Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Pete Parada : The Offspring Band





Pete Parada is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. Parada's drumming career began in 1996 when he joined Steel Prophet and recorded one album with them a year later. Subsequently he joined Face to Face and Saves the Day, and in 2007 became the new drummer for The Offspring. Parada was also associated with the metal band Engine and Rob Halford's solo project Halford, and briefly played drums in the punk band Alkaline Trio.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Brief Biography of Greg Kriesel : The Offspring Band




Brief Biography:
Gregory David Kriesel (born January 20, 1965, in Glendale, California), best known by his stage name Greg K., is an American bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the punk band, The Offspring.

Kriesel is one of the founding members of the band alongside singer Dexter Holland. He played an Ibanez custom ATK300 bass and is currently using an Ibanez RD bass, and his hobbies include golf,and BASE jumping. In the early days of The Offspring, up until around 1994, he played a Fender Precision Bass, as seen in the videos for "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem". He was also on the track and field team in high school along with fellow bandmate Holland, and was also in the Math Club.

On May 28, 2008, Kriesel announced on The Offspring's website that he was taking a hiatus from touring because of a "scheduled family matter" but would be returning to the fold by mid-June. Face to Face bassist Scott Shiflett filled in for him on those shows. The "scheduled family matter" was a new baby as he became a father for the fourth time.He currently lives in Cypress, California. Read full at wikipedia...

Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman : The Offspring Band



Biography:
Kevin Wasserman (born February 4, 1963), best known by his stage name Noodles,[citation needed] is the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for The Offspring.
Wasserman was born in Los Angeles, California. During the band's early days he worked as an elementary school janitor. Before Smash was released, he promised his boss that he wouldn't quit before the end of the school year, but the surprise success of "Come Out and Play" forced him to work it out. Noodles claims to like the "finer things in life" such as red wine, classical music, cigarettes, and poetry. His favorite poet is the frontman of the band, Dexter Holland who wrote his favorite poem "Cool To Hate" which is also an Offspring song released on the album Ixnay on the Hombre. He occasionally goes snowmobiling and snowboarding in the mountains.

Equipment :
Guitars Noodles generally plays Ibanez guitars, having two signature models, one with a duct tape finish (type NDM1) and another with The Offspring's logo with glasses (type NDM2), and prefers DiMarzio Tone Zone pickups.



In the early days of the Offspring, Noodles played a wider range of guitars, including Fender Telecasters, Ibanez Talman's and Gibson Les Pauls. He also owns other guitar models like Paul Reed Smith guitars, Fender Stratocaster and other Fender models, Jackson guitars and Gibson guitars. In an interview on The Offspring's Greatest Hits DVD, Noodles claimed that he gave his Stratocaster to one of the characters that appeared on the video for "Self Esteem" (from their 1994 classic album, Smash).


Amplifiers Noodles used Mesa/Boogie Mark IV amplifiers with 4x12 cabinets for most records. Since the album Splinter mixed with VHT Classic Lead amplifiers."GC (Guitar Center Interviewer): What do you think of the amp rig you have now? What do you use and why?

Noodles:
"About a year ago, Dexter and I were turned on to VHT amplifiers by our tech, Steve Masi. VHTs are made by a guy named Steve Friette, who used to play guitar in The Dickies. His amps are awesome and add so much to our sound, but we found that we missed a lot of what our Mesa Boogie Mark IVs had to offer, so we run both amps in unison. The sounds we are getting now are huge and still well defined."
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/

Dexter Holland : The Offspring Band

Profile :
Full Name : Bryan Keith Holland
Also Known as : Dexter
Birth of Date : December 29, 1965
Birth of Place : United States
Music Genre : Punk rock, Pop punk, Skate punk, Alternative rock
Occupation : Musician, Songwriter, Vocalist
Instrument : Guitar, Vocals, drums

Mini Biography :
One of the greatest punk vocalists in rock history, Bryan Keith Holland was born two days before the end of 1965 in Orange County, California to a father who was a hospital-administrator and a mother who was a school teacher. He is the third of four children of his family. Holland has cited bands/artists such as Aerosmith, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, KISS, Bob Marley, Queen, The Rolling Stones, UFO (with Michael Schenker) and Van Halen, among others, as his early influences.


By the time he was in high school, he got turned on to punk music by listening to the Adolescents, Agent Orange, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Clash, Descendents, Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Social Distortion, T.S.O.L. and The Vandals. This was when he came up with an idea of starting a band and it wasn't until he formed "Manic Subsidal" in 1984 along with fellow band mate 'Greg K.' and later changed their name to "The Offspring" in 1985 after they found Noodles as their second guitarist.

