History of Dan The next step was getting into RHCP, jamming to the funky Blood Sugar album. Then heavy listening to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and RATM... but the taste mellowed a little, with an introduction to Jeff Buckley, Cordrazine and Radiohead's "OK Computer". The biggest discoveries of the late 90s for me were Tool and Yes. I would listen to "Aenima" every day for at least a year, at home and in headphones on the school bus. I couldn't believe the tasteful chops of Danny Carey, and was mesmerised the band's sound. A friend introduced me to Yes at the same time, which blew my mind. I didn't think music could be so meticulously crafted, and yet so beautiful. In about 1996, I started teaching myself guitar, and spent hours messing with midi programs, which was invaluable for my musicality. At this point, a great teacher (Travis Easton), showed me some Dave Weckl CD's, and introduced me to Funk and Fusion. This led to me studying music for 3 years at Box Hill College of Music. In those 3 years I made lifelong contacts/friends, and got to listen, learn and play all kinds of wonderful music, every week. Around the year 2000, I began playing 1-4 nights a week around Melbourne, and all over Victoria in a Top 40 cover band. Playing commercial music and basically hosting a party every week, to tons of people is an absolute blast, and very much underated. There's also no substitue for playing hundreds of gigs... In 2003, I was runner up in a certain national drumming contest, which was great fun, and something I did to push myself out of my comfort zone. Some fun experiences: Nitro - regular money! Great experience |