About Fred aka fS
“Music is an art form. Encouraging people to listen to “mainstream” music ignores that undeniable truth”.
I have been drawn to music ever since an early age. One of my first memories (age five or six) was hearing the Beach Boys (I think it was from Pet Sounds); somehow their melodies and sweet harmonies sparked something in my primitive brain. Another fond memory was when I was 8 years old (in some record store in IL) and I had to have The Beatles Abbey Road (something about that cover pulled me in). It turned out that the album was pretty good too! From then on I was hooked in. I can remember listening to that album over and over as I lay on the floor next to the speakers of my parent’s hi-fi.
Unfortunately growing up in the 80’s was dominated by the “Hair Metal” years. Then, I made a connection through my older sister and “college radio”. My tape collection started to consisted of The Replacements, Joy Division, The Smiths, New Order, U2, R.E.M (whom I was lucky enough to catch at the Dan Co. Coliseum on the Document tour in ‘88).
Needless to say, I was inspired. I was “taken in” by the crowd, the stage lights and raw energy of the artists. I started playing drums and formed a few high school bands; the cool thing was that everybody always needed a drummer so I had no trouble finding kids to jam.
Later on, I started finding that I possessed more of an interest in creating melody and realized that by playing guitar and trying to sing, I could convey the sounds that were inside. In college, I found time to get together and jam on the weekends and soon fronted a band called “The Velvet Jones“. We played mostly alternative and college rock covers along with a few of our own tunes. We played our heart and souls out to the Wisconsin colle ge crowd in the Milwaukee/Whitewater area. I never played in Madison until I formed Subliminal Overtones. Subliminal Overtones recorded an album in 2006 and played several shows in the Madison area. The band is currently on an indefinite hiatus. I have been devoting a great deal of my time to family, work, soccer and MMR. Even though I’m not on the stage as much with the band, I still enjoy and creating music on AudioMulch and my ‘72 Telecaster.
My Lists:
Here is a list of some of my favorite local live shows from the past.
Here is a list of my Best Of 2008 Picks
Here is a list of my Best Of 2009 Picks