Gonzer Rocks
To Live A Life
Embrace the past..Cherish the memories..Move forward each day with Passion. Be creative and express yourself in all you do..From beginning to end what really counts is..how many licks will it take to get to the Tootsie roll center..Depends on you..GO! One...two...?????
No Musical Talent
My interest began when my friend Dave Mather came over one day with his acoustic and a Gene Leis ‘how to play guitar’ lp..yep vinyl..It was summer (1977).. I was so taken by how good Dave was that I borrowed the record and guitar so I could learn..
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Before the year was out, and influence by Gene Simmons of KISS, I switched to Bass and we formed our first band, Silent Wisdom The heavier sounds of music began to infiltrate record stores and concert halls, and by 1980 I welcomed the sounds of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden.
I switched back to Guitar in early 1981 started my own band 'SYRENZ' which began the journey into songwriting.
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After relocating to Ohio (USA), I auditioned for the now Cult Underground Power-Speed Metal PURGATORY joining their line-up in late 1984. We did one full length album ‘Tied to the Trax’ (Auburn Records, USA and Steam Hammer, Europe). released in 1986.
Dana Sutcliffe
Every artist has had a mentor/role models who stood beside them, answered questions, countless times repaired their broken gear or just took the time to listen.
I can say that my confidence, reassurance and my small amount of success would never have been possible if Dana & Jeff had never taken time out for me for over 40+ years. Count your blessings if you have someone like this, I sure do.
Jeff Trone
My next music venture was opening my own record store in the late 80's thru early 90's, MSM Records. I very much learned the dealings of private business and working with distributors from the US and Overseas. Marketing then was lots of print ad, mail drops and word of mouth. Although short lived as I had to take solid employment to care for my family, the experience was priceless.
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From the 90's through today I've had some other side businesses with some success.
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Near 2013 fueled by the surging music scene I jumped back onstage with Philadelphia Power Metalisl 'INFERNAL OPERA' . We released a 2nd full length CD in 2015 titled 'Avenging Phoenix'.
Setting us apart from other local bands was our mission.
Using my experiences from marketing, stage performance and overall acquired business knowledge, myself and Michael Alberque (Drummer/Promoter) set out to create a complete visual and musical package.
With all this, I learned over the time span of 30+ years, even with changes to the music industry and technology to be successful at your craft it starts with learning the BASICS of business & Practice, Practice, Practice.
Dress For The Role
Over the span of my musical endeavors from East Coast to West Coast, I was mostly a 'Hired Gun' and appearance was just as important as technical ability, do your research to impress
Passion To Play and Learn
Seasoned Pros, Instructors, Local bandmates and Beginners all start with some basic techniques. Sure, over time as we progress in our learning knowledge, these basics may change some, but all styles of playing are from these rudiments of the basics.
The importance of the basics is to instill 'good habits' to battle the 'bad habits' as we progress over time. Think of it like this..if all you developed were 'bad habits', it will limit your capabilities and progress.
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All players after some time kind of plateau and some will go back to the basics to freshen up their chops.
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Another thing is to take some chances and try something new. Just because you like a certain style and most times that's what gets most into learning guitar. Watch, learn and listen from all styles and instruments.
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I had the best of both worlds when I was a sound assistant for many years. I got to see, hear and learn from some of the best 'unknown' musicians around from drummers, vocalist, sax, horn and harmonica players..yea, yea..bass players too ! There were many weekends I went home with a new respect for all styles of music.
Everyone has an initial reason to begin playing any musical instrument. Whatever their reason, it comes back to a passion to express oneself.
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Music is a universal outlet for all 'emotion'. What makes music so unique is the ever-changing emotions from artist to artist and genre to genre, be it Rock, Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, Motown etc. Emotion, Passion, feel and everyday life are the basic stories of playing music.
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It doesn't matter if you are playing in a band....jammin at a cookout or just on your deck picking away. It's your emotion that comes to life....without music life would be pretty dull.
