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I was born on December 8, 1968, the same day John Lennon was murdered and also the same day that Dimebag Darrel was shot on stage in 2004. Jim Morrison was born on December 8th and Ozzy Osbourne was born on December 6th. I guess December is a great month for great artists.

I was raised in Mendham, NJ by my mom, Diane and dad, Lans. Mendham is a great place and turned into a fairly wealthy town. Who knew that in 1963 when my parents bought their house for $27,000 that Mendham would turn out to be ‘richville’!! I’m still not rich, but Joey, my wife, and I do ok, so “it’s all good.” My brother Matt and I have been best friends since he was born and although we are very different, we have a strong brotherly bond. We hung out a lot growing up and had many of the same friends, that made it easier growing up and we always had each other to rely on too. What’s cool about us is that we are very humble, confident, but humble! We don’t believe in bullshit people, you know the type, the kind that think their shit doesn’t stink. Give me a break, it’s all about being real and letting people know up front what you’re all about. Family first, friends and everything else after, that’s the way that it should be!

Ok, now that I got that out…

Growing up was ok, highs and lows. I like to say a work in progress that is what we all are, a work in progress until the day you die. I made friends early on; many of them are still my best buds. There are four people I went to kindergarten with that I still talk to and see on a regular basis, pretty cool! There are people on this earth who live and die alone, can you imagine…I can’t!!

Fast forward to high school, I was a metal head and a southern rocker. I drank beer, whiskey and smoked Winston Reds, I am lucky I made it through those years!! The only thing to do in Mendham was to party, play sports, which I did a little of and play Rock-n-Roll, which I did A LOT of! I switched back and forth from guitar to bass. Many of my buddies played guitar and I hated competing with that, so I decided to play bass because it was my own thing!

In college, I was a frat boy, how predictable, but I met my musical brother, Jason D. there, we are musical partners in every sense. He was Lennon and I was McCartney, totally in sync! We jammed a lot, became great at acoustic gigs and played bars and frat parties. I also met another musical genius there, John D. He is one of the best musicians I know; shy as hell, but he can play anything, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde…amazing! John and Jason are still two of my best friends. The rest of college was a blur; I had fun, but didn’t really have any direction. ‘Young Man Blues’ (Townsend & Daltrey)

After college is when I realized I wanted to play bass as much as possible and I got serious. I took private lessons and started my own cover/original band, Prozak. I was working during the day and playing at night and on the weekends. I also went back to school, CCM and took music classes, Theory I and II, Appreciation of Jazz, Jazz Ensemble and Piano. I did well, 3.8 GPA, amazing how well you can do when you focus on your passion. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that my day jobs were killing me and I kept on working and doing music at night. My second band was Barefoot Gypsy, great original band! I was writing, recording and growing musically…just another musical step.

Next I started Killer Calypso with Jason and John, all original music. We were a songwriting machine, not all good songs, but we were hashing it out. We went on to write about 15-20 tunes and we recorded five for our first E.P., which was recorded by the Grammy nominated producer, Machine. John left the band and Matt Mead took his place. Matt is a great writer and has since gone on to write his own music which I had a chance to play on, he’s a great artist. We also found Chris Pelesky, a great rock drummer. This is probably the strongest incarnation of Killer Calypso. We wrote more tunes and recorded another E.P. with Machine, the songs kicked ass! To this day, some of my favorite music was written during this time. Eventually it seemed that we weren’t going to get a record deal, ‘too many chefs spoil the soup’. Although Matt and I were and are great friends, we had our own ideas of how things should be done. I still remember the conversations we had on the loading dock at our rehearsal space, Streets, what a dump, but I loved that freaking dump! Matt left and we were at a low point, lost in cover band hell, playing too many gigs for not enough money, but we were lucky to find Ant G. He is probably the best guitar player I have ever played with, a monster! He went to Berklee College of Music, need I say more! We were able to write more music and come close to getting a spec deal. My neighbors at the time, Tono and Tia, who have written songs for Jessica Simpson, Destiny’s Child and Kelly Rowland, hooked us up with a producer friend of theirs. He has a major macked out studio in Montclair. We get the proposed deal from the producer and it totally sucks…I would’ve owed him my first born! After going back and forth with our lawyer, accountant and producer, it doesn’t work out….we got so close!! At this point I want to jump off a bridge or kill the producer, but instead I do neither and decide to stay alive and torture myself…ha-ha! “Oh well, hope springs eternal.”

I don’t remember what I was doing work wise, but I knew I hated it and all I ever wanted to do was play music, it’s all I have ever cared about anyway. I decide to take some pressure of myself and put a knife in Slinker, which is the name we changed Killer Calypso too. In 2002, I hooked up with another college friend, Al Z., and joined his metal cover band Size Matters. Size was a great band, Al Z., Eric B., Brian H. and I, but it only lasted a year because Eric and Brian H. couldn’t get along…oh well, put a fork in that turkey, it was done!

Is anyone still with me?

So, I do another few months of fill-ins, this is not enough. Eric invited me to play with the house band at the Fireside; I have played here for years. Thanks Scott for always making me feel at home! We were playing Wednesday’s as S.L.O.T., good times, fun jammin’ and lots of booze. Eric, Al Budd and I and whoever was around to sing…fucking singers, get a clue! Thanks to Jason for bailing us out so many times, no ego, all pipes….HELL YEAH!!!

In 2004 I subbed for a band, the Screaming Nudes; this is who I am still with today. I have scaled back with them and am playing 2-4 times a month because we had a baby boy in April. I actually have an ultrasound picture of him giving the Malocchio sign, the devil horns for all you non metal heads! METAL RULES!!!!

So, that is my bio…boring…huh?

Here are some musical highlights:

WDHA Rock & Ride with Killer Calypso
Bethlehem Musikfest with Killer Calypso
WZZO Allentown Mayfair with Killer Calypso

Whiskey Bar show with Slinker, what a great set, we recorded it and it kicks ass!

Auditioning for Disturbed in Chicago, nerve racking, but fun! I met some great fellow low enders (bass players).

Recording a demo for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. These guys do Christmas music, but metal style. Thanks Al Z.

Thank to my many teachers:
Chris Secciero
Joe Howell
John ‘JD’ Deservio (Black Label Society)
Gary Willis (Tribal Tech)
Dave LaRue (Steve Morse Band, Dixie Dregs)
Steve Bailey