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ODX on SellaBandCalifornia Native American. Born in Carson. I grew up primarily in Long Beach and Carson until the age of 20. My immediate family moved to Tenn. in 1980. I remained with my Uncle and his 6 children my first year in high school. I lived with my brother Jerry in Long Beach 3 or 4 years before moving to East Tenn. Of course my mother Mila and my uncle Willie Chavez Sr. were my motivaters to help me to find out what I wanted to do in my life. My cousins, that I lived with, also were a great help to my sense of humor,and continued athleticism and competetive spirit. We sat and laughed at each others faults and crazy acts of the week after dinner. Athletic endeavors throughout the seasons kept us off the street and always together with my uncle, including all of our neighborhood chums. We were all very competitive with each other and “Memo” was the neighborhood coach; he never let us give up. Knowing my enrollment into a new high school was near, my cousin told me that she heard drums playing at the school. To my surprise Banning highs drum unit were marching and practicing their cadences and recruiting members. After auditioning for Mr. Woodson, the band director, I was being fitted with a uniform afterward. The cadences were heavy bass and tom tom driven. It seemed that all year I was beating the crap out of those heads but never changed them. Although, this was my first marching experience, this was not my first performance. Some of my Jr. High school contemporaries may remember three of the best kit drummers competing for the same song during our final assembly in grade 9. But either song that we made out with, my friends were coming up to me asking me to play at their parties with my hands banging on anything, to show others invited. ( it kind of embarrassed me) While walking down the street, I heard a very loud guitar and faint drums. Curios, I walked into the back yard where it was coming from and peeked in.(at the time you could do that in LB) Evan Scott and Mark Bonsteel were playing Van Halen songs. There were drums, but Mark was hacking it up. To their surprise a real drummer came from nowhere and started jamming every song popular. This was my first band. Who can say when the first Garage band started? This was one of them that never got out. We talked about it a lot.I joined the school band in LB my junior year. I was living with my brother at the time, so supervision was to my own. I was able to put extra time into learning the rudimentary aspects of ensemble drumming along side Pat Remley(at the time my ride to and fro). I played 2nd bass drum. The unit consisted of 5 snares, 2 triples, 2 cymbals 1 chimes and three tonal bass drums. Our unit became very tight and rhythmical. We competed at the ‘Drums across America” competition throughout California . We were among the top three ensembles, next to Santa Clara high and Mission Viejo. And why not Santa Clara high! They were among some of the best Drum Corps in the world. The Santa Clara Vanguard’s drum instructor at the time was Mr. Fred Sanford and 1st snare Mr. Rob Carson. They blew my mind! Mr. Sanford gave a clinic in Tenn. that I had the privileged to see. Mr. Carson won best Snare Drum at Drum Corps International championship. The competition was tough. Maurice, Brian Williams and Barry, snare drummers in our LB high school unit, coaxed my friend Pat and I to join them in another ensemble, "Los Caballeros". I wasn’t prepared at the time for this stringent drum corps style band. But I was enthused and reliably quick at learning. Three times a week rehearsal, 1 day with full band, 1 day marching, 1 eve drums. Tony Arron, our instructor was comically funny but hard. If our pinky finger was up off the stick during the long repetitive exercises he had planned for us, it would get smacked. He would look at you blinking his eyes hard, we dubbed the “idiot stare.” Because it was YOU that F@%ked up without him having to say it. We thought that the exercises were done and now we could go talk to the rifle girls. Instead, if one guy (usually Pat)f@%ked up, then we would have to start over. Sometimes we longed for the full band rehearsal days instead. There were more girls with the full band. I think our band director punished us with Tony on occasions. But I loved it! Touring with Los Caballeros was rewarding This led to advancement with other drum and bugle corps i.e. Anaheim Kingsmen, Sacramento Freelancers. More blogs perhaps....Coming to Tenn. was a culture shock since I never knew what it looked like, and I didn’t know what the music scene would be like. In the mall I approached Steve Blevins because of