George Muto Jr.
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Van Muto Dives Down
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When you pop George Muto Jr.'s CD-R into your CD player, you'd be excused for thinking you just discovered the lost Van Halen instrumental tracks (and for thinking you wouldn't mind being able to play like this!) Then you'd remember you read somewhere that Eddie pretty much said he liked the band thing too much, and was always going to work with a throat man of some kind - so it couldn't be the long lost VH tapes. So maybe we have here the instrumentals that Eddie would have recorded - if indeed he had any interest in doing so. Truthfully, his signature squeals, dive bombing, prodigious tapping, symmetrical runs, harmonic pinches, whammy dives, and even attitude are all over these four tracks - pretty cool stuff, since we're not expecting Eddie to produce the same kind of material himself, whatever his reasons.
George picked up the guitar at the age of 18 and remembers going to one guitar lesson - where he learned a scale and then promptly took it from there. Over the years he's played in a number of cover bands where he began to introduce his own original music, but it was always with a singer. In his most recent project, Muto, the instrumentals were really a happy accident. With all the drama of finding a singer, the music evolved to a point where the guitar replaced the vocal and he never looked back. Accompanying George on the bass, Joe Lanasa's melodic style of playing has been the perfect compliment to the instrumental mix. As a guitar player whose influences range from Robin Trower to Jimmy Page and Van Halen, this has definitely been an unexpectedly fulfilling experience.
Muto would like someday to acquire professional representation. As he states, "Bottom line: it's all about loving what you do and having fun."
MP3 Songs
Mean Machine
Secret Life
Contact Information
George Muto Jr.
Westchester County, NY
United States
E-mail:
George Muto Jr.
Web site:
www.myspace.com/georgemutomusic
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Gunter Ostendorp
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Teen Power Thrash Instrumentals
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Not sure if it's such a great idea to warn the listener to "forgive the recording quality", since it leads to loading the CD-R and a quick covering of the ears. OK, so Gunter Ostendorp's submission has demo-quality production values - but it's serviceable, and is a perfectly fine tool to showcase his developing thrash talents. Ostendorp is only fifteen, but his guitar abilities are already at the point where a lot of metal bands would be happy to have him. His 7-string solos are interesting, have a point to them, and are, at times, shredded to the point of exhilaration. Ostendorp also mentioned the songs were written with a singer in mind, but the band didn't have a vocalist yet. Maybe that's unnecessary (unless the vocalist is really the best musician in the band), since these tracks seem to work, for the most part, without one anyway. Best not ruin them with gnarly singing.
Gunter started playing at the age of 12, first on bass (to be like Mike Starr from Alice In Chains), then switching to guitar on the advice of his older brother. He has been playing for three years now, and currently takes lessons with Bob Margolis. Gunter recorded the tracks for his demo on a laptop computer, using Audacity, doing all the instruments himself. In the summer of 2004, he and drummer Sean Heintzelman started jamming; soon they formed a band called Knossis. Bassist and singer Nick Renshaw was recruited soon after, and it remained a 3-piece band until rhythm guitarist Justin McMillan was recruited in February of 2006. Rehearsals started with this line up, then Heintzelman was replaced with Alex Dewey.
Ostendorp's future plans include getting as good as he can on guitar, drums and bass, and trying to write the best songs he can. He would like to have a career in music, hopefully touring the world and putting out albums.
MP3 Songs
Blur
Sideways Glance
Contact Information
Gunter Ostendorp
8206 Slippery Rock Way
Laurel, MD 20723
United States
E-mail:
Gunter Ostendorp
Web site:
www.myspace.com/knossis
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