Who the hell is Sharkboy John?
I First picked up the guitar when I was 14 years old. As a teen in the late 80s I was an extreme metal head. I lived for Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, and Judas Priest.
As my guitar playing progressed I dove head first into the NeoClassical guitar movement lead by Yngwie J Malmsteen, and Paul Gilbert and the rest of the Shrapnel Records crew. I spent most of my high school years locked in a room with a metronome practicing my ass off.
I started college as a music major studying classical guitar. I soon diversified my guitar repertoire by studying Jazz, funk, and eastern music. I was heavily influenced by John Mclaughlin and his Shakti and Mahivishnu Orchestra.
I combined the shred, classical, and progressive jazz influences to create my first band, Purgatory. Purgatory never quite made it out of the basement but created a foundation for my next band [Hermafro?].
Hermafro added Tony (of Swampazz) on Guitar and Vocals, and Eric Mafea on Bass to the Purgatory line up of my self and Danny Almoduvar. Hermafro took the Progressive Jazz / Metal sound to the next level adding electronic textures to bludgeoning heavy guitar riffs and grit filled vocals.
These days I work a regular day job, have a hair cut and act like a yuppie most of the time but I still play guitar and write music. I will be posting my latest and greatest here on MyOnlineBand.com from time to time. I hope some one will like it.
Why do they call you Sharkboy?
The nick-name Sharkboy comes from my ass hole fiends making fun of the stupid faces I would make when I play guitar. They called the face the shark face. From the shark face came sharkboy.