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I grew up in Corona, CA, less than an hour outside
of Los Angeles. Everything was less than an hour away. The desert, the
beach, the snow, Disneyland. I had it made! I started taking
drum lessons at age six from Gerry Colapinto, studying the
Chapin, Buddy Rich and Perry books. At the age of nine, I
was a featured guest with the Corona High School Jazz Band,
recording “A Hard Days Night” for a live album, just weeks
after being introduced to one of my idols, Gene Krupa! I tell
ya...I pitched a no hit shut out, recorded my first album
and met Gene Krupa all at the age of nine. Everything started
going downhill after that.
I went on to play six years of jazz
and big band charts with the Corona Jr. and Sr. High bands,
competing in a ton of festivals. The coolest thing about the
Corona music department was our directors, Dennis Brandt and Roger Rickson. They knew
all the heavy cats and got them to come to our school and
play. I got to see big bands like Buddy Rich and Roy Burns
perform right at my school and we opened for Buddy Rich on the Carnation Stage at Disneyland. Cool. I also got to play at the Las
Vegas and Monterey Jazz Festivals. I received a scholarship
to Stan Kenton Clinics and learned a lot about time signatures
and counting and working with guys I had never met before.
I marched in several parades and ran around the football field
doing formations at home games. In other
words, I had a great time growing up.
I joined the Musicians Union at age
17 and started playing casuals, including a stint as an orchestra
pit drummer for musicals. That got to be a real drag very
quickly and when I started playing with local punk bands,
The Press, The Stepmothers, and instrumental surf band, Jon
and the Nightriders, I threw my red blazer in the trash. Blasting
that fast paced, hard driving stuff was just what I was looking
for! I started driving into Hollywood and seeing bands at
the Whiskey, the Starwood and the Troubadour. I saw an add
for a drummer on a light pole one night that got my attention.
It read: NEED DRUMMER. LOUD HARD AND FAST. That was exactly
how I like to play! It was a South Bay band called Panic and
I went and met them and played a party/audition at the bass
player's mom’s house in San Pedro and we had a total blast.
I remember running out for a case of Olympia and when I got
back, the lead singer, Keith and I, sat in a room during a
break with a stack of 45's and he sang every word to every
record and was just....ON, ya know? They had something and
knew it and I really wanted to be a part of it. They wanted
me to join the band and move there and cut my hair and get
smaller drums and I actually attempted doing that for a few
weeks but I just couldn’t get it together. They hired another
drummer and changed their name to Black Flag and, well you
know the rest of that story. Weird how shit like that works
out……
I was hanging out smoking hash with
Pretty Poison's soundman, Jerry West after a show at The Squeeze
in Riverside one night and he said he had just met Lita Ford,
who had split from Joan Jett and the Runaways. He said she
was just putting her first solo project together and that
I should get together with her. Lita and I got together a
few days later, and we hit it off right out of the box. I'll
never forget my first time jamming with her in a studio in
Carson. We played about 3 or 4 songs and she put her guitar
down, grabbed my hand, shoved it under her sweatshirt and
said, "Feel that! No one has ever made my tits sweat
like this! Let's go get a drink!" That was cool. That
was also my first experience with managers, production companies
and record labels and that whole gross process. I moved to
Hollywood and recorded her debut album and video, ‘Out For
Blood’ and we had way too much fun playing together for the
next few years. She recently ran into my friend, James Humann
at the Hard Rock in Orlando and he sent me a photo of them
and man, she still looks great! I hope she gets back out playing
sometime soon.
I ended up leaving the band and I joined
Legs Diamond. I recorded four albums and toured the states
and Europe with them off and on for the next ten years. The band
was plagued with lots of downtime though so during that same
time I joined a local band, Dream Six. We played the clubs
and started recording an album at Earl Mankey’s studio. I
left the band before they changed their name to Concrete Blonde
and released their album, ‘True’. I was watching MTV one day
at home and I heard my drum tracks on their first video, 'Hollywood',
and I knew that leaving that band was a BIG mistake..... Ouch!!
I talked with Johnette and Jim recently and I went to see them play and they are still truly amazing.
I started playing with one of the original
Southern California surf/skate/punk bands, Agent Orange and I've
toured with them off and on ever since. Mike Palm is
one of the original OC punker kids who still surfs, rides
skateboards and snowboards and he is one of the nicest guys
in the world. We recorded an all instrumental album a few
years ago and it is still sitting in the can. C'mon Mike put that thing out!
I was introduced to Samoan gangster
rappers, Boo Yaa Tribe by my longtime bass player friend,
Neil Merryweather. I had no idea what to expect from "gangster rappers" but that family is so tight and so respectfull. Man, I was really blown away. They treated me like family while I was with them and I really admire them. I recorded two albums with them and did a tour in
Europe. I also got my Legs Diamond guitar buddy, Jeff Marcus on that gig. Talk about a trip for a couple of blonde haired blue eyed Southern
California boys! Whoa!!! I do hope the Tribe gets another tour together soon AND CALL ME TO ROCK THAT SHIT! I talk with them once
in a while and always send them much love and respect.
