About Me
G.E.L. Has been singing and playing music since as far back as he can remember..........
" I seem to recall a grade 2 report card stating that "Gel enjoys music and leads the class in singing...
I also recall sitting up in the branches of the enormous maple tree on our front yard, singing Jeramiah was a Bullfrog by 3 Dog Night. i think i was in grade 3...
I was the lead in a grade six musical play ... His Majesties Pie... where a scout from tiny talent time asked me if I played any instruments...when i said no he left! LOL".........
He took Vocal music in middle school and played drums for 4 years in highschool.............
" They handed us mouthpieces from the various instruments and proceeded to see who could make the required HONK, BZZZZ or TWEAT...afterwards the teacher handed me a clarinet...Looking like a cross between Neil Young and Geddy Lee, walkin around the halls of Ramshackle High with a clarinet was certain to have me in a fight every other Day!... as there was no drummer in our class, I handed it back to him and said "if it's alright with you I'll play the drums" he asked if I had access to a kit? I said Yea, promptly skipped last period, went home told my mom I needed to fix up my brothers old stewart kit and presto I was a drummer!"...........
Due to the amount of Great drummers in the local area and a distinct lack of Bass players he decided to try his hand at that..........
" I had a bass and amp in the basement from a buddies band who rehearsed here...when they broke up, the bassist who was originally a guitarist went back. so there was a drummer and a guitarist but no bass...the guy showed me how to tune it, told me what the notes were up to the 5th fret...showed me how to do octaves and the next day I stayed home and learned my first tune...By Tor and The Snow Dog by Rush. That was the start of a beutiful friendship, bass and I had an immediate understanding"........
Not long after that band busted up Gel started to hear songs in his head (amongst other things LOL) but he couldn't express the guitar parts he heard to the guitarists he played with so..........
" The next logical step to me was to learn the guitar... I spent time when I was alone noodling on my uncles acoustic and grabbed bits of chords from the guitarists that I knew and soon was expressing my ideas to my bandmates, the real deal came when I bought my Ovation and with a guitarist friend left for europe with an open ended ticket, 500 bucks, knowing about 7 complete cover songs, and being able to sing and play 2... after about 4 weeks I was left in the docks area of Southampton with not enough money to check my bags at the airport...do or die time!
I came home 5 months later knowing about 65 tunes, having travelled Scotland, England, The Netherlands and Germany. I would have stayed longer but the charter company went bankrupt and the CDN Gov't would only pay for the ride home on thier terms LOL".........
The following year, with a blanket, Addida's bag, his trusty Ovation and $250. Gel Hitched his way from Ontario to Alaska, south through BC and back.
Two years after that he returned to europe adding Belgium, Denmark and Sweden to his list of countries, two years later He went eastward from Ontario to PEI with many a stop in between.........
" I have seen a great deal of this country I call home and I would recommend it to everyone to get out there and meet the wonderful people of this land...in all my travels, I have hitched lifts and walked, met local folks and been shown the REAL sights and scenes, only those locals can show ya, of course toting a guitar and some tunes along will open alot of doors for you LOL... I have a TON of great memories and stories, some of which have been put to music, others will be when the right tune comes along "........
Gel spent the time in between travel, working days, playing in bar bands, garage bands etc at night and getting educated at The Recording Arts Program of Canada recieving a certificate in recording engineering/ production techniques, building an 8 track demo studio and recording many local acts, participating in 1 that was signed to bullseye records.
the most notable act is by far... The Rainbow Butt Monkeys ( now known as Finger Eleven )...for whom he recorded a large part of thier first album demo........
" these young guys came into my place and really impressed me...the local fare was, heavily speckled with halfassed players more into the party and status than the music...all nice guys and girls generally and some with some talent...but these guys had the Chemistry, they had that certain indefinable thing that sets bands apart...and I told them so!
they were well rehearsed and really into what they were doing...we worked together for a few of months as they could afford to come in and they would refine what they took home from each session...when the project was nearing completion we met at Timmy's for a coffee and I assured them that they were gonna get signed, something I had told them a while before that...gave them some advice on the business and how to avoid getting screwed.... I'm very happy that they have achieved such success, they deserve it, and I'm glad I had some small part in helping them get rolling"........
Gel's last project Moontan played the southern Ontario / Gta for 4 years 2 - 3 nights a week before disbanding when a series of events forced Gel to hang up his music for awhile.
Now After a 5 year layoff Gel has spent the last year upgrading his studio to digital and can boast the ability to record up to 20 simultanious tracks of audio at 96k 24bit 32bit floating and is in the process of focusing on demoing over 20 of his own songs in preparation for selection of a cd's worth of music ( 12 - 14 ) songs......... " I am Currently working with EVIL ROOSTER were: Tim Webster Guitar, Frank Clugston Bass, Jeff Branch drums, and myself vocals and guitar " surf us up here on myspace.
Peace to you all ~S~I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
