I
was the last one to pick up an instrument out of the other
band members. When I was eleven years old, I bought my
first bass guitar, narrow-minded, thinking it would be
easier than guitar because of the lack of strings. Once
I really got into the beauty of the instrument, I started
to notice it was a completely different playing field,
and much more than simple root notes over guitar chords.
Once techniques and styles were introduced to me by my
first bass idol Stuart Hamm of Joe Satriani, I found it
to be a challenge worth pursuing, filling up all the gaps
in not only my music, but my life as well. It was that
same year my brothers and I played our very first talent
show, at our elementary school. We were last, and finished
the night with Hotel California by The Eagles.
The
show turned out to be a success, leaving us with a standing
ovation which only fueled my love for the art. By the
time we got back to our classroom, we entered to applause
and comforting comments from my friends around me. It
was at this moment in time where I realized, I need to
make this my life’s pursuit. Time went on, and I
found myself playing for many different occasions such
as, charities, fundraisers, talent shows, an Oktoberfest,
battle of the bands, birthday parties, weddings, and by
the time I got older, bars and clubs.
Once
my uncle Vincenzo Volpe died in 2003 (when I was 15 years
old) the impact was heavier than I thought it would be.
It was at this time I naturally began to expand my musical
taste, listening to a lot more jazz, funk, blues, heavy
metal, but most of all, orchestral pieces from my favourite
artist of all, Ludwig Van Beethoven. After studying and
falling in love with the greatest composer, it inspired
me to pick another instrument; with a different tone,
but equal the beauty, craftsmanship, versatility and was
even more challenging as the bass guitar…the piano.
It experimented deeply with the piano, mostly writing
minor songs, but was still left with a problem, there
wasn’t a piano player in the band. I couldn’t
choose to pick one or the other so…I eventually
taught myself how to play bass and piano simultaneously,
but it’s still an ongoing journey to get impressive
at. By this time, the piano and bass allowed me to respect
and understand every style of music, in turn allowed me
to write songs on a more creative ground.
I was now able to attack a song from a lead and melodic
standpoint, rather than finding just the groove. Artists
like Mike Porcaro and David Paich from Toto, Geddy Lee
from Rush, John Myung from Dream Theatre, Elton John,
and Freddy Mercury from Queen were just some of many that
I grew to admire really fast, making bass and piano run
my life. But, I’d have to say, I learned the most
about music and passion from the master himself, again,
Ludwig Van Beethoven.
For
the past three or four years, the band has been gigging
hard playing at every show we can get, a paid gig or not.
At sixteen, my band began recording at a studio called
Tornado Alley with the producer Michael Hanson from Glass
Tiger. The record didn’t end up going anywhere,
but the band and I learned a lot from the experience which
was more important than the end...well, that’s how
I like to put it. We played many shows mostly from grade
nine to grade twelve, stretching far from Georgetown and
Unionville to Toronto and Barrie. For my brothers and
I living in Keswick Ontario and my cousin who resides
in Richmond Hill, it’s far, and sometimes makes
it difficult to get together and rehearse. We played many
great shows, one in Unionville, and had some dive-bombs
as well. When I was roughly sixteen years old, we entered
our first Battle of the Bands in a bar, called The Rockit
in downtown Toronto. Now, we have been a part of many
competitions, but a few memorable ones. Our band got to
the finals.
We
entered another in Aurora at Charlie Fitzwhiskeys a year
or two later and also advanced right to the finals. But,
for me, one of the most important shows of my life was
recently at The Foundation Nightclub in Barrie. Rock 95
was hosting a huge Battle of the Bands and we found ourselves
competing against eighty other bands from the local area
for the top prize of $15.000 of recording time, and a
feature on Rock 95.
We turned out to be the winners of this contest which
was a great deal for us, but were up against many talented
foes, and became good friends with some. I lent my piano
to the band Symphony of Nine’s pianist, who played
very well, and was respectful of my gear. With the win,
we immediately was invited into the Wellcraft Music gang
and taught the ropes of recording, mixing, everything
needed to know about the music business and recording.
We quickly began recording our first debut album. And,
now I’m where I am today, with a new website, hosting
our debut album release Party at the Foundation Nightclub
in Barrie in respect to Rock 95. “To play music
without passion is inexcusable!” (Ludwig Van Beethoven
1770-1827)
