When I was 14 years old I picked up the guitar and began taking lessons. My teacher was John Menendez and the school was Dick Johnson's Music in Brockton, MA. He started me off one string at a time. We'd basically learn 1 string and take about 2 weeks with each one. We started learning really easy songs by the 2nd string and with the addition of every new string learned was also a new song. By the time we got to the 4th string I started learning chords and how to hold my fingers in correct formation. He taught me really slow but for me someone who has no music knowledge at all it was awesome. I didn't know how to hold a guitar or that you needed to use all the strings to play songs..I thought you could play songs on one note haha. My teacher quit that music school because of a conflict with the owner about a year after teaching me and he went to another music school. I got a new teacher and by this time I could pretty much play all of my favorite Nirvana songs. So I quit taking lessons and learned more of my favorite bands including Weezer, Bush, Silverchair, etc...At 16 I started to write my own songs and also recording funny songs with my friend Jason Rankin. We'd write and record these songs about this girl Suzana that broke up with me. I wish I had these songs haha that were so stupid - we used to record them on this Fisher Price recorder.
At the ripe old age of 17 I discovered the Lemonheads & Ben Lee and these two musicians changed my life in music forever. Before these acts all I played, listened to and recorded was Nirvana, Bush & Weezer. Then I stumbled upon Ben Lee & Lemonheads and I started to mimmick their musical style. These two musicians taught me how to sing cause I couldn't sing like Kurt Cobain even though I wanted and tried to. Evan Dando (Lemonheads) & Ben Lee were easy to sing to and wrote songs I could relate too (break ups & being in love).
It was the time during the middle age of my teens that I realized I wanted to be a rock star. I was petrified to play on stage in front of people. I started a band in high school with my friend Jason Sylvia (Bass) & Nate Ortiz (Drums). We called ourselves Empathy. I came up with the name and took it from Kurt Cobain's suicide letter..he signed it "Peace, Love & Empathy"
We were like this wannabee Nirvana group. We broke up about 2 months after playing with each other b/c I didn't get along with the drummer. I continued to write songs and began recording my own solo stuff on my computer. Remember this was from the age of 14-21 that I never played live and was really scared. 21 comes around and the girl I had dated off and on for 2-3 years just finally broke up with me for good. This put me into a downward spiral and I had anxiety problems my whole life but this really fucked me up. I started having such bad anxiety attacks that it'd make me have trouble breathing so I'd basically hyperventilate. I went on the antidepressant Paxil for 6 months. While I was on Paxil I began not caring about stuff like going certain places nor did I worry about playing live. So one night my friend Zdenek & I who were writing funny stupid songs went to an open mic in Milford, MA at the Radisson Hotel. We played one song together and he got off the stage. I played 2 more songs by myself and I was hooked. haha So it's paxil's remarkeable work that drove me to play onstage and not worry. I met Erica a few months later and we began writing songs - The Predicates were born! Then in May 2002 we recorded our first album in Vermont with Robert Holmes who was the lead guitarist of the 80's band Til Tuesday (they had a hit song "Voices Carry") He had MTV music awards, pictures with Dick Clark and all other kinds of awesome stuff from his musical career. Erica & I played as an acoustic duo til February 2004 when we decided we wanted a drummer and we'd play as a full band. We met Dave Tuetken and we meshed so well musically. We recorded our 2nd album "Let Me Carry Your Books" which still isn't released but will be once I have enough money haha. We played a handful of shows in Massachusetts & Rhode Island then in November 2004 we decided to pack-up and move to San Diego, CA. We played a couple of shows and Dave decided to move back to Rhode Island. Erica and I took a few months off and decided to go back to our roots as an acoustic duo. I have written a bunch of new acoustic songs that'll be on our next acoustic EP which should be released this year right after our second album.
The photos at the top are of me when I was 17 years old.
It sucks that I am not any closer to having music as a career as I was 2 years ago but I am happy and satisfied that I write songs that I like. 20 years from now I wouldn't look back to my life in music as a failure b/c I haven't "made it" I'd look back at all the songs I think were good and all the interesting people we met and things we did b/c of the music.
humming you a lullaby,
gregg
P.S. the podcast will be up August 3 cause I don't get more webspace til then.
Here are some photos of me with a hat on and dogs!
