About Me
I've been playing drums for 35 years (classically trained through the
Hochstein and Eastman Schools of Music, as well as Nazareth College on scholarship), participating in numerous concert bands, percussion ensembles, and marching bands.
My teachers included Vinnie Ruggerio (Chuck Mangione)and Ruth Kahn
(Eastman School, RPO). My main influences are Tommy Aldridge, Scott
Travis, Deen Castronovo, Neil Peart, Simon Phillips, John Bonham and Steve Smith + a million more guys. My drumming can be heard on the following albums and has
been internationally acclaimed in Europe and Japan with Metal Blade
artist "Liegelord" ("A Return To Fantasy - A Tribute to Uriah Heep" -
Century Media / 2003), Bareknuckle recording artists "Thick As Thieves"
("Rock the House" 1997)and "Ramrod" (featuring members of Overkill- demos critically acclaimed thru out Europe).
Other than the recordings above, I have also done numerous recording
sessions with various bands, including a project for Lou Gramm in
2004 re-recording parts of classic Foreigner songs for his radio ads. My playing can also be heard on the 1994 Foundations Forum CD
(which also included Dream Theater, White Zombie and Testament), GFI
Studio's the Unsigned Vol. 1, local band Court Jester's "King For A Day", and Michael
Staertow's "Oxygen". I have been playing in bands locally, up and down
the East Coast, and Canada for the last 20 years. The highlight of my
playing would be in Germany at the largest Heavy Metal festival in
existence - the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2000 with Liegelord, sharing the bill with Zakk Wylde's BLS, Dee Snider, Armored Saint, Overkill and Lizzy Borden. Hobbies include collecting cd's and music dvd's. My favorite sports
are hockey (Rangers/Bruins)and baseball - I'm a HUGE Red Sox and Steelers fan
too. Making my pilgrimage to Fenway Park in Boston this past summer to see the Red Sox was a huge thrill! I also like to read (James Bond books, Neil Peart's books, and
books about music related stuff).My Gear:
Usually, I used to play my lovely Yamaha Recording Custom set. 2 24" kicks, 14", 15" mounted toms, and 16" and 18" floor toms. My cymbals are mostly Sabian - 6 crashes, 3 splashes, 1 china, 2 sets of hi-hats, and a ride. These were all mounted to my Pearl rack. My snare drums are Tama Superstar - early '80's vintage. My main one is made of rosewood, the spare made of birch. I have a few others, such as my Yamaha Anton Fig model - which sounds amazing - but I wont use that live - I'm afraid to trash it. I only use it to record with. This was my gear until I joined 50/50. After complaining about my volume - the band chipped in with me and we bought a lesser Yamaha set with smaller toms. 10", 12", and a 14" floor tom. The kick drum is 22". They dont sound nearly as good as my Recording Customs! Boo Hoo! At least I still use my Tama snare drums to crush everyone's head- HA! And, by the way - I hate using a double pedal! Two seperate bass drums are way better. But, now that I've downsized...I dont have the room to cart around 2 bass drums. My hardware is Yamaha and Tama, with my old trusty Sonor hi-hat stand. My bass drum pedal is a joke - a cheap $99 Guitar Center piece of crap. I bought it 5 years ago just in case I wasnt able set up my full kit at a gig and had to downsize. Now, I've been hammering away at it for 5 straight years! It takes a licking and keeps on ticking (knock on wood!). All you other drummers spent $500 on yours, and my $99 piece of shit does me just fine! Oh, and by the way...every drummer should have a tool box with spare parts!! I even have extra hi-hat clutches now.....you always learn the hard way when shit breaks during a gig and you get stuck!!
'Nuff said!
