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| FireLogg Bios Ken...   Born in Pasadena, California. Grew up in East LA / San Gabriel Valley. If you're local, there's a difference. If you're not, for reference - one side of the street is ELA, the other is Alhambra. No biggie, except for locals.I'm married to someone else's childhood sweetheart - no kids. No dogs, no cats. Jaye and I have 3 rabbits... I know, its weird for me too. Great pets, highly recommended. Get them from a breeder NOT the pet shop. I moved to the Westside a few years ago. If you're local, you get it. If not, it's the difference between Married With Children and Melrose Place. The vibe on the Westside (Marina Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica, etc.) is so different. When people say "Oh, that's so LA" this is where they mean. I am not a Westside guy. But I've grown to love it here. It's a very twisted place, and "the scene" is a powerful siren song. I'll probably stay awhile. Started playing the drums at birth. Actually, started beating on things at birth. Bought my first set at 19. Played Tama for about 13 years, moved on to Yamaha for a little while and have been playing DW ever since. I'll get into the gear in another section. I met Mike years ago at church. I was playing drums for the services, and Mike was playing guitar. But the church was huge that we never played at the same time. Then one day we got cast together for the same service. We hooked up, ran a lot of smack and really hit it off, both musically and as brothers. We've played together at different churches in the area, and I did some work with his project a while ago. We finally decided it was time for us to put something together that was both of us... not just him or me. FireLogg is really about being real in our music. There's so much labeling of artists these days to fit them into little retail bins, and onto pre-packaged radio programs. I don't know what you'd call us. You'll hear Mike's early influences - Brian Wilson, N  eil Young, Jimmy Page in his guitar playing and vocals. His more recent influences - Lisa Loeb, David Gilmour and others are there too. I bring my Tony Brock, Neil Peart, Tommy Lee, Roger Taylor, Tommy Aldredge and Mike Portnoy to the mix. Vocally, I'm the frog in the back of the mix. I like integrating percussion into the songs. I enjoy going to the jungle drums vibe in some tunes, and being a groove master in others.We are who we listen to, if we're honest about ourselves. And I have had some great drummers and songwriters that I have loved over the years: Early years: Roger Taylor of Queen... big floppy, deep toms. Love the high hat work. Ian Paice of Deep Purple... if you can listen to Highway Star live and drive below 90, you're listening to the wrong band. Try Glen Miller. Neil Peart of Rush introduced me to the wonders of melodic toms. Stole many of his licks, especially my cynchopated ride cymbal work. Middle years: Tony Brock of the Babys was my anti-Neil. His huge, stron  g downbeat and driving kick on 1,2,3,4 opened up so many possibilities for me later on. Tommy Lee of Motley Crue was the showman of all time on the drums. I used to try so much to play like him. You hear a lot of Tony Brock in him. Tommy Aldredge of the Pat Travers Band. PTB is my all time fav, and they were never better than when Tommy was in the band.Lately: The last few years its been Edwin McCain, Lisa Loeb, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater and Buddy Rich. Mike and Buddy are both are amazingly powerful guys. Mike's crazy turn-a rounds and jungle drums can be heard all over our stuff. Buddy just ruled. I am nothing like him, but his playing drips with attitude. He ruled the stage and drove the band. When he was on, they were on. Percussion wise, its all about Sue Hadjopoulos from Joe Jackson. Listen to JJ's Laughter and Lust. She's just the best. Nobody is more tasteful and adds just the perfect blend of groove and color to every song. I envy her, I admire her - I could listen forever. She blows me away. Mike...  Southern California is a melting pot...And I love it! Just as our cultures here are mixed, blended and juiced, so is the music of Firelogg... We don't need to celebrate diversity, it is a way of life.  