pete - ProfilesArchive

About Me

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom"....Well, I would say this statement applies so far as no one gets seriously hurt. Still, no burn,no learn right? I sing and play the Hammond B3 organ (actually, It's more like I kind of hammer on it). Right now I play with my original band Johnny Angry, as well as w/ Mike Watt and the Secondmen(whom I've also recorded an album with; "The Secondman's Middle Stand"). Some of the other bands I've played in, recorded with, and/or shared the stage w/ over the years include several from the local Long Beach scene (Bargain Music, The Dibs, Bourbon Jones, The Long Beach Dub All-Stars),as well as some non-LB bands such as The Bus-Stop Hurricanes, EchoDrift, Thalia Ferreira, Crosby Tyler, The Mudslingers, Mystery Train, The Ziggens, The Red-Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down, The Germs, Third-Grade Teacher, The Urinals, Saccharine Trust, Joe Baiza and the Universal Congress of..., Frank Black and the Catholics, The Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Eyes Adrift, Evan Dando, Grand National, Leo Nocintelli and the Funky Meters, The Dt's, Burden on Society, Top-Jimmy and the Rhythym Pigs, Corey Stevens and Texas Flood, John Hammond, Cubensis, Grandpa's Grass, Carlos Guitarlos, Fabian Jolivet (the Electro-Roots Project),Delilah Jones, The Madonnabes(also w/ watt and jer), Banyan, Backbone69, The Maykers and a boat-load of other bands (I firmly believe that the more people you play with, the more you learn, and if ya ain't learnin' ya ain't livin' as the saying goes). I also played in a wedding band for 25 years, but that's a tale of a few pages in itself(maybe I'll get to it in my blog). I'm 42 (funny enough tho', I still feel like I'm twenty), married and have three of the coolest kids in the world(only one lives w/me tho'- my little man tone, while my two girls live w/ their mom). Let's see... I don't like superficial people, selfish assholes, mean people or trend-setting bull-shitters, but these types invariably end up hanging themselves whilst in my company, so in the end I don't have to put up w/ their shit for too long anyway. Another thing that absolutely irks me to no end is other musicians who take themselves too seriously ("ooh..I'm an artist, man") and try and cop some kind of fucking rock-star attitude that they've cultivated from too many nights of watching MTV and VH1 while sitting on the couch wacking off(Henry rollins has a great take on this also). Get the fuck over yourself! Keep in mind that for every one of *you*, there's another thousand in the wings that can play or sing circles around you. Be humble,do your fucking job, respect the peeps in the crowd (that paid money to see you), and they'll return the favor. Last of all I'm not into those individuals who feel the need to pre-judge me w/o actually going to the trouble of getting to know me, so to them I bid a hearty "fuck you". I have a small circle of friends that I normally hang with, so I imagine I'm not exactly the most social type of person but I am loyal to these peeps to a fault and I would do anything for them. I venture to say that they would do the same for me. that's about the size of it folks.....

My Interests

more like passions....Music, building tube amps(I call my tinker shop "mojo sound labs"- and I build custom tube amps to order as well as working on Hammonds and Leslies), cooking up chow for friends, art deco architecture, reading, body ink, Bauhaus design.

I'd like to meet:

Jim Morrisson- I'd love to take a week long bender w/ this cat- he was a big early influence on me (In fact, in the early eighties I found it necessary to attempt to parallel his later life(prior to his untimely death)- but again that's a story for another time. D. Boon- even tho' the big man was a guitar player, he inspired me greatly and every time I play a gig w/ watt and the secondmen I feel he is looking over my shoulder. Jon Lord- the first time I heard the organ solo on "hush" I nearly shit myself;I immediately went out and scored "machine head" and from then on I was hooked; the playing and the organ sound on that album absolutely molded my own-I still listen to it before every gig. No shit. Frida Kahlo- such pain yet such surreal and beautiful work. I'd love to cook her dinner and conversate w/ her after over some cafe con leche and el presidente (I might even let diego hang out for awhile). Elvis- damn, what can I say. one of the main reasons I started playing music. Greg Rollie- I was around fourteen when me and a bro of mine indulged in some mota and went to go see "woodstock- the movie". I was into it pretty average until Santana came on- at this point it turned into an epiphany; michael shrieve banging like a madman at the drums on "soul sacrifice" and the look on rollie's face while he's doing the organ solo still fucking floors me after so many years. definitely another major influence on my playing. Bettie Page and Taylor Rain- not at the same time but for the same reason...

Music:

damn- where do I start?Motown, all of the Stax-Volt stuff, all of the Chess Records stuff, Elvis,Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee, Bijelo Dugme, Riblja Corba, Time, Patsy Cline ("I fall to pieces" still fucking kills me) Deep Purple,Steppenwolf, Vanilla Fudge, Janis Joplin, Aretha, Etta James, Three Dog Night, Jimmy Smith, The Dead Boys, The Allman Bros., Social Distortion, The Grateful Dead, Grand Funk, George Jones, Early Zep, B.O.C., Creedence, The Ramones, The Clash,The Dickies, T.S.O.L., The Germs, The Minutemen, Firehose, Van Morrison, Dylan, The Doors, Bowie, The Stooges,The Cramps,The Stones, Hank Marvin... The list goes on... some of the newer stuff I like- Wolfmother, Brant Bjork, The Flaming Lips, The Red-hot chili peppers, Tiger Army, The Scissor Sisters, The Moaners, The DT's, The Doers.

Movies:

Anything by Scorcese, Billy wilder, Elia Kazan,hitchcock (except for "family plot"- total shit), Godfathers I and II, The seven samurai by kurosawa, reservoir dogs, pulp fiction, cape fear (the original), night of the hunter (the original, The Boy with Green Hair, Lord of the flies (the original), The 5000 fingers of Dr. T.,any russ meyer flicks, early Universal film noir, The wild bunch, the sand pebbles, THX-1138, American Graffiti, Jaws, the first "Halloween", Inside John Malkovich,The wanderers, any of the coen bros. flicks, any taylor rain flicks

Television:

The Discovery channel,TLC,AMC,TCM, The History Channel, Rescue Me, The Sopranos, Nip/Tuck.

Books:

Anything by Charles Bukowski, Nick Tosches, The Marquis De Sade, An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser(A great forgotten american author), The Gulag Archipelago and One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solsczenitsyn, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon (I also have "V" and "Gravity's Rainbow" but I'm still working on those), The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Good Fellas by Nicholas Pileggi, The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain, The Sand Pebbles, Kill Me, Get in the Van by Henry Rollins... the list goes on.....

Heroes:

My Mom and Dad- always supported me unconditionally (still do), no matter what hare-brained shit I would get myself into. My wife Lil the Kill- she's my best friend,my musical sounding board(and sounding board for pretty much everything else),has awesome singing pipes and to top it all off she's a very good-looking woman... My best bro-Tone- If I'd had a younger brother w/ more brains and self-control than me, tone would be it. One of the only people I respect and envy at the same time and also probably the only cat that's come to nearly every one of my gigs over the years.Mike Watt- literally changed my life; taught me to look at music and life in general in a different light. I continue to learn from him all the time. if I'd had a wiser, older brother, watt would be it.My kids- Nicole, Cindy, and my little man tone; they keep me grounded, tell me when I'm being an ass, and remind me to look at the world thru a child's eyes.