Well, this is going to be a very compressed story about a musical rollercoaster I began in the 5th grade with a violin. Just try to imagine what Black Sabbath or Judas Priest sounds like when played on a violin by a 10 year old kid... I know. By the 7th grade, I had decided that I'd much rather be a guitarist, and I've also been a vocalist for many years as well. I'll try to make this extremely long story as short and "to the point" as possible. I played in several local bands in the Houston, Texas area growing up, but METALSTORM was the most significant. METALSTORM recorded 4 demos, and created a respectable following from 1986-1994. There is another page dedicated to METALSTORM on the top friends list with a 2 song demo from 1991. In November 1994, I became a single parent and moved closer to my family in Florida. In 1995, I hooked up with TALONZFURY, which would quickly become the link to CONTROL DENIED & DEATH...After DEATH had completed the Symbolic tour, Chuck decided that it was time for CONTROL DENIED to become a reality. Chris Williams from TALONZFURY was crowned the drummer, and recorded 3 songs with Chuck. I was blown away when I heard it... Chris said that he would recommend me as a guitarist, so I gave him some METALSTORM demos to pass on to Chuck. In the meantime, I was already learning the CONTROL DENIED material when Chuck called to ask me if I could show up at rehearsal with Chris. Oh yeah, I'm there! So we played the first 3 songs several times and everything just clicked, as if we were a well rehearsed band already. So after learning several more songs, Chris & I both recommended Scott Clendenin from TALONZFURY as a bassist. Once again, everything worked out and CONTROL DENIED needed a singer. We had recorded 3 different versions of all 8 songs instrumentally by the time Chuck received a PSYCHO SCREAM demo in the mail, the singer was Tim Aymar. Chuck contacted Tim in early 1997 and asked him to record 3 songs, which was the first "complete" version of the official CONTROL DENIED demo.At that time though, the industry wanted DEATH for obvious reasons, DEATH was already a well established name. So Chuck reorganized a few things, Scott & Chris left for personal reasons, while I continued learning DEATH material. Then, Richard Christy just appeared from virtually nowhere at a local party of mutual friends - ready to audition, and he was definitely prepared. DEATH needed a bassist, so Chuck called Steve DiGiorgio, who actually played bass on "The Sound Of Perseverance" demos, however, Scott played bass on "The Sound Of Perseverance" official release and tours.After the "Perseverance" tours, I had started a project with Chris Williams in early 1999 called "BEYOND UNKNOWN" and pieced together 5 or 6 songs. The definitive bassist was still unclear, but Todd, the singer and founding member of METALSTORM, was definitely the voice that BEYOND UNKNOWN required. But BEYOND UNKNOWN had to be put on hold for immediate work with CONTROL DENIED, rehearsals were almost daily. However, we did manage to record drum tracks on 4 of the BEYOND UNKNOWN songs, which were eventually completed in early 2005. The concept of BEYOND UNKNOWN really took on a whole new meaning after losing Chris and Chuck, which led the lyrical content "virtually" on it's own... BEYOND UNKNOWN has not only been very inspired by them both, but in a way, it's my perception of what is. There is another page dedicated to BEYOND UNKNOWN on the top friends list, with an unmastered "demo" version of 2 songs. All 4 tracks will eventually be available as an "In Memory" e.p. so to speak.The success of "Perseverance" had generated significant interest in CONTROL DENIED, so we recorded everything again with Richard playing drums and Scott on the bass. We rehearsed for about a month before we went into Morrisound, and we had virtually finished "The Fragile Art Of Existence" when Chuck began to notice that something was wrong. It seemed like a pinched nerve, so he started going to the chiropractor a few times a week. In the meantime, he also decided to have Steve record over Scott's tracks on "Fragile", but his condition was becoming scary. Chuck asked me to begin showing Steve the material while he went to see a specialist in New York for an operation, this was only a couple of days before Steve was scheduled to record. Once "The Fragile Art Of Existence" was completed, Chuck was already presenting ideas for "When Man And Machine Collide" that were nearly complete. The operation seemed to be a success, he really seemed to be getting better. We were rehearsing new material and everything seemed to be almost normal, but unfortunately, it was just a matter of time... Chuck was such a fighter, but now he was fighting for his life... I watched it slowly wear him down. These were the most difficult times for me, knowing that my friend who's like a brother, is going through something so horrible... and there's absolutely nothing that anyone can do, nothing at all. There's really no way to actually make this "short", but I am definitely trying to bypass all of the unnecessary details.In the afternoon of 12/12/2000, while driving home from work, Chris Williams was taken from us in a tragic automobile accident... I just couldn't accept it as real, complete denial, and at the same time Chuck was rapidly getting worse. The Schuldiners searched for any possible treatment that hadn't yet been tried or considered, but after several different "Breakthrough" attempts and a variety of medications, Chuck just simply coudn't fight it anymore. It was a very sad day on 12/13/2001 as we were all forced to say our final goodbyes to such an inspirational person, Chuck Schuldiner. Within one year I had lost two of my closest friends, who were not only incredible musicians, but two of the most incredible people that I've ever known. It really didn't register all at once, and I'm not sure that it ever will... I'll add more as I get time...
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