The Longing

Michael Wallace

Bass | Born and raised in the remarkably small town of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Michael moved to near-by Green Bay to attend the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he 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 would 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 a moody, classical-tinged progressive rock feel.

Determined to find a town boasting more than 100,000 residents, Michael and his brother moved to Los Angeles with their band Worlds and is very happy to still be a Southern California resident. “No snow shoveling!” Other bands that Michael has played with in LA include: Baraka, DeeDee O’Malley, The Army of Love and The Jeffcoat Band.

Michael owns and operates When In Rome Studios where he produces, engineers and masters music for CD and audio for film. His classical musical background, as well as his engineering education from Los Angeles Recording Workshop, afford him the unique expertise required to produce and engineer a wide variety of musical genres from orchestral to punk and everything in between.

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

An avid sports fan, Michael’s favorite teams are the LA Lakers and the Green Bay Packers.
Also a weekend-warrior athlete, Michael plays tennis and basketball 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 his original studio burned to the ground in the LA Station fire of 2009. Now he attempts to keep weeds from taking over a manicured lawn and washes even more wine glasses.

Best Gig, “Ever striving to be the man in the moment, my best gig was our last gig at The Viper Room in Hollywood. It felt great to be rockin’ the house with this awesome band and to celebrate afterward with fabulous friends and family.”

Worst Gig, “Playing classical guitar at my friends’ wedding. I had just taken up the classical guitar not long before and it was my first public solo performance. Being far more comfortable as “just” the bass player in a group, I got horribly nervous. My hands were shaking and I barely made it through the songs. It was an outdoor wedding and it took all of my willpower not to run off into the woods and hide after the 1st song. 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 three 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 career in music.

“If I weren’t a musician, I’d probably go into aviation. A lot of people in my family are involved 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://www.myspace.com/tplumbdrums | http://www.jamieallensworth.com | http://www.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

James Kloeppel

Lead guitar | “There’s never been another option other than succeeding. If you want something, you’re the only one standing in the way of your success. This has been my passion since I was a child and I’ve had more than my share of dreams come true.”

Born in Columbia, Maryland, James moved to St. Croix, Indiana and began playing guitar and saxophone at the age of 9. Playing in the school band, the marching band, the high school band and the drum line, James graduated in 2006 from Perry Senior High, receiving the John Philip Sousa award.

Making the break for Hollywood that same year, he attended the Musicians Institute, graduating with high honors in 2008. After graduation he toured with WTE, a hard rock outfit from Los Angeles, performing at the Riverbend festival in Chattanooga, TN with ZZ Top and the Black Crowes.

An avid sports fan, and with a German born father, James played soccer early on, following the European leagues as well as playing traditional American baseball.

Performing with the Mutual Cry, James toured Mexico City along with acts featuring Dave Navarro and Tommy Lee. He cites his favorite gig, though, in Marietta, GA in a club called the Three Bears Café. “There were absolutely no monitors but the energy in the club was off the charts. The show was awesome and I ended the night partying after the bar “closed” with everyone there, one of the best experiences I can remember.”

Growing up in a very poor area and at a young age losing his grandfather, an accomplished musician in Germany, James knew that he wanted to make him proud, following in his footsteps.

“If you want it, you make it happen.”