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Mark
Mark was struck by "guitar fever" in the early 1960's. He got his first guitar in 1965, and promptly began
his formal training...which consisted of a single beginner lesson where he learned the E-Major scale. Mark's first guitar,
purchased for $15 (combination birthday/Christmas present from his grandmother), was a black F-hole acoustic guitar. It was
made in Thailand and purchased in the Yaworath Chinatown section of Bangkok. Using that guitar, Mark learned his first songs...House
of the Rising Sun, Satisfaction, As Tears Roll By, Get Off My Cloud and the Hanky Panky, to name a few. He lists some of his
musical influences as The Beatles, CSN&Y, The Byrds, Rolling Stones and The Ventures.
Mark's first band,
"The Midnight Hours," wore smart matching blue corduroy vests, embroidered with the initials "MH." Their
highlight performance was at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Bangkok...the Ambassador's son threw a party while
Dad was away on diplomatic business.
Mark's current guitar line-up include a Gibson ES335 and an '82
Fender Stratocaster Elite. Mark's live amplification rig consists of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, a '74 Fender Vibrolux
Reverb, an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a few other choice analog pedals. Besides performing, Mark
has a strong interest in music production, recording and engineering. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the LA Music Acadamy http://www.lamusicacademy.com/.
George
George is from Inglewood,
California. He was born in 1960 and started playing guitar in bands at age 14. Along
the way he has acted as lead vocalist, songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist, and keyboardist in several different bands. Some of the cover bands George has played with...Blue Wind, Enigma, Top Shelf, City
Boy, Noethx, the Rockhounds and most recently Lunatic Fringe. Lately, he has
been involved in Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead and Little Feat tribute bands, and picks and grins regularly with his bluegrass
band Clusterpluck. George has paid his dues in all of the L.A. clubs with
some great original bands: the Alcoholics, a punk rock outfit from the late 70’s; the Absolute, a hard edged three piece
group; KGB, a blues-based experiment; and Magpie, an alt-rock female-led band.
When George is not playing music, he enjoys selling electronic gizmos to pay the mortgage.
Astrological Sign: Aquarius.
Turn-ons: big eye puppy
dog velvet paintings, the Runaways, obscure British invasion songs, porch lights.
Turn-offs: the Verizon
guy, working, close talkers, the Strokes.
Rod
Rod has been playing drums for over 20 years. He started out playing the snare drum in his junior high and high school
marching bands. This is where he built up his technical skills and learned to read music. Since then Rod's played the L.A.
and Hollywood club circuit in various rock bands. His favorite thing to do, when he's not pounding on his calculator at work,
is pounding out the big beats with ONCE MORE. His main drum influences are Carter Beauford from The Dave Matthews Band, Simon
Phillips from Jeff Beck & Pete Townshend, and Steve Smith from Vital Information.
Rod plays Remo MasterEdge drums.
Tom sizes are 10", 12", 13", 16". Bass drum is 22". Cymbals are Zildjian 16" rock crash, Zildjian 10" and 12" A-series splashes,
Zildjian 20" ping ride, and Paiste 14" rock hi-hats. Rod uses Remo pinstripe drumheads. His first drumkit was a Ludwig smoke
black Vistalite kit with giant 16", 17", & 18" toms and a big 24" bass drum. Rod will perform with this kit when he wants
to go for that "huge" sound.
Aris
Aris has been playing guitar since 1963, and started his first band in 1972, influenced by The Allman Brothers, Neil
Young, and a few guys from England...Richards, Blackmore, Beck, Harrison and Clapton. He has
become a pathological gear-head and "ampoholic" since entering mid-life. Armed with soldering iron and multimeter,
he's been known to overhaul old amps as well as build new ones entirely from scratch. Aris insists on tube amps..."there's
something about the sound and smell of glowing glass." His gigging amps include a couple of homemade Marshall
JTM45 and 18 Watt cones, a Vox AC30 clone, and homemade Fender 5D4 Tweed Super, 5E3 Tweed Deluxe and 6G2 Princeton
clone amps.
When it comes to guitars, Aris usually slings a Gibson historic '57 reissue goldtop Les Paul
or a homebuilt single-cut/single P90 LP Junior. He also plays custom made Warmoth Strat and Tele guitars. Aris also designed
and built his custom pedalboard consisting of mostly homebuilt stompboxes. Completing the madness are a homemade Fender
6G15 clone reverb unit, Energizer alkaline batteries, George L. Cables, D'Adarrio XL110 strings and heavy
gauge picks.
Molly
Born in 1979, Molly is the baby of the group. Originally from Sunnyvale, California, she has been singing since 3
years of age. In high school, she appeared in many musical and theatrical productions, including Roger's and Hammerstein's
"Oklahoma." She was also a featured singer and dancer in several muscials at Foothill College in Los Altos California.
Molly had the rare opportunity to study voice with the legendary Judy Davis, who also taught Barbara Streisand, Tina Turner,
Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger and many other well known artists. She was lead vocalist for the popular San Francisco Area
band "Savoir-Faire," playing regularly at Bay Area clubs and major venues like San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.
The band performed regularly at major corporate events and private parties as well. Molly also has experience doing vocal
session work at various recording studios, including Sunny Lane Records and Frog Music Productions in Marin County, California.
Molly is a 2002 graduate from the University of Arizona, earning a B.A. in Communications. The following year she
moved to Los Angeles to pursue a marketing career in the entertainment industry. During her college years in Arizona, she
really missed singing with a good band and is glad to have now found a musical home with ONCE MORE.
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