John Kadlecik

I am a lead singer, guitarist, and co-founder of Dark Star Orchestra. I started playing classical violin in 1978, began teaching myself rock-and-roll guitar in 1984, and started playing with my first band and producing 4-track demos in 1985-86. I was a bit of a nerd in grade school, with a deep love of reading and an obsession with science and science-fiction. In high school and college my fascination extended into philosophy, world religions, and meta-physics. I grew up with my parents Beatles albums (Help through Magical Mystery Tour) as my only real exposure to rock-and-roll, but in high school my friends started turning me on to Led Zeppelin, Rush, the Police, Pink Floyd, and eventually the Grateful Dead. My mother (and abstract impressionist painter who bought my first electric guitar and amp for me) pushed me to listen to jazz artists like Jean-Luc Ponty, Stephane Grappelli, and Mahavishnu Orchestra. On my own I got into Joe Pass and John Coltrane. I played in a number of different bands in the Chicago area: Nightshade, Clear Eyes, Spooky Blue Fungus, Uncle Buffalo's Urban Mountain Review, Hairball Willie, Uncle John's Band, and Wingnut, to name a few, before co-founding Dark Star Orchestra in 1997. I hope to have a more detailed bio up on my website soon ( www.johnkmusic.net ).