About Me
Click here for Rainbow bookingClick the AMMUNITION banner for the AMMUNITION Forum»-(¯`v´¯)-» Gary O.Kane «-(¯`v´¯)-«GARY O.KANEINITIALS:Name: Gary O. KaneBirth name: Geir OlsenBorn: July 21st 1969 (cancer)Lives in Fredrikstad, NorwayMarried, one son, two catsHobbies: Philosophy and pornDislikes: Religion and stupidityWeakness: TemptationsPersonal goal (short term): Lose weightPersonal goal (long term): Accept my place in existenceEating: Pasta, steaks, creamy gravy, chocolateDrinking: Water, beer, Vodka RussianSTORYBOARD:1983-1986:Starting out as a drummer, Gary (aged 13) played in a band called Feedback with some older guys from school. The only reason Gary was in the band was that he was quite talented, even without considering his age. Feedback played classic rock music such as The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Beatles. And later on, Feedback started writing their own material continuing in the same genre. Most gigs in Østfold county.1986-1988:Young Gary was not too happy with Feedback`s "old" music style. He wanted to play heavier music, like Kiss or Y&T, and also to sing and play his own songs. But Feedback`s singer and songwriter, Magnus Grønneberg, was not very keen on lending the mike to his ambitious drummer. Therefore, Feedback split up and Gary formed a new band called Rebel Rousers, with Feeback guitarist Jon Pettersen and bass player Jørgen Larsen. With Gary both singing and playing drums the trio played a mixture of fast rock`n`roll and hard rock. Mainly own material. Gigs in Østfold and even one in Uddevalla in Sweden(!).In this same time period, Gary also played drums in another band called Jack Daniels and the Scotchmen. This band played only cover material and was ment to be just a fun side project for the members who all had other bands to attend to. However, the band`s partyrock (Georgia Satelites, Status Quo etc.) became quite a hit in the rock clubs, and Jack Daniels ended up doing more gigs than Rebel Rousers, playing in Østfold, Vestfold and Møre og Romsdal counties.1989-1991:Gary was never comfortable with the idea of being both drummer and lead singer. It was difficult to communicate with the audience, and of course: it looked stupid! Gary decided to break out of Rebel Rousers and go for a solo carrieer. However, finding new musicians was not easy, so he ended up asking the Rebel Rousers guys to help him out in the studio. Out of this came a new band, Kane, rebuilt on Rebel Rousers` ruins. With drummer Per Madsen on board Gary was now lead singer and leader of the pack, "Jon Bon Jovi-style". And it was at this stage Geir Olsen became Gary O. Kane!Gary wanted to make his band Kane world famous! He moved to Oslo to get closer to the buisiness. Making demotapes, taking photos, driving from one record company to another in his old, worn out car, he really struggled! A few months he earned his money from playing on the streets and in the subways.Some companies blew him off at once, but quite a few, like the big CBS, showed interest and wanted to hear more. However, as so many artists sadly come to realize: It wasn`t gonna happen!Kane played around the south-east of Norway. They had a pop/rock sound, high hair, many different line-ups and was quite a good band! In 1991 Kane released the vinyl single "Streets of desire/Without your love" on their own label. The drummer on this record was Ketil Holme from the hardrock band Ammunition. About one later, Kane split up.1991-1992:Gary formed a trio with some young and talented guys, called Nastycat. After a few months, he fired the guitarist and as he already had the studio booked, he had to find a replacement. Jan Ove Olsen, also from Ammunition, was called in and did the demotape ("Women", "Hungry heart" and "Candyman"). But Nastycat didn`t get further than this. They never played live, and the demotape didn`t get anywhere.1992-1993:Jan Ove called to see if Gary wanted to join the hardrock band Ammunition. Gary said yes, and the band wrote a bunch of new material together. Gary was still disappointed from Kane`s fade-out, and wanted to take on the world one more time. In the following months the band rehearsed, recorded and performed continuously. But the rest of the band were tired of struggling and as Jan Ove left the band, Ammunition split up.1993-1996:Gary went into the Atletic Sound Studio in Halden (initially booked for Ammunition) and recorded eleven songs. Using three months, he had to borrow 70.000 kroner from the bank to see it through. It was Gary`s biggest attempt to date! He hired top studio musicians and made huge efforts to make it sound good enough for a record company to release without having to spend too much money on it. The result was however poor; only one of the songs, "Everything you want", got any interest from the record companies. It was released in 1994, horrobly re-recorded, on the album "Sound of young Norway" (Polygram Records).At this time, the MTV Unplugged series was rolling on the tv-screen. Everyone wanted to play "accustic", it seemed! Well, Gary and his friend, Roar Hansen, called themselves Desperados and hit the pubs with two accustic guitars. For the first time in his carrieer Gary earned money! Not having to pay for a big P.A. system, bus, soundengineer, lights and a band, he had money left in his pocket when he got home! This was a turning point; Gary was now going to do this for many yearsDesperados split up after a year or so. Gary continued on his own. However, once in a while he got a little help from his friend Andreas Bosy, the bass player in Ammunition.But the need to play with a band was still there. Gary did some demotapes with his brother`s band, both as a drummer and a singer, and later on the two brothers joined the band Playground.1996-2000:Playground was ment to be a side project. Gary and his brother Ole K. Olsen started playing together with drummer Terje Sørensen and bass player Patrick Moe, and as Patrick had a rehearsal studio, the band recoreded many songs during their four years of existence. None of these songs were ever released. Playground did a few gigs around the Østfold county.2000-2005:During the whole period of Playground, Gary had also played on his own with his accustic guitar in the pubs. He travelled over many parts of Norway and some places in Sweden, playing on request. But the constant compromising with himself, the audience and the cover songs was hard to swollow. And in 2001 Gary decided he had to make an album with his own songs! In the spring of 2002 he recorded his first solo album and released it on his on label. Sales were not exactly sky high, but Gary was very happy with it anyway! After this, it was a little easier to continue the "covers on request" again.And somewhere in 2004 Jan Ove called again to see if Gary wanted a new dose of Ammunition!2005-present day:Gary is back in Ammunition, recording demotapes and rehearsing. He still does his one man act also, but now he is okay with it as he gets his rocks off with the band!Check out Ammunition here: AMMUNITION