I, Michael Beatty, pay homage to the beach boys, led zeppelin, pink floyd, neil young, X and of course the Beatles. These are the bands that as a child growing up, led me to the guitar. I remember when I was 10, way back in 1975, I was with my dad and brother at the now defunct Leo's Stereo in Covina, when I heard at an amazingly loud volume, "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. The way David Gilmour strummed his acoustic guitar and sang that haunting melody, made me a fan for life. I was born in Downey, California... Home of the Carpenters, Slayer, Dave Alvin, and James Hetfield... I moved to Covina when I was 5... My Uncle Greg bought me my first guitar. I took a few lessons but became quickly bored. When I was 12, I started playing at the very cool and very hip youth mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Irwindale CA. There was this hippy-looking guy named Ate Rojas who was an excellent guitarist. What qualified him as such? He knew how to play every freakin Zeppelin tune! This guy gets the most credit for teaching me how to play. He is a strange guy, but I love him still to this day. Thanks Ate!!! Pronounced (Ahhh- tay). Now, at 12 years old, I was in awe! I stuck to this guy like glue. I had to know Jimmy Page's open tunings, and I had to learn how to play Ten Years Gone from Physical Graffiti... My parents weren't sure how serious I was about playing, so they bought me this cheap piece of crap guitar in Tijuana, Mexico, when we went down for a vacation one summer. This thing had the artwork and all. I so wish I had a pic of this thing. It sounded halfway decent and lasted for about 8 months. You couldn't change the strings though... or it would break... which is what happe ned one day while tuning.So my parents (God Love 'em) bought me a 12 string Aria... and then I arrived! In the late 70's, early 80's there was such a cool musical vibe coming out of the Catholic Church in Southern California. There were great singers and writers in So Cal that just resonated these post-hippy, laid back, acoustic, folksy, harmonies. This is where my foundation was laid. These are just some of my influences... Neil Young was and is cool, 'cause his songs are simple and his voice is strange. I learned then that it's all about the feel and tone, not the perfect recording or the most technically sound. I am a hard-co  re Beach Boys Fan though. Brian Wilson was such a genius. His gift for harmonies have always moved me, and still do. "Pet Sounds" Rules! Ken bought me the anniversary 4 CD box a few years ago for Christmas. One of the CD's is called "Stack O' Vocals". It's just the vocal tracks with the instruments in the headphones. You can hear Brian directing the band and instructing Glen Campbell how to play a line. A must buy! X is the greatest punk band in the world! If you've never heard or seen these guys you are missing out. I followed them around in high school. I have seen them at least ten times. They are back together, so go see them if they are near you. Their harmonies and slamming melodies kill!Guild guitars Rule! Taylors do not! Every young guitar player I talk to, thinks he has to drop 3 grand on a Taylor... Not So!!!! Guild is calling you! As a so cal native (born and raised), I love the border skirmishes we continually have. No not with Mexico or Canada, but No Cal. Frisco... to be exact. My aunt used to live up there. I used to go up there 2 or 3 times a month as a youngster. Never did I know there was a battle until I was older. They hate us... We don't care... We love everybody... Smog rules... I love it... I grew up in it... In high school, our lungs used to burn when we breathed in deep... Oh how I miss those days... I am convinced that smog has helped the Dodgers win all their championships. T  he SF Giants play in beautiful clean air, and have never won a damn thing since they moved out here from NY. The Dodgers on the other hand... well... you count the trophies.I love SF. I love the Jefferson Airplane, Sourdough bread, BAM Magazine, Creedence, Cable Cars, Powell Street, China town and BART. Hell, I remember Bart when it first opened. We actually drove up there to ride it... Imagine that scene... "get in the car kids, we're heading north!" True story... I love Los Angeles because it's everything you think or heard about it. We are free to be us! No time for attitudes... We are looked at as plastic... We don't care. We really don't. The only time we rally together is during Laker dynasties. There is peace in the air... Our city is so damn big... Imagine going to a baseball game when NY or the Cubbies are in town... and half the fans are against the Dodgers... We can't imagine following UCLA Bruins Football 40,000 strong on the road like say... Nebraska does... It just doesn't work... unimaginable. Too many opinions, too many visions... I love it... |
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