Damien Gonzalez

Miss Madeline Jones, Tempest's reporter inside, interviews Tempest's newest addition, Damien Gonzalez, in an intimate moment over the cyberwaves:

Miss Madeline Jones:
Damien, if I may call you Damien, please describe your youth.
Damien Gonzalez:
Yes, certainly, Damien it is…. I was born at a very early age, in Hollywood, CA with equal parts European and Latin heritage. My parents moved (with me, fortunately) to the SF Bay Area and settled in Cupertino to join the sprouting computer industry. Mom was a violinist in a chamber quartet and first string in the Nova Vista Symphony, and dad was an avid listener and patron of the arts. Both parents would play a huge role in making sure music was a big part of my life, either by helping me learn to play an instrument or by seeing to it that I could appreciate as many different forms of music as possible.

Miss MJ: What was the first thing you wanted to be?

DG: Can't remember. I do, however, remember the first time I discovered water coming out of the garden hose… and dirt clods… those were immensely fun to toss in the air and watch as they exploded on the cement walk outside our house. My mom found me in the garden one day, tossing dirt clod grenades in the air and cheering when they hit the ground like fireworks. Trying to stifle a laugh she ran to get her camera before admonishing me for making a mess. Dirt Clods: 1, Miss Manners: 0. (…and I still have the photo!)

Miss MJ: What sort of things got your attention musically?
DG: I think one of the first times I recall music grabbing me must have been hearing my mom play violin in the living room with her chamber quartet and rehearsing for the symphony. Even when it was only a single violin I could hear a whole universe in the music. Sometimes I'd continue playing with my Legoland Tower of Babel kit, and other times I'd just sit still and listen.

And once, home from school sick, I turned on the radio, and caught Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop (Till You Get Enough)" on the AM dial. I was about 5 or 6 and I just loved the grooves. Of course I spent the rest of the day wondering how they managed to get all those musicians into the studio to play their songs one after another, but the concept of recorded music became clear to me a bit later.

The first time I heard hard rock was AC/DC's Highway to Hell. The little mono AM radio speaker probably didn't help the clarity much but once I got to hear AC/DC on the home stereo it was a different story. The first song I learned on bass guitar was "Whole Lotta Rosie" when I was 16. I learned to play bass on my own -- by playing along with Bob Marley and The Wailers, The Police or anyone else that interested me.

Miss MJ: What do you fancy, other than music?
DG: I just about grew up on the back of my dad's BMW motorcycle. We often jumped on to run errands or for day trips into the hills, and I knew one day I'd have to have a bike of my own. When I hit 29 I noticed that "someday that'll be me" had turned into "Argh, I'm missing out!!" So I started on a cruiser. Ever since, I've preferred two wheels to four. I currently ride a Sport Tourer. For those who have read Sonny Barger's autobiography, I ride the bike he mentions on page 53. It can do 100+ MPH all day long, and I've got the speeding tickets to prove it, too. I've ridden to Canada, Lake Tahoe, Arizona, and all over California, for something like 50,000 miles to date. If I'm not carrying musical gear, you'll usually find me on a bike.

In 2003 I got involved with fire arts through East Bay fire troupes like Sintillation and Copper Lantern. I started out as a Safety and performed with Copper Lantern at the 2006 Fire Arts Festival, put on by The Crucible, in Oakland, California. Since then, I've learned how to eat and breathe fire as well. In August of 2006, at the Burning Man arts festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, I was part of a world record attempt at the most fire breathers igniting at the same moment. We actually managed to break the record with 82 people, and are awaiting official confirmation from the Guinness folks. Many people ask why I want to breathe fire. The child in me says "Cause it's cool!!" But really, being able to manage the risk of performing one of the most dangerous forms of fire art makes life seem that much more vivid and precious. It requires me to remain hyper-focused, and the adrenaline rush is a lot of fun.

Miss MJ: Do you play any other instruments?
DG: Drum set has been my main instrument with bass guitar trading off as a close second ever since I started playing in bands. I have played drums for more than 25 years and played bass for the last 21. I also play ethnic percussion including djembe, doumbek, bodhran, didjeridoo, and alhambra water bottles. Other instruments include voice (singing and beatboxing), rhythm guitar, a smattering of piano, and two-finger chords on the mandolin. About the only instruments I can't play consistently are brass and woodwinds.

Miss MJ: What sort of odd jobs have you held or considered?
DG: I have been a Ski Lift Operator, Male Model, Stagehand, Operations Monitor for Cisco Systems (my last day of work was Y2K evening - THAT was surreal!) and Empanada Jockey, among other things. Music seems to be the only profession I can show up for on time. If, for some awful reason, I couldn't play music any more I think I wouldn't mind being a trucker.

Miss MJ: Who would you say has most influenced you musically?
DG: I think I'd have to say my biggest influences on bass would be Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Sting, James Jamerson, Pino Palladino, Mark Egan, Tony Levin, Bootsy Collins, and Cliff Williams from AC/DC.

Miss MJ: If you had eight more lives, what else might you like to do?
DG: I'm planning on doing it all in this lifetime, so I'd better get started on the skydiving lessons, getting my Pilot's license, and learning how to Street Luge. That and, of course, learning wilderness survival while playing trombone.

Miss MJ: Discuss a memorable moment onstage, or when performing.
DG: Every single one of them was memorable. I feel most alive when I'm performing. There's no pain, no worries, no drama -- just pure energy flow, regardless what type of mood is being set by the music. And when people are into it, I'm playing well and I see people enjoying the music however they do, it's even more exciting. I feel like a magician in the sense that I always know where the rabbit is hiding. Being able to see the expressions of wonder and enjoyment on faces in the audience when a trick goes well holds just as much magic for me as the first time I saw the trick performed.

Miss MJ: Thank you so much for your time, Damien. I'm sure we all look forward to watching you wiggle along with our favorite group, Tempest!
DG: Thank you as well, I'm looking forward to wiggling

*Damien also conducts private music instruction in the South Bay area through Showcase Music Institute. To inquire about lessons in bass or drums, click here: www.guitarshowcase.com*