Hank Deberitz profile picture

Hank Deberitz

About Me

Welcome to my "MySpace" site, and thanks for stopping by!!But first...be aware...I do get long winded..no story without painting the picture... Ok..now, where do we start..so many things that stir my juices..Art, Books, Europe..ahh Berlin..wadda town!!..Underground Culture Past and Present, Old Automobiles, Film, Photography...Life..Gotta Love It!!! To much Excitement!! Ok now..let's focus.. Music is what we're here to talk about in this one..I'm 43 years of age, born in Oslo, Norway where I started writing tunes and playing in bands in 1979...the sounds of Blondie and the Clash all around...Dunno when it first happened, but I've been a sucker for a groove ever since I heard my first John Lee Hooker boogie, and a sucker for gorgeous melody and progressions ever since I first heard the Beatles and the Kinks...so, here I am...35 years later, still with one foot in either camp!!!In Junior High, a particulary visionary teacher brought in an album by Canned Heat to use as part of his English class, and that was it. I was gone...the Blues hittin me square in the face as subtle as a sledgehammer...something about that sound, something about that feel... Still, my foray into all sorts of styles and sounds continued..New Wave and 60s style beat bands, heavy metal...gotta love Motorhead!!!...a stint as bassman for Jannicke, an early 80's Norwegian top charting Rocker.. I was in her comeback band in 1985... a band that never quite came back!! The mid 80's also saw me heading across to London to check out the live scene... and as you do, in a drunken stupour in a dingy Bayswater nightclub I met the oh so lovely Bernie and off to her hometown of Perth, Australia we went...And this is pretty much where the story begins...shortly after my arrival here I hooked up with various Perth Blues Players...Playing the Blues Scene brought me in contact with enigmatic and charismatic ( and some of you may say Highly Abrasive!!! ) US harp player Abracadabra Mark Alderman... Abbles was a native of Riverside, CA and pretty much grew up with the LA Blues Scene of the 70s and 80s, following George Smith, Goleta Slim (Young Kim Wilson), Lynwood Slim, James Harman and Rod Piazza... After arriving here in the late 80's he kicked of LA style blues band NACHO MAMAZ...great band. (working on a MySpace site for the band now). I joined on Electric and Upright Bass in 1992 and headed off on an amazing learning curve... As much of a pain in the ass as he could be, a lot of us here in Perth have plenty of stuff to thank Abbles for. A true visionary and survivor of amazing magnitude, the impact he had on the WestOz blues scene is still tangible. For me he became a friend, a mentor (..at times a tor-mentor...we always hurt the ones we love, huh..) a teacher and a life long influence. RIP Crazy Beautiful Man!!! I stayed with Nachos, touring locally and nationally, as Abbles right hand man until late '96 when I had eventually had enough of the rollercoaster. Love the man...just couldn't live with him anymore... Shortly after the split, I got a few friends together and we kicked off the Seriously Swingin' Blues Band "The Vibrolators". The band still tours, popping up at festivals nation wide. My other greand project is Fab Indie Rockers "ElectroMen"..a killer outfit cconsisting of old Rockabilly and Blues players, doing anything but Rockabilly and Blues..check it out!! <a

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 25/03/2006
Band Members: ***The Usual Suspects in my own bands and fill in's: Captain Kennie Fuller, Benji Franz, Yugon Chobanoff, Almore James, GBN Bushby, Drake Denyer, Geoff Bushby, Laurence "The Sheik" Petre Allen, Mark "Senior" Constable, Angus Diggs, Reggie Zar, Howie Johnson, Howie Shawcross, Johnnie "HT" Wilson, Panama Harry, Little Al Maloni, Rick Steele, Indigo Duck, Diamond Dave, Dave Brewer, Richie Pavledis... ***As Touring Bassplayer with: Lynwood Slim, Alex Schultz, Kirk Fletcher, Richard Innes, Marc Tee, Big Joe Louis, Fiona Boyes, Ivan Zar. I've also backed Chris Wilson, Little Fi, Bob Margolin, Big Bill Morganfield, Hat Fitz and Eugene Bridges.
Influences: Dunno what I can say about influences..other than many and varied!! What I can say is that I looove Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, T-Bone Walker, Chuck Berry, Johnny Guitar Watson, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker...Tango, Bossa Nova, Mambo, the Sounds of Old Decadent Europe, Eastern European Folk and Gypsy, Arabian Wails and Jewish Clarinettes..the list goes on in all sortsa directions...Marlene Dietrich, Nina Hagen, have I allready mentioned Edith Piaf??..well, here she goes again..Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Johnny Cash, James Harman, Junior Watson, Lynwood Slim, Big Joe Louis, Little George Sueref, Tom Waits, Louis Prima, Nick Cave and his astonishing Bad Seeds, David Bowie, Django Reinhard, Blondie, John Lennon, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Troggs, John Barry and all his Bond soundtracks, Link Wray, George Harrison...Thin Lizzy, Motorhead...Ivan Zar, Chris Wilson, Deborah Conway, The Dirty Three, The TigerLillies, Roxy Music, The Sleepy Jackson, Little Birdy and amazing Norwegians DeLillos and Kaizers Orchestra...and while we're on Norwegians..the soundtrack to my grandparents..Jens Book Jensen, Ivar Ruste, Ingerid Vardun..so take all of that, chuck in a good dose of all stops in between and boil it all up into a pretty thick , but oh so veeery tasty sludge, and presto...there you have it...quite a steaming brew indeed!! I think the summary of it all is that I love great songs..progressions..hooklines..great riffs, love words that capture what it's all about..life, love...the lot, and I looove interesting sound and feel...the stuff that captures the imagination and human condition..the stuff with the power to transport you to a place far away, long gone or yet to be..the stuff that takes you to the Core..!! Raw emotion in music speaks far louder to me than musicianship..the whole head and heart thing folks!! Tom Waits stomping on a rusty piece of tin while playing his broken banjo and wheezing like an emphysaemic accordion excites me so much more than the most perfectly excecuted piece of musical virtuosity... Yepp...that's pretty much my influences...make of it what you wish !!!
Sounds Like: Hmmm... I'd love to say Howlin' Wolf...but that would be a big, fat lie!!! ********************************************************** With Lynwood Slim, Alex Schultz, Richard Innes @ The Pineapple, Brisbane 2005 ********************************************************** With Big Joe Louis, Lynwood Slim, Yugon Chobanoff @ The Bald Face Stag, Sydney 2007, and below, at Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival 2007... ************************************************************ *** With Fiona Boyes and Blue Empress Revue @ Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival 2008 ************************************************************ *** With Diunna Greenleaf, Fiona Boyes & Sue Foley "Blue Empress Revue" Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival 2008 ************************************************************ *** With Sue Foley & Blue Empress Revue Great Southern Blues & Rockabilly Festival
Type of Label: Major

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