The Longing

Michael Wallace

Bass | Born and raised in the remarkably small town of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Michael moved to Green Bay where he attended the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and received a BA in music performance. Michael collaborated with his professors to create a classical performance degree on electric bass and his senior recital featured a bass transcription of the famous Bach cello suites.

Michael began playing the bass at the age of 14 when his guitarist brother David created a band and needed a bass player. “And I thought it might be easy!” His early bass playing influences were Geddy Lee of Rush and Chris Squire of Yes. Michael and David played, composed and recorded in three bands together; Prodigy, Worlds and Karma Farm. All three of the bands share the edgy, classical-tinged progressive rock feel.

Determined to find a town boasting more than 2901 residents, Michael and his brother moved to LA with their band Worlds. Some of the bands that Michael has played with in LA include: Baraka, DeeDee O’Malley, The Army of Love, The Jeffcoat Band and Laura Bradley.

Michael owns Stonyvale Recording Studios where he produces, engineers and masters music and audio for film. His classical musical background as well as his engineering education from Los Angeles Recording Workshop affords him the unique expertise in producing and engineering a wide variety of musical genres from orchestral to punk.

Some of his musical clients include: The Manhattan Transfer, Vertical Horizon, Unwritten Law, No Doubt, Chris Isaac, Live, Laura Bradley, Sublime, Weezer and Sting. His film credits include: Benny Bliss and the Disciples of Greatness (currently in theatrical release), National Lampoon’s Cattle Call, Swing, The Tempest, Wild Turkey, Changing Hearts and My X-Girlfriend’s Wedding Reception.

An avid sports fan, Michael supports the LA Lakers and the Green Bay Packers. Also a weekend-warrior athlete, Michael plays tennis, basketball, runs and will hike just about any mountain he encounters. His former hobbies included, “Tending to the demands of nature surrounding my cabin in the Angeles National Forest and washing wine glasses.” The cabin, and the original Stonyvale Studios burned to the ground in the recent LA Station fire. He washes considerably more wine glasses at present.

Best gig: “Opening for Dionne Warwick in the Miami arena! We had an entire locker room as our private dressing room. The promoter sent us 6 dozen roses and 10 bottles of rum. None of which you can take onboard the plane.” Worst gig: “Playing classical guitar at a friend’s wedding. I had just taken up the classical guitar for this wedding and it was my first public solo performance. I destroyed the song and of course it was videotaped. And they are going to watch it every anniversary. Forever.”

Tom Plumb

Drums | Born and raised in Sacramento California, Tom began taking lessons at the age of 10. “I’ve always wanted to play drums, my parents told me that as early as age 3 I was fascinated by drumming.”  He participated in school music programs and played snare drum for the Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps.  He moved to Fresno where he was awarded a music scholarship to CSU.  Tom received his bachelor’s degree in business before moving to LA in 2007 to pursue a career in music.

“If I weren’t a musician, I’d probably go into aviation.  A lot of people in my family are involved in one area of aviation or another.  My brother is a pilot, and works as an aircraft mechanic with my dad.  We grew up watching my dad fix and build things.  Whether it’s putting a roof on the house, or doing an overhaul on the family car, he does it all.  It really instilled in me early on the value of hard work, and attention to detail.”

Tom was a snare drum instructor for both the Sacramento Freelancers (WGI drumline) and the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (DCI) from Wisconsin.  He currently teaches private lessons, as well as community drum classes at a few local city colleges.  He also plays and records with numerous bands, including the award winning Orange County based funk band Allensworth, fronted by Jamie Allensworth.

In addition to the bands he plays with, Tom is a gifted freelance musician. With an appreciation and passion for playing “all kinds of music”, he accepts gigs and session work from a large cross-section of artists in southern California where his diverse talents are in high demand.

A basketball fan, but ever the fair sportsman, he has no favorite team.  That said, he does have a passion for classic cars, “I love classic muscle cars, especially my Firebird! I’ve had it since a year out of high school.  I always wanted a Camaro – my dream car for years when I was younger (and to a large degree still is!).  But one day I was driving around my neighborhood and came across a 1971 Firebird for sale. It only had 46,000 miles on it, and all the options I wanted.  I’ve spent a lot of time in that car over the years. And I love it to death!”

http://myspace.com/tplumbdrums | http://jamieallensworth.com | http://myspace.com/jamieallensworth

Yury Anisonyan

Rhythm guitarist | Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Yury moved to Los Angeles at the age of 13. He studied the violin for 7 years at the music conservatory in Armenia and attended Burbank High School where he began playing the guitar at the age of 14. Drawn to rock ‘n’ roll early on, his favorite bands and musical influences include: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, Paganini, Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Michael Jackson, Portishead, Deftones, Mars Volta and Tool. Yury calls three bands his own: Void, Plagued and The Creins, and is the owner of Optimum Sound Recording Studios in Burbank, CA with partner Rob Tarango.

