Never Give Up The Fight!
Playing guitar presents so many wonders and many challenges. The deeper one dives into this art of expression that we call music, the more challenges cross your path. Rise up and fight your way through the barricades and continue on your mission towards greatness!As you begin to feel the excitement and joy of making music, many roadblocks will appear in your way, hoping that you will just simply stop dead in your tracks. But if you stay true to your desire to better yourself as a guitarist, then there will be no limitation. I started playing guitar around age 12 and by 13 I was certain I had found my calling.
I practiced night and day and by 17 was ready to be the next Satriani. I released 2 six song (Cassette) EP's by the age of 19 and was playing all over Northern Ohio and felt I was well on my way to rock stardom! By age 20 I decided it was time to form the ultimate metal band that would take me to the top! We started opening for some big acts like Quiet Riot, Slaughter, and Overkill, then started creating a local metal scene of which we were crowned the kings. It was all coming together nicely. Well then comes real life! With age comes more responsibilities, more bills, less time to devote to your art, and man equipment is so expensive and I really need the best and.... AHHHHH!!! How do I juggle all this? But none-the-less we were still out there shedding it up for about 8 years or so. I think 6 or 7 singers, and 3 bass players later we were still kickin' ass, aside from all the drama before it came time to pack it up and move on.
They were done chasing the dream, but I wasn't. I packed up all my stuff and headed for LA where I was SURE to FINALLY make it big! So I landed here now 29 years old (10 years after I had done those solo tapes and was on my way to "rock stardumb") I was here to show the world what's up with SVH! Well I won't bore you with all the drama but between then and now I have done countless auditions, had 2 killer original bands going that both fell apart for ridiculous reasons, and found myself one year ago playing to four people at a Chinese restaurant (1 of which was my wife and two former band mates).
Okay, at this point I was about ready to hang up my gloves and give up the fight, but two weeks later I got a call from HEAD's (ex- KoRn guitarist) manager about auditioning for his band. I went out a week later to audition and landed the gig! You gotta know I was damn glad I kept the gloves on and kept up the fight! Now it's been no easy ride this past year either. We had a lot of issues and played very few shows and didn't make much, but we kept fighting through every challenge and this year all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together and next month I get to play to 10,000 people at an outdoor musicfest! So the point is... NEVER give up, NEVER lose hope, and NEVER stop fighting for what you want in life. You NEVER know when you're about to throw that knockout punch.