his shirt and asked if he jammed. We played a few gigs for a while with Charlie "Chip" Dollinger, and Jim Pope. My first official band in Tenn. was with Tim Releva, Dave Seay, and Dan Hinton called "Steddy Eddy". We recorded at Classic Studios in Bristol. The title of the album is called “Thrills”. We also did a demo inside WETS with Phil Leonard asking about the new release. Quarterbacks owner Jeff Miller along with Bro. Dave, Ed, and Phil at the Down Home Kitchen gave us gigs. Along the way were a surprisingly line of new and veteran talent are also plenty of new friends and/or bands across Tenn. More blogs, too.... Missing my friends and relatives in Cali. prompted me to travel back and forth between East Coast and West Coast. My second time back in California, I took courses at Grove School of Music, and while attending became interested in the business side of music. Working for a show called “Market Place” as Production Assistant , (still on PBS) I met Christine Johnson, who works at Capitol Records. I told her my interest in music, and she asked if I wanted an Internship there. I was ecstatic! She introduced me to Vita Ali, asst. to Jalila Larsuel, (MC Hammer)Kathy Bates, asst. to Judy Kerr,(Heart) John Kirkpatrick asst. to Byron Hontas,(Megadeth)Sujata Murthy (reissues everything they put out) and Inez Labonte T7 (floor)Publicity/ development. I was on time, all the time. My favorite (but embarrassing) time was the unveiling of the mural on the side of the building. (still there; probably know my age by now) I was there standing in line, waiting to eat (unknowingly)behind Joe Smith,(CEO) and Charlie Haden (jazz great) telling them that I play drums. (“idiot look”, see above) After the 6 month internship, I was given the opportunity to work for CEMA marketing/distribution. Because I was told by the above professionals, your time on the business side cannot be divided, you either want to play or be behind the one's that do. I had to choose one. I thought that I would try at performing rather than business. A neighbor, actor Patrick Gavin(Tour of Duty) offered me an opportunity to talk to his friend Alan Gaba, owner of American Cartage in North Hollywood, located near dozens of recording studios.( i.e SIR, Lita Ford Studio, etc) We stored daily reels for Warner, Lorimar, all the Burbank TV studios. We also stored music equipment for major bands on tour too extensive to list. I wanted to find anybody to jam with and I was in the right place. I learned more along the technical area after experiencing a couple of shows with Steve Blevins and I.A.T.S.E local 699,( i.e rack work, amps, PSU, dimmers, lighting, truss and reinforcement for mobile sound and video stage operations.) Eventually my interest shifted to Production/Back-line support and Stage Management. But still geared up to play. I worked extensively after I moved, with IA local 122 San Diego. While rehearsing at Universal Sound, San Diego, I met the band Sepultura and befriended briefly Andreas Kisser. I remember after asking him how he started out; his reply was that he didn't want to do anything else. This stuck to me hard and heavy. I had my own space to play in and stayed in good shape. I joined a band called "Wither" we rocked at Brick By Brick and put out EPs.The week was heavy with stage calls from work because of the "Wheel of Fortune." The money was real good, but after the gig returning to my rehearsal room, was non of my equipment. I parted with over $10,000 of my life and moved to Denver for work with Rhino Productions, Denver. Our shows were mainly at Invesco Field, and the Pepsi Center.After news of my dads illness, I came home leaving my last gig to take care of him. After his death, I had a few years hiatus and decided to stay in East Tennessee. I landed a job closest to my heart and home.Bands or theater acts that you may have heard or seen, I probably have worked at it. (too extensive to list) Along with my list are some of the best days that I had working for both The Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, and Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego. (My favorite exhibit, Fances Bacon, Jamex, George Roush) These days my music group "Atomic Ensemble" looks for talented musicians locally; and with a little help from our friends, promotes musical activities regionally. My band is O.D.X. www.myspace.com/ODXBAND and www.myspace.com/MUSICODX Our unit is Hard Rock and rhythmically tight. Many songs in our catalog to choose from. The band consists of Henkul- Vocals, Scott Foster- Guitars, Jarrod Sammons- Bass, and yours truly...
ODX on SellaBandMY MAVIE!MEAN BABY! rED HEADHENKUL SAYS HELLOFOSTER IVFOSTER AFTER ADMINISTRATION OF IV