After spending a few years on the local scene, his band released finally released its first album, simply titled "The Offspring", in 1989, which had been released in limited amounts only in a 12" Vinyl format and a CD release for the album wouldn't occur until 1995. Two years later, The Offspring were signed signed to Epitaph Records in 1991 and their second album "Ignition" came out in 1992. Their next album, "Smash" (1994), finally brought The Offspring into the mainstream success, containing hit singles as "Come Out and Play" and "Self-Esteem". The Offspring then released a number of more albums ("Ixnay on the Hombre" in 1997, "Americana" in 1998, "Conspiracy of One" in 2000 and "Splinter" in 2003) and his band has been very successful ever since.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous source

The Offspring : The American Rock Band





The Offspring is an American rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California around 1984. The band is credited, along with fellow California punk bands Green Day and Rancid, with reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s.] To date, The Offspring has released eight studio albums, one compilation, four EPs and three DVDs.] They have sold over 50 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, along with Green Day and Rancid.

Since its formation, The Offspring's line-up has included Dexter Holland (lead vocals, guitar), Noodles (lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals), Greg K. (bass, backing vocals), and formerly Ron Welty (drums, percussion). Their current drummer is Pete Parada, formerly of Face to Face, and Saves the Day, who has been with the band since 2007.
Since the release of their 1994 album Smash, the best-selling independent label album of all time, The Offspring has achieved commercial success over five albums, with singles such as "Come Out and Play", and "Self Esteem". The band's next three albums, Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana and Conspiracy of One, were also successful, with Ixnay on the Hombre and Conspiracy of One reaching platinum certification, and Americana achieving multi-platinum status. Longtime drummer Ron Welty left The Offspring in early 2003, and was replaced by Atom Willard. Later that year, the band released their next album, Splinter, to moderate sales and fairly warm reviews. In 2005, The Offspring released a greatest hits album and toured in support of the compilation. Their most recent studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, was released on June 17, 2008 with the hit singles "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" and "Hammerhead." Read full in wikipedia....

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Mike Shinoda Biography and Picture





Mike Shinoda was born February 11, 1977. his full name us Michael Kenji Shinoda. is a Japanese American musician, record producer, and artist from Agoura Hills, California. His father is Japanese American. He is best known as the rapper, keyboardist, backing vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Linkin Park, and his side project, Fort Minor. He also provides artwork, production and mixing for both groups.
Biography
Mike Shinoda was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills.
He first wanted to play music during his middle and high school years, he has started to play on different music tools like piano and took lessons on them. He attended Parkman Elementary and Lindero Canyon Middle School. After that, he began taking piano lessons, studying classical pianist techniques, and later moved on to jazz and hip hop. It was during this period that he added the guitar and, eventually, rap-style vocals to his repertoire.
After his teens, Mike Shinoda's rap interests found a source of encouragement in friend Brad Delson, with whom he started to write and record songs in a makeshift studio set up in his basement. Shinoda attended Agoura High School with Linkin Park bandmate Brad Delson, as well as with members of the band Hoobastank. By the end of high school, drummer Rob Bourdon had become involved in their musical ventures. The trio formed the band Xero, and began to make a more serious attempt to pursue a career in the music industry. Chester Bennington came along a few years later.
After high school, Shinoda enrolled in the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustrationIt was here that he made the acquaintance of DJ and turntablist Joseph Hahn, who, along with Delson's college-mate Phoenix, was soon added to Xero's line-up. Shinoda eventually graduated from college with a degree in illustration, securing himself a job as a graphic designer right after graduation. With his background as a graphic artist, Shinoda has taken it upon himself in designing all of Linkin Park's artwork with Hahn, and has even designed the album cover for Styles of Beyond's debut album, 2000 Fold. In later years he would go on to showcase his art skills;[citation needed] he had his debut art showcase at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles in the time leading up to Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight.

