My Favorites
To further familiarize yourself with my background, musical interests and experiences, here are a few of my favorites all around the board to lay down the foundation for what will become of this site.
What was your first introduction to music as a kid?
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To music in general, driving around with my mom listening to Marc Anthony and NSYNC in her Chrysler Lebaron when I was around four or five years old. My first experience to REAL music and actually enjoying it? Living in Florida and always finding my dad laying on a beach chair with a Corona, blasting Van Halen on his stereo.
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So what had initially gotten you into music?
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At that point in my life as a 14 year-old 8th grader, all I cared about was sports, basketball in particular, I couldn't see envision myself getting into anything non-sports related and now, here we are.
February 3, 2008, the day when the New York Giants had taken on the undefeated New England Patriots, or so they thought and had miraculously won Super Bowl XLII. I had gone to my neighbors house, a classmate of mine and he said, "dude, I just got Guitar Hero III, you've GOT to come try it out." My initial reaction was, "nah man, that game's for weirdos," and he goes, "no dude, you don't understand, this is AWESOME," and so needless to say, I gave into peer pressure and gave it a shot. The first song I played was "Slow Ride," by Foghat on easy-mode, I sucked, horribly, but needless to say, I loved it. I then convinced my parents to buy it for me then from that day going forward, I never left my room. I became OBSESSED with Guitar Hero and the songs in the game, I then of course wanted to be Slash and started dabbling with the early music from Guns N' Roses. During our 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C. I had downloaded a few GNR songs on my iPod, remember those? We then embarked on our 5 hour trek to the nations capital and I had stumbled upon the track, "Sweet Child O' Mine," I listened to it on loop for the next 5 straight hours, it was at that moment that I had decided to no longer pursue a career of playing in the NBA which I OBVIOUSLY was going to have. The rest is history.
Who was the first band that changed your life?
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Contrary to the novel about Guns N' Roses above, it was Nirvana. Whenever I wasn't playing Guitar Hero, I was on YouTube looking for new songs or watching music videos to songs I had already known. On the side bar of suggestion videos, the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit would always be there and I would never click on it until I gave it a shot one day. I hated it, I thought it absolutely sucked and couldn't understand why a song that was so bad had to many views. I gave it a few days before reading up on Nirvana and both the musical and cultural revolution that they had ignited in the U.S. with grunge rock and thought, "okay, I get it now," I went back and watched the video of Smells Like Teen Spirit again, and then my life changed forever. Nirvana had blown the doors open to a new world that I never knew had existed, a world where a scrawny, insecure 14 year old unsure of his place in life could relate to.
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Who are some of your favorite bands of all time?
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Oasis
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
The Verve
The Smiths
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What are your top 10 favorite albums?
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George Harrison All Things Must Pass (1971)
Oasis Definitely Maybe (1994)
The Beatles Revolver (1966)
The Verve A Storm in Heaven (1993)
The Stone Roses The Stone Roses (1989)
The Doors The Doors (1967)
Pink Floyd Meddle (1971)
The Smiths The Queen is Dead (1986)
Spiritualized Ladies and Gentleman... We are Floating in Space (1997)
Nirvana In Utero (1993)
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First CD you ever bought with your own money?
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Green Day, American Idiot
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First gig you ever attended?
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Blink - 182, My Chemical Romance and a virtually unknown Manchester Orchestra, August 5, 2011
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Greatest gigs you've ever attended?
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David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Madison Square Garden, April 2016
Liam Gallager (Oasis), Terminal 5, November 2017
Foo Fighters, Izod Center, September 2011
Noel Gallagher (Oasis) Radio City Music Hall, February 2018
Prophets of Rage, Barclays Center August 2016
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Worst gig you've ever attended?
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Bob Dylan, Pier A in Hoboken, July 2013. He literally stole $100 from me.
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Most memorable concert experience?
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The first time I saw the Foo Fighters in September 2011, it was literally two days after the 25 anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind, and so what does Dave Grohl do? He brought out Krist Novoselic (bassist) on stage to play the accordion on a song, So I got to see Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear (Nirvana's touring guitarist), the three surviving members of Nirvana on stage and in-person, something that had only happened around five times up to that point in the 20+ years that Nirvana had ended. For those that don't know, which you all should, Dave Grohl, the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist of the Foo Fighters, was the drummer in Nirvana.
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Who have you seen in-concert the most?
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Blink-182 five times. Three times with Tom DeLonge, twice with Matt Skiba.
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Which bands/artists haven't you seen yet that are still together and you're dying to see?
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Tame Impala, The Cure, Jimmy Page, The Rolling Stones, Spiritualized,
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So far, what has been your greatest listening experience that you wish you could re-live?
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Super cliche and common answer, but the first time I had ever listened to Dark Side of the Moon with a pair of over the year headphones, incense and a green substance was the most mind-blowing, exhilarating experience that anyone can have with music. Even if Pink Floyd and classic/progressive rock isn't your thing, it's something that everyone should do at least once in their life
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If you could take away what certain artists/band members had taught or influenced you throughout your life, who has taught you what over the years?
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Oasis: How to love yourself, to be optimistic and to be confident in yourself with a tad of arrogance.
Liam: How to dress, how to have a great time and act like a true rock star.
Noel: How to be brutally honest, sarcastic and witty.
The Beatles:
John: How to rebel, be controversial and stand for what you believe in.
George: How to love and be at peace with yourself.
Pink Floyd: How to think outside the box and search for a deeper meaning.
Guns N' Roses: How to drink. (I don't recommend this one)
Angels & Airwaves: How to love.
The Allman Brothers Band: How to love and enjoy nature.
Turnover: How to enjoy the sunny weather.
Rage Against the Machine: That one's pretty self explanatory....
Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) How to properly style one's hair.
The Cure: How to mope around on a gloomy, rainy day.
Blink - 182: (When I was 17) How to not give a damn about anything and enjoy being young
The Verve: Why you should always stick with creative partners that bring out the best in you.
Music: Life....
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