Moderators

Getting To Know The Moderators

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the doors of GMC? Where do the moderators go for there secret discussions? A Cave? A Labyrinth? Or perhaps they walk amongst you in disguise....Whatever the case may be, if you ever wanted to know more about the Moderators, feel free to keep reading!

Andrew Cockburn

Musical Background - Born on the 27th of February 1967 in Lincolnshire UK, and shortly after moving to Cheshire where he grew up, Andrew became interested in music at an early age. Even before he knew what it was all about he felt a fascination with guitars, pianos and other instruments, no doubt fueled by his uncle who would play him Buddy Holly songs on his guitar. At the age of 8, he successfully convinced his parents that he would die without a guitar and he began to teach himself initially, then took lessons at school, learning nylon strung classical guitar. Used to performing in school bands and concerts from an early age, Andrew also began to learn some theory along with his technique studies, and also took piano lessons for a while. Whilst at school, Andrew studied Music at 'O' Level.

At the age of 14, Andrew took an interest in Electric guitar. but lacking any formal training, applied classical guitar like techniques to his playing, and to this day can play lead guitar using classical fingering techniques. After the usual crop of high school bands, Andrew resolved to teach himself electric guitar properly, and picked up a pick and managed to teach himself a Legato heavy pentatonic style. Unaware of the progress being made by the likes of YGM and his contemporaries, Andrew languished in a Gilmouresque world of slower more feel oriented licks.

Later on, Andrew Joined a band called "Wonderful Life" which did a few gigs around the Birmingham UK area, and played a weird Jazz/Funk mixture of songs. This faded away and was replaced by a recording collaboration with the Lead singer of Wonderful Life. Throughout this period, Andrew concentrated on recording techniques, arrangement and songwriting. For a while, the guitar became an adjunct of this process, and little progress was made.

Finally, after moving to the USA in 2006, away from other distractions, Andrew once again ignited a passion for guitar playing and shortly after discovered GMC where he has been happily ensconced ever since.

Personal Interests - Andrew spends most of his spare time playing guitar and tinkering with his recording studio. He enjoys electronics and has made his own Tube Amplifier. A fan of hard core physics, and SciFi and Fantasy, can often be found reading books from that genre. Other passtimes that Andrew has enjoyed over the course of his lifetime so far include Archery, Medieval Reenactment, Astronomy.

Andrew is married with a cat called Jack.

Tony Miro

Musical background Tony was born April 2nd 1963 - narrowly missing April Fools Day - in a military hospital in the Middle East and has come to reside in Spain via a number of countries but spent much of his youth in Liverpool. His earliest attempts at a musical career lead only to a trip to the Headmaster's Office and a ban from music class for asking a question about poly-rhythms.

He originally wanted to play the sax but his mother couldn't afford one and so he turned to guitar. He got his first - an Ibanez Silver Series Stratocaster - when he was 15 and attempted to learn the solo to The Only One's 'Another Girl Another Planet' but was foiled because he hadn't learnt how to tune the thing first. So began a hectic few years that reached its zenith in both a recording contract and too much time spent in recording studios. (Not that great as every scouse musician that could hold a pen was then being signed to a record label!)

All of this came to little as Tony listened to his mother's advice and abandoned music for University and a 'proper job'. That is until he hit his mid life crisis. Which is why we now find him still trying to tune his guitar and still failing to play a decent version of 'Another Girl...' He also spends an inordinate amount of time recording but rarely finishing his musical compositions.

Musically Tony has diverse taste that ranges from free jazz through to hardcore. His favorite guitar player is probably Allan Holdsworth.

Personal interests Tony's interests range from modern 20th Century Philosophy (Bataille, Derrida, Blanchot, Levinas) through to music recording and production. He has a wife, daughter, three cats and a rabbit and 'lives in a house (a very big house) in the country'. He earns a living as a part time University lecturer, researcher and publisher and undertakes recording and mixing contracts and trains people in recording and production for radio.

Micke M.

Born in 1969 and started late with the guitar in 1990 after finding one in a closet at work, nothing better to do but practice this new found instruments during nightshifts. Finaly bought it from the guy who owned it and who had stopped playing. A Takaharu with 0,8 seconds of sustain but being a newbie he thought that's how it was supposed to be. The guitar came with a Peavey backstage amp, a solid state from the 80's.

In school and child hood he started on flute in -77 and moved on to clarinet which was played for a few years until switching into the electric organ. He tried to learn to play the fiddle and accordion aswell since they were instruments his dad and grand dad mastered.

The first records heard were some from Elvis, CCR and a few other of that sort, that his dad kept. The first record he owned was Judas Priest - Point of Entry which was followed by a lot of british heavy metal after.