I joined Sugartooth and toured
the states and Europe in support of their second album on
Geffen Records, The Sounds of Solid, which was produced by
the Dust Brothers. When the shit started hitting the fan at
Geffen, we got tossed and ended up disbanding. That sucked
cuz I really dug that band. I saw Marc Hutner's
band, Pleasure Club a couple of times and they were amazing!
Full energy, solid heavy grooves...just what you would expect
from Marc. I don't know if they are still around or not. And Josh...what's going on with Josh. Hello,
Josh?
After running into my old friend, Fender
Guitar wizard, Dave Wronski, in 1995, we put together an instrumental
surf band, Slacktone. We’ve released 4 albums, the debut being
voted ‘Album of the Year’ by Surf Music USA. One of our killer
gigs was being the house band at the 1998 MTV Rock n Jock
Super Bowl party. Can you imagine a surf band playing with
LL Cool J at half time? What a riot! We also got to work with
advertisement agency, North Castle Partners, on their Slim
Jim account, recording and producing the soundtracks for the
animated Extreme Sports series commercials which was a great
experience. Our original bass player, Mike Sullivan
became suddenly ill and passed away a few years ago and that
was a HUGE loss for all of us. Sam Bolle from Agent Orange
joined the band and we are still playing both coasts and Europe each year. If you have never seen Dave Wronski play
guitar, you owe yourself a favor to check him out.
There is none better on the planet and I am grateful to be
playing with him for so long.
I started playing with the King of
the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, in '97 and I must say he is one
of the most demanding players I have ever played with. He
is SO INTENSE! I got to beat the holy crap out of my drums
each night with lots of tom work and drum solos. One of the
coolest things we did was recording at London's BBC studios
a couple of times. You can feel the history there ya know. I don't work with Dick these days but we sure had some great times pushing each other way past
the limit each night. Dick is 70 but you sure wouldn't know
it by the way he kicks ass on stage every night. Go Dick!
I've been playing with blues legend,
Becky Barksdale off and on for the last 14 or 15 years. She
is an amazing talent and a total sweetheart. Think Janis,
Jimi and SRV. In bare feet. We recorded a new album that should be out soon on Bark at the Moon Records.
I toured all of 2005 with The Supersuckers and those guys can roll out the R O C K without a doubt. We played a bunch of festivals
in Europe, opened for Pearl Jam in Hockey Arenas
across Canada, and played at Farm Aid in front of 60,000 people
so as you can imagine, we had a great time. Hey Scott if you ever need a sub call me up sucka!
2008 finds me on the road with Agent Orange. Come out and buy me a Coca Cola when we roll through town!
OK, that's enough blabbin. Here's a
few releases I played on...
Discography
Artist/Album Title/Label
2007
Kelly McGuire/Westgate/Kelly McGuire
Incredible Mr Smith/Adventures in the Land of Twang
Pyronauts/Live at the Mystic Theatre/Pyronauts
2006
Becky Barksdale/Silent Night-Amazing Grace Single/Bark at the Moon
Boo Yaa Tribe/ Angry Samoans/First Kut Records
The Defiant Ones/Super Secret Disaster/Defiant Ones
Supersuckers/Fan Club DVD Release #1/Mid-Fi
2005
Slacktone/KCR Radio Aztec Beach/Rickshaw
Supersuckers/Live at Cafe
Du Nord/Mid-Fi
Dick Dale/Live
at Dallas Hard Rock Cafe/Dick Dale Records
Slacktone/Rough
Surf, Rough Mix, Live in Berlin/Slacktone
Slacktone/That's
Life Volume 2/Wild at Heart
Concrete
Blonde/The Essential/Capitol
Legs
Diamond/Out on Bail/AOR Heaven
2004
Evan Foster/Instrumentals/Musick
The
Queers/Summer Hits Number 1/Suburban Home
Slacktone/Curl Rider/KFJC
Legs
Diamond/Favorites Volume 1/NEH
2003
The
Queers/Acid Beaters/Stardumb
The Boss
Martians/The Set Up/Musick
Slacktone/Celebration
of Life/Go Boy
Mystery Action/Guitar
Ace/Musick
2002
Dick
Dale/Spacial Disorientation/Dick Dale
Slacktone/Surf
Adventure Tour/Go Boy
Concrete
Blonde/Classic Masters/Capitol
Dead Men Don't Surf/Totally
Tubular/KFJC
2001
Dick Dale/Rendevous Ballroom/Int. Surfing Museum
Slacktone/Gnarly Surf/KFJC
Slacktone/Daytona
Mona 7"/Gas
2000
Slacktone/Into
the Blue Sparkle/Go Boy
Jon & the Nightriders/Undercover/Surf West
New World Relampagos/NWR/Sirena
Agent Orange-Slacktone/Waves
of the West/KFJC
Slacktone/Sounds of the Drags/Nitronic Research
Slacktone/ Swivelin' Wahines /Skully
Jon & the Nightriders/Seasonal Favorites/Dbl Crown
1999
Jon
& the Nightriders/Moving Target/Gee Dee
Lauren
Ellis/Push The River/Sidechik
Slacktone/ Surfin' Senorita /Wildebeest
Slacktone/ Tuberider /Anubis
1998
Jon
& the Nightriders/ Raw and Alive '98/Gee Dee
Slacktone/ Live at CIA/Go Boy
Agent Orange/Fireside Bowl Live 7"/VML
Jon & the Nightriders 7" /Gas Records
Agent Orange/KPNK Punk Radio/Countdown
Slacktone/ KXLU Live Volume Three /KXLU
Hot Tecate!/
Fiberglass Jungle /Deep Eddy
Jon & the Nightriders-Slacktone /Surfin' Sundays
1997
Slacktone/Warning:
Reverb Instrumentals/Go Boy
Boo Yaa Tribe/ Angry
Samoans /Intercord
Slacktone/
Reef Madness /Deep Eddy
Agent Orange/ Show and Tell /Which?
