Helmet of Gnats profile picture

Helmet of Gnats

About Me

Helmet of Gnats are an instrumental symphonic prog/fusion band from Ct. The band has been around with various lineups since the early 1980s. Originally, HOG was a prog/fusion "cover" band, performing their idols best work. But in 1985, the band turned into a mostly original outfit, playing to full house's in Fairfield & Westchester county. In 1996, their (now out of print) debut effort , A Helmet of Gnats" was released on CD. And in late 2004, HOG's sophmore recording "Helmet of Gnats II" was unleashed to rave reviews all over the globe. The Gnats have played three major progressive rock festivals within the last year: Progday 05' (Chapel Hill, North Carolina), Prog in the Park 05' & 06'(Rochester NY) and Calprog 06' (Whittier, CA.).HOG has shared stages with: Steve Howe Percy Jones & Tunnels The Mike Stern band, Happy the Man, Mike Keneally, Far Corner, Frogg Cafe, Nathan Mahl, and the Flower Kings.An in-depth bio of the band can be found at their website www.helmetofgnats.com

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 22/07/2006
Band Website: www.helmetofgnats.com
Band Members:

Chris Fox: Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Matt Bocchino: Keyboards
Wayne Zito: Bass
Mark Conese: Drums and Percussion
Influences: Return To Forever, Brand X, Dixie Dregs, King Crimson, Happy the Man, Gentle Giant, Focus, Tribal Tech, UK, Soft Machine, Univers Zero, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk, National Health, Bruford, Jean-Luc Ponty, Kenso, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Yes, etc.
Sounds Like: Return To Forever, Brand X, Happy The Man, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Niacin, UK, Frank Zappa, Focus, Jeff Beck, Allan Holdsworth, Jean-Luc Ponty, Kenso , etc.
Record Label: Ambient Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

High Street Finito!

    Finally!Tracks are finished and mixing to begin immediatly.We're shooting for an early '09 release.Here's what it looks like so far:1) Tsunami ( around 12 minutes)-This tune was wri...
Posted by on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:27:00 GMT

Hedge Fund Hog

    Hello,Sorry for the the really long blog delay, but life, work & illness is getting in the way of completing High Street..., dammit!!We've been getting together approximately on...
Posted by on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:27:00 GMT

The Nova Gavone!

    I started guitar solos today....using the Suhr Badger with a close miked ribbon. & Shure 57 ...with two room mics ( in the big room).Sounds great with the Fulltone tube echo del...
Posted by on Tue, 13 May 2008 18:46:00 GMT

BIG HAMMOND!

    The Leslie is in the big room, and Matt is in the control room with hammy.Everything sounds better with Hammy..., everything.Hammy is large, warm & fuzzy...., sits well in the m...
Posted by on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:24:00 GMT

Big Guitars

    Thats what I'm talkin' about....BIG GUITARS!!We should be wrapping up all guitar parts within the next couple weeks, while Matt gets started on Hammond fixes.He also has Rhodes pian...
Posted by on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:55:00 GMT

Surfing Al Dente

    Hey....., Wayne’s finished with all bass "fixes", two solos to lay down and he’s done.I recorded electric sitar on my Jerry Jones weirdo thing last week and today/tomorr...
Posted by on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:37:00 GMT

Rise of the moon maids!

    I started guitar overdubs last week, while Wayne is finishing up bass redos.Mark is constantly gaining confidence with the recording software, making the sessions fun and relatively...
Posted by on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:22:00 GMT

Soldiering Forward.....

....into the proggy abyss that is High Street.Wayne is in the middle of bass "fixes"In other words, correcting mistakes that were made while recording the "basics".His original tracks were nearly perf...
Posted by on Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Slowly moving forward....

    Hey..., its been awhile ,due to minimal High Street activity. but its good to post anyway.We have the basics to the album completed ( around 63 minutes), and have chosen the best ta...
Posted by on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:18:00 GMT

Basic Tracks Completed!

    We finished all basics today to High Street! On Wednesday, we'll get together and start to pick the overall best takes of the tunes.Then, onto bass & guitar fixes.No "clama...
Posted by on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:33:00 GMT