I used to be a punk kid, shooting out windows with BB Guns and sneaking into fenced in areas guarded by ‘private property’ signs. I loved playing in the fields and woods. I loved camping and swimming in questionable ponds. I would run with the cool kids that lived across the street and they tried to teach my brother and I how to smoke cigarettes. This may have all come from my mom and step-dad’s separation, I honestly don’t know. 20 years later, I don’t feel that their separation had any lasting effects on me negatively. To be honest, the opposite is probably true. My step-dad played the guitar.

I remember him playing the acoustic guitar when I was about 4 or 5. He didn’t play it all the time, but I know he got it out sometimes. After they separated, I still would visit him on the weekends with my brother(his dad). Eventually he left one of his guitars at his mom’s house and my cousin and I would play with it while listening to Michael Jackson Beat It, when I would visit them. I think I was about 13 or 14 then.

One day I got brave and asked him if I could have the guitar. It was broke anyways. It only had two strings on it. He gave it to me, and taught me how to play ‘Breaking the Law by Judas Priest’ with the two strings. He also bought me a full set of strings and taught me how to string it.

At that point, I pretty much wanted to teach myself. I asked my mom to buy me an instructional book, and she even got me some lessons. One of my close friends also got a guitar for Christmas a few months later and we started a band. haha. All these events changed and effected the person I was to eventually become. At one point I even joined a church band, which further helped influence me to stay out of trouble. This happened around when I was 17.

I stopped playing in bands when I was 20. When I was 25, I thought I was too old to be in bands and already started missing the old days.

When I was 28, I found out a band that I liked was looking for a bass player. I bought some equipment and tried out. They took me. So, at 28, this relaunched my music ‘career’ and 5 years later, I’ve been in 4 bands since and have high hopes for a few more.

I have a wife and kid now, so time not as available as it once was, but I’m sure I’ll find some time to rock out at some point in the next few years.

Thanks for reading!
Topher Chael