Hi all,
I've been lurking around here for months now, but this is my first post...I guess it's polite to say hi before months turn into years. And it's been interesting to read about all of you in this thread!
First of all: thanks! It's great to see this many keyboard players, discussing, keyboard stuff on a..keyboard forum..eh. What I mean is: great forum you have here!
I'm 27, from Helsinki, Finland. Been playing the piano since I was four, and music has always been my #1 hobby/interest. Played classical piano up
till I was around 17, since then it's been mostly soul/blues/rock/hard rock keyboards in a number of bands, doing both cover and original material.
I was just looking at my calendar for this year, and it seems I'll be playing over 60 gigs this year...that's WAY more than I've ever played before, and more than the gigs of previous four years put together.
This all comes down to being involved in a Elvis show (of all things!) last winter, CC Rider Tour 2003 (site is in Finnish, click on "Kuvagalleria" for some pics),
where we did 13 shows in small concert venues in Southern Finland. Our aim was to reproduce an Elvis show circa '71-'73, with a 25-man band/choir, all the costumes, band/choir arrangements,lighting etc. done to match the vibe. I realize the idea sounds a bit "kitcsh", but looking back, I think we did great. I played the piano (listened to hours and hours of Elvis shows from that era with Glen Hardin on the piano) plus some EP (I suppose my Trinity V3 was the one out-of-place looking thing on the stage -but the preset MOSS Wurly patch was the best I could come up with for 70's Elvis renditions of "Tiger Man/Mystery Train" and "That's allright mama"). Got to play 6 different Steinways in as many venues, which was great.
(So, me, the keyboardist, this far: copies Glen Hardin, uses presets. )
That's probably more information than you need , but I know I had the time of my life
playing those shows, and it turns out that gig has gotten me into a lot of projects and bands since then!
I have my own band, and in addition to that I play in a rockabilly/party rock band (upright bass, lots of Brian Setzer and original 50's material, but sometimes also stuff from the Eagles to Beach Boys and back) that gigs a lot, and an 80's/90's rock cover band.
On top of these, I also do some soul/blues trio work with a singer and a upright bass player, plus the occasional weddings and solo piano gigs.
So I guess playing is more than a hobby -but not a profession- for me.
I have a day job as web survey specialist doing Market Research for Finnish/Global IT companies, but I'm planning to move from that to doing post graduate studies / doctoral dissertation for my
Ethnomusicology/Popular music studies, some day...
I just recently sold my flat, moved into a smaller new one with my girlfriend, and used the (small) profit to buy a Nord Electro
(I just had to have it!) and a sampler option (it was on sale!) for my Triton LE. So, I admit: GAS.
Gear list: Korg Poly 800, Yamaha TX81Z, Tamaha TG 33, Roland A33 controller, Trinity V3, Triton LE, Clavia Nord Electro.
A long post, sorry, I'll shut up now, but just so you know who's lurking about around here,
br,
Ano
