I first took up playing piano back in 1982, when
keyboards were pretty much wallowing on the
bottom of the Rock food chain. Oh, sure you had
your valiant attempts at resurrecting Southern
Rock by covering the entire Skynnyrd catalogue,
your "Damn, that 'November Rain' tune sure
sounds cool, how many orchestras do we know?
" scenario and the occasional "Our
songwriting really sucks ass, what fun and
exciting things can we do with SINE waves to
cover it up?" situation, but the people who
answered these calls didn't generally end up on
the front of the album cover with the rest of the
band. Nobody was following up on Keith Emmerson
and Jon Lord, using the raw power of organ grit
run through effects normally reserved for power
chords. No, Bon Jovi and Depeche Mode never even
got a foot in the door, if you disagree, you need
to leave….now. Of course the 90's came along
and caused a keyboard revolution with
historically ground-breaking acts such as...
ummmm...help me out here...Ben Fold? NIN? See
previous statement. |
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I
realized my list of mentors was pretty short on
this one, but keyboards was what I played and
rock was what I loved. So I studied the work of
John Mayall, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chic
Corea and others, and applied it to a long string
of garage bands with varying degrees of success.
No matter whether it was funk, jazz, rock or
blues, there were always moments that just
fuckin' ROCKED, and those kept me going, even if
the bands didn't last. There's nothing like being
on stage when the music is so powerful, that no
one in the room can help but be taken in. This is
my goal, to be a part of a group that achieves
this energy 100% of the time. Not through million
dollar production or computer-generated soul, but
through kick-ass rock and roll played by people
who know just how powerful and sacred that is. It
has been a testament to the force and timeliness
of this goal that I have met these like-minded
individuals and the path has been cleared for us
to take rock out of that damn whiny forest of
weak alternative bullshit where it seems to have
gotten lost!
A shout out to all the projects that I have been
involved in or been influenced by over the years.
They include, in no particular order:
Shadows, Roque, Page 12, Daddy True and the
G-Vibe Motion, Saggin' Titty, The Raylius
Project, EarCandy(now Smackerjack), Jamie Green,
Nectar, The Derek Jones Band, Oscar Peterson,
Ahmad Jamal, Dr. John, John Mayall, Jon Lord,
Peter Gabriel, Sting(well, the early stuff
anyway), Chic Corea, Danny Peck, Rush, Pink
Floyd, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Les Claypool,
Sonia Dada, and Galactic.
That ain't all of 'em, but you get the idea.
Peace.
Neil
MacPherson
Bret
Aita -
Eric Hendrikx - Dave
French
JOIN THE OPPOSITION
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