Hobbies have shifted a lot from cars, scuba diving, motorcycles, lifting weights, boxing, fishing, stock market - where most have lasted for a few years before moving on to a new one. But music has always been there ever since child hood.

Band, same one since -96, only shift was in bass players of which they had a four of. Rock music, covers have been the reportoar since but this in 2008 they started on their own material. Was in a Dream Theater cover band for about a year.

Gear Building a guitar at present. [br]Hughes & Kettner 100W Switchblade [br]Peavey Classic 30W [br]Peave backstage [br]Line6 Toneport [br]Line6 POD X3 Live [br]Charvel from the 90's, changed from S-S-S into H-S-H [br]Ibanez 320, under constant rebulding. [br]Epiphone LP [br]Squire Stratocaster [br]Acoustic Phil

Personal details, Married, three boys. Lives in a house.

The Uncreator

Musical Background: Born on January 31, 1990. The Uncreator (Real name Brett Windnagle) was first introduced into the world of guitar at the age of 13. When he hears Iron Maiden's Album "Dance Of Death", he knew he must learn to play guitar. He got his first guitar from a girlfriends closet (no joke) and since then he has continued his epic quest of guitar dominance. He started playing guitar in hopes of being able to create music like Iron Maiden, And as most know, Iron Maiden is Brett's favorite band, and when he heard the album "Brave New World", he suddenly wished to create music as good as this, And began to push himself even harder. As his musical interest progressed so to did his guitar interests, taking a big interests in instrumental artists such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, and Damir Simic-Shime, he began to learn different styles of music from Blues, To Classical. Late in 2006 he would discover a new source of inspiration and a new teacher, Kristofer Dahl.

Brett joined GMC in hopes of overcoming his troubles with some guitar techniques such as sweeping, and within a few months, he had progressed like never before. He spent countless hours on Pavel's sweeping lessons, and as more and more instructors joined, he began spending more and more time on the GMC Community. His main styles of guitar playing are Metal and Blues, And although many take the mysterious "Uncreator" as nothing but a common Metal Head, There is much more to him. He thoroughly enjoys the blues, jazz, opera, rock n' roll, classical, instrumental, cultural and many more genres of music.

Personal Interests/ Background: Well of course you can guess by now Guitar and Music are the main interests, but besides these, He also enjoys reading books, from such authors as Richard Matheson, Edgar Allan Poe, John Marco, and R.A. Salvatore. He is also a film buff, from Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy, Comedy, and even Romance. He was also born an avid Gamer, and a big fan of many games such as Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Half-Life, F.E.A.R., Call Of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, and most of all....Final Fantasy (He really spent way too much time on this as a child.) Lastly and most certainly not least, he loves art. Since birth he has been amazed at how people create worlds and people with paints and pencils, His most loved artists are Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Frank Fraztta, H.R. Giger, and Dorian Cleavenger.

Chris

Smells

Musical Background: Born June 30th 1970. Smells (Real name Chris Evans) started his musical journey at the age of 9 being introduced to the Trombone by his father, after a year of the Trombone he became bored and desperatly wanted to learn how to play the drums. From the age of 10 till 15 years of age he recieved private drum tuition from a retired drummer of the BBC Orchestra, from the age of 13 to 14 he was a local youth Orchestra`s main drummer.

Smells parents moved to a quiet Kent village (UK) in 1985 where drum practice in the garage caused non stop complaints from the neighbours, Smells now "put off" seeked a less annoying hobby (something he could "turn down"), he`d been given a guitar a few years earlier by an older cousin, he bought an amp and began trying to learn songs "by ear" as he had no idea where to start, he eventually picked up some books and videos and began the actual process of learning to play properly. He then used his influences (Vivian Campbell,Gary Moore,Adrian Vandenberg to name just a few) to develop his soloing and his own style.

He joined his first rock band at 16 and got his first taste of gigging, he then joined/formed a semi proffesional Heavy metal Band, playing around the rock circuit in London (UK) after many failures with record companies and management the band split, Smells carried on playing in a duo with his brother on Bass Guitar around local Pubs playing light rock cover songs. Through the years to date Smells has played in various bands, mainly heavy rock influenced (with one exception, a working mens club band!) and finally September 2007 he discovered GMC.

His playing had been put on "hold" for a while due to the birth of his daughter, but since discovering GMC has played every night almost without fail.

He doesnt class himself as particularily good, but a reasonable intermediate guitarist with a good ear, in the short space of time he has been with GMC he feels that confidence in his playing has grown and is ready and willing to tackle as many challenges as he can.

Personal Interests/ Background: Smells doesnt have a huge list of interests outside of playing his guitar, Smells enjoys most forms of motorsport, especially formula 1, he isnt a huge fan of online games but does have a weakness for World of Warcraft, which he has now played on and off for several years.