I started playing guitar/singing between the ages of 11-13 yrs old in Michigan – and really never wanted to stop. I grew up the youngest of 3 boys, and had 2 other half brothers and a VERY IMPORTANT Half sister (Hi Joni..) who were more than 10 years older than me that were around from time to time. The good thing was that I was exposed to so much music that all of my older brothers listened to growing up – a mix of all great music from the late 60’s thru the 70’s. The music was pretty vast – Frank Zappa, Savoy Brown, Utopia, Uriah Heep, Ted Nugent, Super Tramp, Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd, Neal Young, CSN, Kansas, Kiss & Bob Seger among many others that forever shaped my ears/mind. My first stage appearance was sitting in my older brothers professional cover band singing “Stray Cat Strut” at age 12 at a Holiday Inn or something like that. Then I got involved with middle school and high school bands, playing every chance we could at a school dance, party, or battle of the bands. I was playing guitar, bass or lead vocals as needed, but have always loved to sing and focus on lyrics/melodies. I attended a few classes at a local college to study vocal/music theory in Michigan during high school.
When I finished high school, a friend and I decided to move to Chicago. At that time I was primarily a bass player who could sing and hoped to really get a career started. I ended up in a professional cover band for 3 years playing 4-6 nights a week in night clubs, typically playing 4-6 sets a night and acting like I was 21 when I was really 17. Making $500-600/week playing music, I really felt for a while like I had or was starting to “make it.” We even threw in an occasional song that people liked right?? Well that was my thinking until I met another guy who was already in his 40’s playing the same songs, and the same club circuit… it hit me hard, and I figured there must be more…
So I wandered out to Los Angeles and attended Musicians Institute and graduated from the vocal institute. I did not like the theory and written part of music so much and really preferred the creative and esoteric side of music. The technical part of music (reading/writing) felt too clinical for my taste and made music feel like a test or a job which was far away from the reason I love it… I love it for what it makes me think, or feel – and for me ( I say “for me” because everyone has a different interpretation of these kinds of experiences which will differ from mine but are equally as valid), music is a release of energy that I have to have in my life – either personally, professionally or both – it’s not about money – that’s just a bonus from time to time or a necessity.
I hung around Hollywood and got into everything you probably shouldn’t and was a bit delusional about what mattered. I actually had a very limited understanding of what the music “business” really was, and I actually thought if you were talented, hard working, and cool-looking – someone would surely find you and push your career for you. WOW! I had a lot to learn…
I met a lot of great players, played a lot of memorable gigs with guys who have gone on to…, and still do make records, perform and tour professionally around the world, and I love the process of music deeply to this day (by “process” I mean creating a song, finding a melody, putting lyrics to a melody, and sharing that with others in a recorded format, or live).
During the 90’s I was deeply influenced specifically by 2 bands: Kings X, and Temple of the Dog – or almost anything from Chris Cornell.
More recently I’ve enjoyed the band Porcupine Tree…
I became a bit disillusioned about music as a “career,” and fell into an opportunity in the jeans/denim washing industry which I grabbed hold of and really enjoyed in Los Angeles. In 1998 I took a job in New York City and focused on fashion/jeans and started a family, taking a good 5 years off from playing and pursuing music completely. However, no matter how much money or opportunity I found in fashion or “Corporate America,” I was missing music in my heart… so I built a home studio, bought a pro-tools system, took a few classes to understand digital recording, and began writing songs again. I returned to California in 2005 to work with a marketing/sales group called OLAH Inc., focusing on premium denim in the LA market , and I bought a house with a recording studio.
I was immediately contacted by an old friend to help him with a band/project he and another guitar player wanted to try, so we wrote some songs for a CD and started a band called EPIC (www.epic-rock.com). We made a video and played some local shows.
Epic didn’t work out but it did polish off a lot of dust and get me back in the “game” of music in LA…
Then I decided to attempt to record a solo album, but I wanted to do something different with the packaging and distribution of the CD. I packaged my music in a denim pocket, and figured out a way to distribute music with blue jeans, in denim aesthetics. My daughter thought it would be “cool” if I called the packaging “Rock the Denim®”. I took her advice and decided to trademark and copyright the concept, and RtD (Rock the Denim® was born… People seem to really love this concept and the excitement is growing (see www.rockthedenim.com for more info). I love Rock the Denim® very much as it combines the creative and marketing worlds of both of my personal passions, denim & music…
I have had some great print and television press with RtD, performed at several fashion and trade events, international gigs, and outdoor festivals, and will to continue more of the same!!
I am thrilled with the results of my 2nd solo LP “ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA” and look forward to the release of the album this fall across the country with the debut of the RTD Denim line across USA! This will create opportunities for loads of musicians if all goes well…
I currently live in the foothills of the mountains north of Los Angeles with my family and love it…
I¹m excited about writing more music with my current band members, expanding Rock the Denim® and creating more albums of music in the months and years to come, and doing more with the whole ³Denim & Music² synergy…
Stay tuned…!
TKS
Brad
