Bill Spiropoulos + Musician in Columbus, OH

SEEKING

ABOUT

I'm looking to form an experimental, improv-friendly indie psych-prog group for jamming, writing, recording, and hopefully some gigs. By "psych" I don't mean Dead/Phish type jam-band roots rock, I've done that already; not particularly interested in metal, pop punk, emo, country, hip hop, or typical cover band type retreads. Analog synths and organs, however, are definitely welcome, as are non-rock instruments.

My personal background, if you're interested: I'm mostly self-taught, began playing guitar in earnest at age 10, keyboards at 12, and always interested in recording and production. I was in three bands between 2001 and 2008, all based in Columbus, Ohio: Brokedown Sound (Dead/Phish style jam band; played bass and occasional vocals), 2) Floorian (heavy space/stoner rock; played mostly keyboards, Roland Space Echo, occasional guitar and bass), and 3) Twiggy and Frollywog (eclectic indie pop with vaguely prog tendencies; played mostly guitar, some bass, some vocals). After seven-odd (or should I say seven very odd) years in northern New Jersey I've returned to my dear hometown and rejoined Floorian (this time on lead guitar) for recording and the occasional live gig, as well as continuing my own solo demo noodling. Since BandMix apparently won't let me mention other websites by name or URL, please go to s--ndcl--d.c-m (fill in the vowels) and search for Bill Spiropoulos if you wish to peruse my solo crud. Also Google "Floorian" and "Twiggy & Frollywog" to sample my other bands' material.

Screen name:

Bill Spiropoulos

Member since:

Jul 04 2013

Active over 1 month ago

Level of commitment:

Committed

Years playing music:

30

Gigs played:

10 to 50

Influences

Not an exhaustive list, but a frame of reference for the kinds of things I like would include:

Neo-psych--Asteroid No. 4, Wand, Ty Seagall, Voyager One, Sun Dial, Plasticland, Opal, Quad, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bardo Pond, Grimble Grumble, The Dandy Warhols, Eye, Sleep, The Flavor Crystals, Rain Parade, Dream Syndicate.

Other modernish bands--Blur, Stereolab, Catherine Wheel, REM, Red House Painters, Portishead, some others.

Old bands-- Pink Floyd, The Nice, early Genesis, early Yes, Gentle Giant, Caravan, Jethro Tull, ELP, Hendrix, mid-period Beatles, '60s-era Stones, the Who, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Atomic Rooster, Amon Duul, Can, early Zappa/Mothers, early Alice Cooper,, eaarly Black Sabbath, early Deep Purple (notice a pattern?), Synergy, way too many more.

Also like jazz, early electronic, non-pop EDM, classical, ska/reggae, Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat, old school soul/R&B/funk, blues, old school punk/new wave, early folk/country...

Finally, what I *don't* like: contemporary hip hop/R&B-based pop, contemporary country-pop, most post '70s metal, pop-punk, emo, a lot of classic rock (ie the same old bullsh*t you always hear on the radio), almost anything made after 2000 based on the I-V-vi-IV chord progression, almost anything with autotune on the vocals...you get the idea.

Instrument experience:

Vocalist - Baritone:

Moderate

EQUIPMENT

Guitars: Epiphone Les Paul, J&D tele, Vintage VS6 sg, Lotus strat copy, pieces-parts strat, Epiphone acoustic.

Amps: Line 6 Duoverb 2x12 combo, Peavey Bandit 112 Transtube (1st generation). Assorted pedals.

Bass: Yamaha BB434, pieces-parts P-bass.

Keyboards: Kawai K3 synth, Multimoog synth (semi-functional but makes beautiful analog noise), Casio PX-330 piano, Hammond L-102 organ (heavy as $#!+, studio use only), Farfisa Compact Duo (currently not working but should be an easy fix).

Drums: Premier XPK (configured as 4-piece, second rack tom sitting out), Paiste PST5 (crash, hats), Sabian B8 (ride).

Recording: custom AMD Ryzen 5 PC, Reaper DAW, Behringer UMC1820 interface, Behringer Truth B2031 monitors. Various microphones. Currently in process of integrating a Mackie SR24.4 VLZ Pro mixer for out-of-box mixing.

MUSIC