Jon & the Nightriders/ Cowabunga /Rhino
1996
Jon & the Nightriders/Fiberglass Rocket/AVI
Boo
Yaa Tribe/ Metally Disturbed /Kent
Agent Orange/ Reverb
Central /KFJC
Slacktone/ Surf Crazy
/GNP-Crescendo
1995
Jon & the Nightriders/Pulp Rock Instros/Playground
1994
Jon & the Nightriders/Banished To The Beach/NPR
Jon & the Nightriders/ International Beach Ball/NPR
Jon & the Nightriders/Beyond the Beach /Upstart
Jon & the Nightriders/ Destination Bomp /Bomp
1993
Legs
Diamond/ The Wish /Music For Nations
1992
Legs
Diamond/ Captured Live /Music For Nations
1990
Jon & the Nightriders/ Stampede /Norton
Legs
Daimond/ Town Bad Girl /Metal Blade
1987
Jon & the Nightriders/ Stampede /Kix 4 U
Jon & the Nightriders/ What Surf II /Rockhouse
1986
Concrete
Blonde/ True /I.R.S.
Legs
Diamond/ Land of the Gun /Target
Wally George/ Sings the Rock Hits! /Taboo
1985
Channel Three/ Last Time I Drank /Enigma
Taboo Zoo/ Too Close /Taboo
Jon & the Nightriders/Mutant Surf Punks /Anagram
1983
Lita
Ford/ Out For Blood /Mercury-Polygram
1982
Jon & the Nightriders/History of Surf Vol 3/Rhino
1981
Stepmothers/ Never My Age /Posh Boy
Stepmothers/ Rodney On The Rock /Posh Boy
Jon & the Nightriders/Live at the Whiskey/Bomp
1980
Jon & the Nightriders/ Surf Beat 80 /Bomp
The Press/Insane Darrell Wayne's No Disco/Bomp
Jon & the Nightriders/Experiments in Destiny/Bomp
1979
Jon & the Nightriders/ 7" EP /California
The Press/ 7" EP /Etc.
Television/Film/Video
2004
Slacktone/Summerland/WB Channel
2003
Dick Dale/HDTV/Live from Dallas Hard Rock Cafe
2002
Dick Dale/Endless Summer Interview/ESPN
Dick Dale/True Meaning of Christmas/CBS Canada
Slacktone/Board Wild/Fox Sports Network
Slacktone/Real World/MTV Japan
2001
Slacktone/ Higher Education /Bump Films
Slacktone/ Race Rivals /Rickard Engqvist Film
2000
Dick Dale/ Speedvision / Speedvision TV
Jon & the Nightriders/Locked In!/Bud Browne
Rob Mckenzie/Blood Surf/ Krocodylus Films
Slacktone/Extreme 16/USA-ESPN
Slacktone/ Board Wild /Fox Sports Network
Slacktone/ Core Culture /USA
Slacktone/ Blue Torch /Fox Sports Network
1999
Dick Dale/ Speedvision / Speedvision TV
Slacktone/ Board Wild /Fox Sports Network
Slacktone/ Real World /MTV
Slacktone/Extreme Gong Show/Game Show Network
Slacktone/ PCH /LHB Productions
1998
Slacktone/ Rock n Jock Superbowl II /MTV
Jon & the Nightriders/Calvacade of Surf/Bud Browne
Slacktone/ Bells of St. Kahuna /LHB Productions
Slacktone/ Cruise Control /BBB Video Productions
1997
Slacktone/ 'Larry the Luger' Slim Jim/ABC,MTV,ESPN
Slacktone/ 'Paul & the Rail' Slim Jim/MTV,ESPN
Slacktone/ 'Nick Meets His Seat' Slim Jim/MTV,ESPN
Slacktone/ 'Daryl Drops In' Slim Jim/MTV,ESPN
Slacktone/ 'Ken Gets Canned' Slim Jim/MTV,ESPN
1996
Slacktone/ Aquatopia /World Jungle Video
Slacktone/What's Really Going Wrong?/Lost Video
Jon & the Nightriders/Destiny Turned On The Radio
1986
Concrete Blonde/ Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
1983
Lita Ford/Out For Blood/MTV
1981
Last Angry Band/ Hard Bodies II |
