be:  TV Eye - The Stooges, Into The Void - Black Sabbath, Havona - Weather Report, Drown - Smashing Pumpkins, Ain't To Proud To Beg - The Temptations, I Wish - Stevie Wonder, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side - the Smiths, Rainy Day Woman - Waylon Jennings, Zig Zag Wanderer - Captain Beefheart, Corporeal Jigsore Quandary - Carcass, uh,... Do It Like A G.O. from the GETO BOYS? ...I can pick randomly for hours probably.  Music is a very deep and pervasive subject for me.  I listen to everything from obscure to the mundane, death metal to country to southern R&B/soul.

 FAVORITE SONGS TO PLAY:  Any seasoned player will tell you, as long as the bass and the drums are 'locked in", any song is great to play.  I especially like to play the dancier material.  I discovered that playing country songs is a good time too, even if I don't listen to much of that stuff.

GREATEST MUSICAL MOMENT:  This is long, grab a sandwich.  For the past 20-odd years, Yoshida Tatsuya, a respected master drummer from Japan, has run an avante garde bass/drums duo known as Ruins, it has long been highly regarded as one of the strangest, and most complex musical oddities in the world.  He has always been the drummer, but he has burned out 4 bassists over the years.

(It's fast, and weird, really weird)  In the summer of 2005 he decided to tour the US under the name "Ruins: Alone" where he played a set by himself, playing live drums and vocals (sung in a language of his own invention) over pre-recorded bass tracks, then he invites a local bassist onstage to attempt to perform Ruins songs with him.  I initially sent him an email to see when Ruins was touring the US again (under the assumption that I was talking to a booking agency, or some sort of go-between) and the reply I get is from Tatsuya himself asking if I would help him book some Midwest dates for him AND perform with him.  I accepted and it took me FOUR MONTHS to learn 6 Ruins songs.  (I learned something like 60 songs in 2 weeks to play with 56Daze!)  I played two shows with him, Detroit, which went miserably and Toledo, which after once having worked with him, I had a better idea of what was going on and nailed it.  Eventually, I will get the footage back that was recorded of the show and Tony will post some of it on the website.