Rockin' with Not As Famous

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Listening to a small AM radio in Boston while growing up was how Jim grew to love music. “I always loved singing and just holding a bass in my hands makes me feel relaxed. I feel at home.” Mostly self-taught, he started playing bass at 13 and started gigging at 15. He played R&B gigs emulating Jamerson, Bootsy, Verdine, Larry Graham and especially Louis Johnson. His top 3 R&B vocal influences were Donny Hathaway, Donny Hathaway, and Donny Hathaway tied with Stevie Wonder. While in Boston Jim also played in rock bands performing originals and covers. His bass playing was influenced here by Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, Billy Sheehan and pretty much any bass player that played in a Boston band. Vocal influences were Paul Rodgers, Bowie, and yes, Paul McCartney. As a teen (with a full beard and a good fake ID) he soon developed a reputation for being passionate, professional, fun loving, and a bit wild on stage. But once he heard Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Jeff Berlin, and jazz artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane he decided to leave Boston and attend Musician’s Institute in Hollywood. Within a month of arriving he began gigging in a Chicago style Blues/ R&B band and continued to play in jazz fusion, rock, funk and as many interesting opportunities as possible. Lots of touring in two very successful original bands led to playing every major club in LA from the Whisky to the Roxy. All of that experience has led him to sing and play bass today in Not As Famous. It has also led to one credo, “If you come to our show and honor us with your attention, we owe you nothing less than 100% of everything we have.”

Steve has been playing drums since the age of 14. After numerous jams with friends and one-off shows, in 1979 he joined an original progressive rock band called Fury.  He was the only member of the band who wasn't of drinking age, so during breaks from playing at clubs and bars, he had to hang out in the parking lot. In high school, Steve was taking drum set lessons in the basement of his high school, and he always got in trouble for being late to Spanish class because his drum teacher was so committed to his teaching. Steve was mostly into progressive rock, being influenced by bands like Kansas, Yes, Rush and Genesis. Later in life he gravitated towards progressive metal bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Threshold and Kamelot. Steve likes to be busy with his drumming, adding texture to music rather than just keeping the beat.  His favorite drummers include Mike Portnoy, Neil Peart, Phil Collins and Terry Bozzio.  Steve has been involved in music his entire adult life, and over the years, he's been a member of five original bands, named Fury, The Aloisa Peer Band, The Silence, Dead Planet, and The Hector Project.  In addition, he was a member of three cover bands, named Subliminal Frequency, The Others and Trainwreck, Steve admits that NotAsFamous is probably the most talented and fun bands he has ever played in.

Jeff Dole’s past is truly a mystery. Some say if you learn about Jeff’s history you will grow hair on your knuckles and constantly have stupid songs stuck in your head. Others say he took a piano lesson once and two things happened. He learned where Middle C was and learned that he has Relative Pitch - which sorta flattened out the learning curve. From there, he taught himself to play and got pretty good at it… “back in the day.”  People say that he became a legend in the studio. And you can hear that mastery not just in his playing but in the sounds he has built from scratch. Jeff might be the oldest rookie in the band, but we hear he’s taking a liking to playing out with Not As Famous. So if you end up with “My Sharona“ or “I think I Love You” stuck in your head now, you can blame Jeff.

Mike Suico has played guitar since he was 10 years old. He was taught by an uncle who had him learn Beatles tunes as well as some Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Doobie Bros, Chicago, and more. When he was in high school he took an interest in guitar players like Neal Schon, Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen, and many others on a list too lengthy to tally. Eventually it got the point to where Mike needed to hear something fresh. Like magic, he was turned onto a group called "Return to Forever.” Once he heard the tune "Romantic Warrior" for the first time it changed everything. This inspired Mike to go to music school. It was there that he was able to learn the concepts of jazz and most of all, he was able to play with other musicians like horn players and string players in a variety of styles. Learning these different styles of music made him that much more of a solid player, giving him the confidence to tackle a wide variety of music styles.