AGE: I'll keep you guessing
DAY JOB: I'd tell ya, but only after you signed the non disclosure agreement.
MARITAL STATUS: Jaded
FAVORITE COLOR: Midnight Blue
YEARS PLAYING: Too Many/Not Enough
HOBBIES: Video Games, Conventioning, Cooking, Composing, Action Movies, Discussing Theology
FAVORITE FOODS: Traditional Ramen, Pizza, Burgers, Eggs and Bacon
FAVORITE KEYBOARD PLAYERS: Vince Di Cola, Kevin Moore, Peter Gabriel, David Benoit, Jan Hammer, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Thomas Dolby
FAVORITE BANDS RIGHT NOW: Lacuna Coil, Enigma, Sevendust, Dream Theater, Soilwork, Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra, Subrosa, VNV Nation, Front 242
Where to start. Well way back in the day, I was given a choice. Learn how to sing, play the violin or play the piano.
Me sing? I was a little bit young to start drinking.
Learn Violin? Please... I already had enough problems defining my masculinity.
So I settled on Piano. I had always annoyed my family with banging on it so I figured what the heck, learn the ropes, be a good son and make my mom happy.
I studied for about two years and then, doing the normal kid stuff, I got distracted and I branched off and started playing other instruments like the clarinet (and later the contra-bass clarinet and bass clarinet, always last chair). I also tried out drums later in high school and that was fun for a while. I think I threw in some guitar and sax in there as well.
Soon college came and I kept on with piano, although not classically. I've always had this madness in the back of my mind. I don't know if it was one too many blows to the head from getting beaned with some random pen or rock as a kid but I would just sit down, thrown a chord progression and start playing a melody line.
After my college years I went on to be in some musical projects. I was a founding member of the band Phokus, and that tour of duty was one of the greatest learning experiences I ever had. As with all good things, there were creative differences and I was cut loose (Something about me being heavier, more aggressive, than the guitarist). During this time I was also writing with Clif some video game inspired music. We dubbed this project, "The One Night Stand Sessions" because we had to write, record, mix, and produce a song in one night. In the meantime I played with another band up in Everett for a while, but again due to "creative differences" I was cut loose (something about me being too angry), only to be recruited into this powerhouse of multi-string goodness that is DREAD EFFECT.
Working with the Chamblis brothers has been a long time in the making. I have known these guys since the 7th grade. We went to school together, we went to band tour (and Band Camp!) together, and later we all ended up going to college together. If you all remember back in the Chiaroscuro days, they made mention of a friend that introduced Ian Dorsch to Clif Chambliss. Yeah that was me. Ian was living in my dorm two floors up. He gave me a copy of his demo tape, and when I let Clif listen to it, he just freaked out and demanded that I take him to meet Ian. A couple weeks later Chiaroscuro was born.
::buffs his nails on his crushed velvet shirt::
So here I am, composing the angry/aggressive music that I've always wanted to compose.
Thanks to certain elements in my life, I have quite a backlog of anger and angst.
In all seriousness though, I'm probably one of the most blessed guys on this planet to be able share the stage with such talent and professionalism. I thank God everyday that he has blessed me with this band.
Email Andy: andy@dreadeffect.com
Gear:
Keyboards: Korg Triton and Korg Karma,
Mixer: Berhinger 4 Channel
