Damian Green

Damian here. Former frontman of Drunken Monkey, currently residing in Birmingham, AL. Trying another venue to get my music out there. Just sit back, listen in, and ... hopefully ... enjoy!!

Most of the last decade of my playing has been solo, but there were a couple of bands.

In Dallas, I was frontman of a band we called Brink of Reality. We had about a 50/50 mix of covers and originals. We were pushing the originals hard, but when you play out, you have to throw the audience something familiar every now and then.

Here in Birmingham, audiences seem even less into the whole "originals" thing. Hence, my band Drunken Monkey ended up playing only about 20% originals. Of course, when you play a 4-6 hour gig, it's difficult to fill the entire space with originals. We only had one gig in a year and a half of being together that was an all-original setlist.

I've typically been the sole writer for all original songs performed. The only 3 exceptions would be a lyrical input from Eliot Silvey (Percussion) in Dallas on "Lonely Existence" and "Drifting," and in Birmingham I wrote "Sometimes Me" based on a poem that Daryl Allen (Drums) had written some 8 years earlier.

I played a lot of live gigs with my former band. Right now I'm just playing a couple of open mics as a solo artist at The Oasis and Marty's. I don't get out often these days, but I still spend a lot of my free time playing, writing, and recording at home.

My influences range heavily. That's probably why all of my songs seem to come out so differently. Favorite groups would be Tool, Tori Amos, Audioslave, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, among others. I also enjoy listening to Albert King, Muddy Waters, Beethoven, Mozart, Gershwin, etc. I enjoy just about anything excluding country and rap. Nothing personal.

I play on a red Stratocaster, and although it's a Squier, it has all the sound and feel of the real thing. You can also catch me playing my Washburne acoustic/electric, and, rarely, mic-ing up my Alvarez 12 string acoustic.

I sing through a Sure SM-58 mic. Occasionally while recording, I'll use my Oktava MK-219 condenser mic. It's a Russian-built, phantom power mic with great freq response and pickup, but often it's a little too crisp, and I'll opt out for the warmth of the SM-58.

I record on my Tascam Portastudio 488 MK-II. It's an analog 8-track that I bought new about 5 years ago. I always use the internal dbx, and seldom use the effects patches. It may be analog, but it has a warm tone and crystal-clear recording quality.

Effects:

Boss DS-1 Distortion

Yamaha CH-10M II Chorus

Yamaha FL-10M II Flanger

Danelectro PB&J Digital Delay/Echo

Roktek Phaser

Zoom GFX-707 Effects Processor

I typically use the Zoom processor for my guitar. During recording, I'll sometimes hook it up to the mic with an XLR - 1/4" cable to give me some neat vocal effects. I also do the same with the individual effects pedals.