As a producer and engineer, Yury has worked with and recorded Natalie Imbruglia, Lynch Mob, Katie Costello, Souls of We, Fireball Ministry, My Ruin, Rock Kills Kid as well as Members Of Foreigner, Dokken, Brides of Destruction, Fight, Sebastian Bach, Disturbed, Stone Sour, Soulfly, Dio, Systematic, Evanescence, Cold, WWIII, Chicago.

Yury credits basketball (The Lakers!) and tattoos as his hobbies. “I got into tattoos at the age of 19 when I worked at a tattoo parlor on Hollywood Boulevard. To me, tattoos are a form of self-expression and art. I think it’s fascinating that people have been getting tattoos since ancient times. It’s like having your life written and drawn on your body.”

Best gig: “It was in Italy. I was 11 years old and played violin on a stage in front of 10,000 people. Goes down as one of the best nights of my life. Worst gig: “Worst gig was at a dive in Northern California where the show turned to a brawl. 150 people began fighting at the same time. I wound up with a broken nose and 2 black eyes. We were never sure how the fight started since we were playing, but the next thing I knew my best friend was getting pummeled and at that point I just jumped in..”

http://optimumsound.net | http://myspace.com/optimumsoundstudios | http://facebook.com/yuryanisonyan

Roy Lev-Ari

Lead guitar | Born and raised in Kenya, in the capitol Nairobi, Roy studied at an Italian school before attending an English high school. In addition to English, Roy speaks Italian and Swahili. He attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and received his Bachelors in music performance. His talents have been recognized by prestigious companies such as Peavey amplifiers, Seymour Duncan pickups, In-Tune picks, http://Guitar-Cable.com, Sit Strings and Mental Case, all who proudly endorse his musical activities.

Roy’s experiences range from playing sold out auditoriums with The Nairobi Jazz Orchestra to touring the United States with various rock and metal artists. He is fluent in folk, blues, metal, pop, jazz, classical, funk, rock, fusion and world music genres, and teaches various techniques from finger picking, plectrum techniques, rhythm comping, strumming, guitar riffs, soloing, composition and improvisation. Ever the busy musician, Roy also serves as a booking agent for various U.S. touring bands.

At 12, Roy knew that he wanted to be a guitarist. “I owe my passion for music and guitar to a ballad written by one of the greatest metal bands. I began to take music seriously when I heard Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”. I listened to that song over and over and over. I also play sitar. I have been studying and playing the sitar for the past six years with sitar guru Bashrat Kahn. My favorite musical artist would have to be Opeth.”

Roy has played with The Nairobi Jazz Orchestra, Hiss Of Atrocities, The God, John Hirst Projects, Andrea Balestra Blues Band, Jimmy Kachulis World Music Ensemble, Jade Ross, Myriad of Eyes, Osiaris, ICC (Italian Cultural Center) Orchestra, ISK Jazz Orchestra, Luigi 5, Zach Singer Band, Roulette Trio, Mad Dog Classic Rock cover band and The ISK Variety Orchestra.

“I left Kenya because there were very limited opportunities for an aspiring musician. But there is nothing I don’t miss. The nature and the pace of life are a very special thing in Kenya and I can’t seem to find that feeling anywhere else. That and the fact that here in the US, with one dollar you can buy one Coca-Cola. In Kenya, with one dollar you can buy five.”

A sports fan of a different breed, Roy says, “My hobby – or should I say my religion – is football, but not the American one, I mean the one that really counts which is AC Milan from Italy!”

Best gig: “There are many great shows I’ve been fortunate to play, like the Key Club in LA. I’m so glad I got to play there because if you’ve never had the opportunity to play there, you never will. They’ve closed down. In Bozeman, Montana I played to an enormous packed house, full of screaming fans for the band I was touring with.” Worst gig: “Shreveport, Louisiana. The drummer and another guitar player wound up in a huge fight with the singer (who was drunk through the entire show). We had a big crowd that night and the singer completely messed up the set.”

http://www.mysypace.com/royguitar7 | http://www.myspace.com/roylevari