Linkin Park
Shinoda's band (at this point called Hybrid Theory) brought in second vocalist Chester Bennington, replacing Mark Wakefield. From the onset, Shinoda was closely involved in the technical aspects of the band's recordings, and over the subsequent releases that role continued to expand. The first song they sang was "Crawling". Shinoda, with guitarist Brad Delson, engineered and produced the band's Hybrid Theory EP, and performed similar roles in the recording of the Hybrid Theory album. Mike executive organized and oversaw the band's remix album Reanimation (2002), contributing his own production remixes that he made in his home studio for "Crawling" and "Pushing Me Away." In his spare time, he produced and performed on a song by The X-Ecutioners entitled "It's Goin' Down."
On the second Linkin Park Warner Bros. studio release Meteora (2003) Shinoda continued to expand upon his duties as a musician and studio technician/engineer. Additionally, for the backbone of the album artwork, Shinoda collaborated with graffiti artist DELTA, graphic designer Frank Maddocks, and band-mate Joe Hahn.
By the release of the Linkin Park and Jay-Z 'mash-up' album Collision Course in 2004, Shinoda's involvement in the creation of the albums continued to grow. He produced and mixed the album, which won a Grammy Award for "best rap / sung collaboration" later that year.
The band released their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, on May 15, 2007. On this album, Shinoda shared a production credit with producer Rick Rubin, overseeing the musical evolution of the band's sound. This album was also the first time that Shinoda, best known for his rapping, sang a featured vocal. Mike sang on the songs "In Between", "Hands Held High" and the b-side song, "No Roads Left". Despite of the uncommonness of Shinoda-fronted singing tracks, Hit Parader ranked Mike at number 72 of the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.

David Phoenix Farrel Biography and Image





David Michael Farrell (born on February 8, 1977), more commonly known as Phoenix, is the bassist for the band Linkin Park.
Biography
Farrell was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts but moved to Mission Viejo, California when he was five. He attended Mission Viejo High School. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he met future bandmate Brad Delson in 1999. He plays the bass guitar, electric guitar, cello and violin. On occasion, he has played an upright bass at concerts.
Farrell was a member of a Christian punk/ska band known as the Tasty Snax. While attending college, he practiced with Brad Delson. The two shared a dorm room for three years out of the four they attended UCLA. Farrell, with Delson and others then started a band called Xero, which later became Linkin Park. After changing their name to Snax, Farrell continued playing bass guitar before leaving to join Linkin Park full-time. Farrell's former bandmate Mark Fiore became Linkin Park's videographer. As described in the liner notes for Reanimation he uses an Ernie Ball MusicMan Bass.
Farrell has cited his influences as being his mother and his brother, Joe. Musical influences include Weezer, The Beatles, Deftones, The Roots, Bob Marley, Sarah McLachlan, Hughes & Wagner and Harrod & Funck.

Mr. Hahn Profile and Picture

Profile
Full Name : Joseph Hahn
Birth of Date : March 15, 1977
Birth of Place : Dallas, Texas, USA
Music Genre : Alternative rock, Nu metal, Rap rock, Hip hop, Electronica
Instrument : Turntables, sampler, keyboards




Monday, March 2, 2009

Bradford Delson Biography





Bradford Phillip Delson (born December 1, 1977) is an American musician, lead guitarist, and one of the founding members of the alternative rock band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R Representative for Machine Shop Recordings.
Brad Delson attended Agoura High School with childhood friend and Linkin Park band mate Mike Shinoda. He played in various bands throughout his high school career, the most notable being Relative Degree, in which he met and teamed up with drummer Rob Bourdon. Relative Degree's goal was simply to play a show, and, after achieving that goal, they disbanded.

After graduating in 1995, Delson, Shinoda, and Bourdon formed Xero, which would eventually become the starting point for Linkin Park.

Delson entered UCLA in 1995 as a Regent Scholar working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies with a specialization in Business and Administration. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and shared a dorm room with future Linkin Park band mate Dave Farrell for three out of his four years at school. Delson also had the opportunity to intern with a member of the music industry as part of his studies and ended up working for Jeff Blue, an A&R representative at Warner Bros. Records, who offered constructive criticism on Xero's demos. Incidentally, it was Blue who later introduced Chester Bennington, the current lead vocalist of Linkin Park, to the rest of the band.

After graduating summa cum laude in 1999, Delson decided to forgo law school in order to pursue a musical career with Linkin Park. He remains an avid fan of all things blue and gold.
Read more in Wikipedia

Robert Bourdon : Drummer of Linkin Park




Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, who is currently the drummer and one of the founders of the rock band Linkin Park.

Chester Bennington, Linkin Park Member

Profile :
Full Name : Chester Charles Bennington
Birth of Date : March 20, 1976
Birth of Place : Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Music Genre : Alternative metal, Nu metal, Alternative rock, Rap metal




Chester Charles Bennington (born March 20, 1976) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the lead vocalist in the rock band Linkin Park, and was previously associated with the band Grey Daze, among others. As of 2008 Bennington has released three studio albums with Linkin Park and is planning to release his debut album with Dead By Sunrise in 2009.
Bennington's first release with Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, was a commercial success, and he has released several major albums and singles since then. He has worked with Jay-Z, Jonathan Davis, Young Buck, Busta Rhymes and Aaron Lewis[citation needed]. In 2007, Bennington was placed at 46th on Hit Paraders list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists"