Butler Park

Tree Climbin'

King of the Hill Winnin'

Mud Stompin'

Canoe Paddlin'

Island Explorin'


Remember Kids: It's way more fun OUTSIDE than it is INSIDE.

Every Band I've Ever Been In

Funny Pictures!

Band : Genre (Feel free to ignore...) : Instrument(s) : Fun Fact(s)

Glass : Grunge-y Metal : Rhythm Guitar : Covered "Puff The Magic Dragon."


I'M : Hardcore Punk : Guitar : Sample Lyric - "I am a spanish fly, I am a latino guy, Who cares what I drive, Who cares if it's a bug."


MikesBrothersBand : Pop Punk : Guitar/Vocals : Nearly ended a life-long friendship, originally called My Fair Share.


boredom : Melodic Hardcore : Bass : Bass player Numero Three, Broken thumb on tour (w/ Yellowcard!) ended the band.

(NO PHOTO AVAILABLE)

Destroy! : Weezer Cover Band : Bass/Keys : Also covered Jawbreaker, The Cure and Sepultura.

Baby Monkey : Instrumental Punk : Drums : Only played one show, featured my brother Noggin on guitar.

My Captain : Pop Punk : Bass : Were told by Lobster Records that we were "Too old;" we were in our mid to late twenties...

Exhaustra : Post Hardcore : Drums/Bass : First full length recorded at One Louder Studios, which i co-owned. Named after a Radon song.

En Masse : Tragic Sci-Fi : Drums/ipod : Once played a show to an empty club, the only band I've played in that my wife listens to.


Onslaught Dynamo : Pop Punk : Guitar/Bass : Self Produced "This Sinking Feeling" in my garage, originally called The New Ghost.


The Eastern Wave : Post Hardcore : Bass/Vocals : A re-working of En Masse, now with 100% more Kevin. Nipple Stix.

The Wobbly Toms : American Pub Rock : Accordian/Drums/Vocals : The drunker the better.

The Surfing Criteria

The Internets needs more pics of Kelly.

"A surfer must perform radical controlled maneuvers in the critical section of a wave with Speed, Power and Flow to maximize scoring potential. Innovative / Progressive surfing as well as Variety of Repertoire (maneuvers), will be taken into consideration when rewarding points for waves ridden. The surfer who executes this criteria with the maximum Degree of Difficulty and Commitment on the waves shall be rewarded with the higher scores."



-From The Eastern Surfing Association's Judge's Course.

180

I can't wait to see this flick!

Pet Peeves (for Greg)

1. All the freakin' whole wheat that has taken over my kitchen. Wheat bread, wheat pasta, wheat tortillas, wheat chips. Madness, I say! Not that I want Wonder Bread or anything, I just like my bread to have a "nut/seed : bread" ratio that is heavier on the bread side. Too much to ask? Apparently.

2. Styrofoam.

3. Not being able to enjoy a beer at the beach and the cops who enforce this ridiculous law. They'll ticket you for "beer residue!" This aggression will not stand, man.

4. Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends. Sir Topham Hatt too.

5. The lack of a Moe's in St. Augustine. I NEED a Joey Bag o Donuts every once in a while.

6. My parents not owning a computer.

7. Goat-boaters aka Kayak surfers.

8. Golfers. All of 'em.

9. Wearing a leash when it's under three foot.

10. The coffee at work. It may very well be filtered through an old pair of golf shoes.

11. The popularity of most bands/artists featured on Pitchfork.com. But I read it everyday.

Right? Exactly.

Drop and Give Me Twenty

When I was a wee lad, all the way back in the mid-80's, I was a sponsored amatuer surfer. These sponsorships consisted of a Sun N' Surf Shop Team t-shirt and sticker, a few free tail pads from Trac-Top and 6 months of clothes from Rusty. And all I did was surf a few contests (poorly). The goal was to make it to Easterns.

Easterns is the final contest of the year for the Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) held in Buxton, NC at the legendary Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. I never made it to the contest there or even to Regionals, but i've surfed all over the Outer Banks in the last twenty years and it is truly a wonderful place.

This year come September, I'll be attending The Easterns for the first time.

As a coach.

I've had the pleasure of surfing with the Sopranzi Family for the past couple of years. Tony and I have become great friends, traveling to distant lands (Costa Rica! In front of our houses! Down the street a bit! The new inlet thingy!) in search of surf, but it seems the tide is changing. His daughters, Emilia and Elena have made the cut and will be surfing Easterns this year and I have been asked to join them on their journey as, for lack of a better term, coach. Stoked! Both excellent surfers, Emilia will be surfing in Women's Longboard and Elena is a first alternate for Girls Longboard. We'll be using this Summer to train, stretch, run some heats and watch a ton of longboard footage in preperation for their inaugural run at the title! Wish them luck!

Emilia Sopranzi, contest tip time.

Elena Sopranzi, cross steppin'.

The Neighborhood

Mi Familia...


My better half, KC. She is riding the monorail on her way to The California Grill, high atop The Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, where we always spend way too much.


My boy, Jackson Willis. He's on a boat, mother fucker, don't you eva' forget.


Rosalita aka Rosie aka Rose. 8 year old miniature schnauzer. Named after the Bruce song, duh.

The Union Express

As any East Coast surfer will tell you, surf flicks are a necessity. We have very few ridable waves and they keep the stoke flowing. I am really excited to be playing at the premier of the new movie "The Union Express" as it makes it's way through North Florida. I am backing up my good friend and Coyote Throat vocalist Beau Crum, as he strums his way through his new solo material. The star of the film, Timmy Curran, also the headliner of the night, is out promoting his new album "Verses." See you there!

Instrumentation

This might seem a bit vain, posting pictures of my guitars and such. I'm not even that big of a gearhead and I don't treat any of these as collector's items (because they're not!). Each one serves a purpose. If it didn't, it wouldn't last long before it found it's way onto Ebay or Craigslist. That said, i'd love to see what you're playing too...


Travis' accordian. I play this little guy in The Wobbly Toms. I have no idea of the make / model.


My Uncle Hal's late 1970's Tama acoustic guitar. I've had it for nearly 15 years now and he doesn't want it back, but it's still his guitar. I write the majority of my songs on this one. I've never seen another Tama guitar, as they primarily make drums now.


Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe Re-issue. I love this guitar. I like the feel of Fender's more so than Gibson's (probably because I've never had a nice Gibson...) and this has plenty of growl with the dual humbucker configuration. I played 95% of the guitars on "This Sinking Feeling" with this guy. Jake now plays it occassionally in The Eastern Wave.


Marshall JCM 900 Super Lead 100 watt head and JCM 4X12 cabinet. My live guitar rig. All of the guitars on "TSF" were recorded through this. KC bought me the head in 1997 with rolled change (!). It previously belonged to Drew of Strikeforce Diablo / Gus fame...


1976 Gibson Grabber. One of the best sounding basses I've ever come across. I used to think it was in horrible cosmetic condition, but the last few I've seen were completely beat to hell. I currently play this bass in The Eastern Wave.


My brother Jesse's 2002 Fender Squire Precision Bass Special. This bass sounds awesome and feels great. I recorded 10 of the 11 songs on "TSF" with this one.


Jake's Ampeg SVT Classic head and 8X10 cabinet. The industry standard and sole reason for called cops and noise complaints. I swear this rig was made for the Grabber. I currently play this in The Eastern Wave.


My very first pedal board. I've never been one for effects but TEW really calls for sonic weirdness and these help. Left to Right (all Boss pedals): Bass EQ, Flanger, Overdrive/Distortion, Chromatic Tuner. Not sure why I can't get the image to flip. Please rotate your monitor 180 degrees.

All Covet, All Lose

Another FREE download of an album that I had the pleasure to play on. The EASTERN WAVE is jake, kevin, and I and we're currently writing some new jams.

http://www.theeasternwave.bandcamp.com

This Sinking Feeling

A few years ago, I started a band with my two friends Bo and Robin. We called it The New Ghost. A few years, a handful of drummers, and 18.24 bass players later, the band was called Onslaught Dynamo and we recorded "This Sinking Feeling." I engineered the entire thing in my garage (The Escape Hatch! if you're nasty) and played all the guitars, bass, and keys and sang some back-ups. Follow the link below for a free download of the album in it's entirety.

http://onslaughtdynamo.bandcamp.com/

Shaka

I voted for Barack Obama because he throws shakas.

The Fling

Sometimes, when we (my wife KC and I) need to feel that humanity has not completely gone to shit, we watch Northern Exposure. We laugh and cry, fall in and out of love with Maggie, and soak up all that we can from Marilyn. But then my desk feels really small. And Florida seems to steam and boil. I long for wildness and adventure, for snow and cold. For closeness of community. And only then do I smile and realize that sometimes television can open our hearts and teach us good things.