Castle Bravo
This is a recording project of mine. Currently, all sounds heard on this page were written, arranged, performed, programmed, recorded and mixed by me on my home studio.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
I started playing in 1981 at age 16 after falling in love with rock music, particularly Rush and Iron Maiden. I picked up bass after an aborted start on guitar and have been playing more or less ever since.
From 1984 to 1987, I played in a "show band" (aka cover band with our own sound and lights) called Gigolo in the Pensacola, Florida area. We were one of the the biggest fish in our small pond. I decided I wanted to play my own songs instead of endless covers and moved to Los Angeles in 1987.
I attended Musicians Institute's B.I.T. in 1989-1990 and graduated.
I played in a cover band in the mid 90's that went nowhere for me. I gave up music for a period of several years until I met a bass in 2000 and started playing again.
Final Gravity started in the summer of 2006 and we began to gig in 2007.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
This is currently a recording-only project. I am in a band called Final Gravity that plays in the Los Angeles area that plays some of my songs.
Your musical influences
Rush, Dream Theater, Yes, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, Cliff Burton era Metallica, Queensryche (up to "Empire"), Kings X, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Opeth, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Tool... you get the idea.
What equipment do you use?
For the recordings here, the following was used:
basses:
1980 Rickenbacker 4001
2000 Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
2005 Line 6 Variax 700 Bass
mid-80's Yamaha BX-1 bass
Warwick Katana
Bass processing:
Line 6 Bass POD XT Live
guitars:
1990 Fender Stratocaster (made in USA)
Line 6 Variax 500
Takamine EG540C
guitar processing:
Amplitube LE (virtual amp software)
Line 6 Pod XT Live
midi controller:
M-Audio Keystation 49e
drum samples:
BFD
keyboard sounds:
XPand
SampleTank
M-Tron
other gear:
M-Box 2 interface
Pro Tools 7 LE
Windows XP Home Edition
AKG K240 headphones
Anything else?
Please remember that these are demos. They are not finished products. While I do play with other musicians (Final Gravity), the stuff here is my own work apart from those guys. Some of it may make its way into our live set.
