Derek

My name is Derek.
I believe that who you're with is more important than where you're at, or what you're doing.
I play bass for Thought Chamber , (a prog metal project featuring myself, Rob Stankiewicz , Michael Harris , Ted Leonard (singer from Enchant ) and Bobby Williamson ), Haji's Kitchen , and until recently Somsara .
Speaking of bass, I've had a few people ask me lately who my influences are, so I'll try & expound a bit. First of all, Steve Harris, (Iron Maiden); if it wasn't for his bass line in "Aces High", I'd probably be just another failed guitar player. Chronologically after that came Geddy Lee, Billy Sheehan & Stu Hamm. Those four guys were the ones who I ripped off endlessly and really influenced how I physically play the instrument. Other than them, there's just an absolute TON of people who I really enjoy listening to & copping the odd lick from. They include (but are not limited to) Oteil Burbridge, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, John Myung, Rhonda Smith, T.M. Stevens, Rocco Prestia, John Taylor, Tony Levin, John McVie, Vail Johnson, John Paul Jones, Adam Nitti and Derek Smalls. These days, I'd call my bandmates my biggest influences. Almost everything I come up with is an idea sparked by one of my 'mates.
I'm a huge NHL ice hockey fan, (My home STARS mainly, with some Maple Leafs, Sabres & Ovechkin's Capitals thrown in on the CenterIce). My sense of humor disturbs most people. I think *real* friends are just like family. I do not worship the almighty Lucifer. I don't use a lot of superlatives to describe things. I keep a purple lava lamp on my computer desk. I don't think Tom Cruise is gay, but do think he should be whipped mercilessly for dumping Nicole Kidman. I like shooting firearms at inanimate objects. I could go on for days with junk like this, but are you really learning anything about me? I think not.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens" -- Tolkien (from LOTR)
"You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die" -- Frank Herbert (from God Emperor of Dune)
"I'm going to have my DNA fumigated" -- Carrie Fisher
"The clothes are all black, the music is crap" -- Steven Wilson
"Chance furnishes me what I need. I am like a man who stumbles along; my foot strikes something, I bend over and it is exactly what I want.' I don't know how I got here, but here I am. I love hockey. You love hockey. Game on." -- James Joyce
"Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" -- Rob Gordon
"You have 20 seconds to comply" -- Ed209
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" -- Napoleon Bonaparte
"The path of least resistance leads nowhere worthwhile" -- Me
"The mind is like a parachute: it only works when it's open" -- Frank Zappa
"Where a group favours business logic over musical decisions, the music has just died. Where a group attaches greater significance to its appearance than to its music, the group has just died. Where a group listens to the musical advice of its record company it has a one-in-seven chance of being hugely successful, and a six-in-seven chance of failing miserably. Either way, it loses its core audience. Hence the aphorism that the only thing worse than a record company which takes no interest in a group is a record company that takes an interest in a group." -- Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
"Miracles are for the bible and Fairy Tales are for children's books... in Real Life, people mostly just shit on you" -- unknown.
"Some people play 'Hard To Get'... I play 'Hard To Want'! -- Ford Fairlane
"The future is no place to place your better days" -- Dave Matthews
"Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. If you can't say it, you can't do it!" -- Miles from "Risky Business".