Birthdate: February 16, 1968
Birthplace: Trenton, N.J.
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Food: Sushi, mangos, ice cream
Hobbies: hitting drums, music, desert road trips, keeping my brain quiet
I was born and raised in Mercerville, N.J. My parents are Howard and Denise and I have one brother Dave. At a very early age I developed my love for music. When I was four years old my grandfather Smoky gave me a casstte player for Christmas. Along with it was a tape of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. From Bowie, I moved onto the Beatles, the Bee-Gees (hey it was 1977) then Jimi Hendrix. In 1978, I was introduced to the music of Genesis and from that moment foward my life was changed. Their music has been very influential to me over the years and continues to this day.
In the summer of 1981, another life changing event occured (other than Julielyn being born). My parents moved the family out to Concord, CA. Go west young man! For the last 24 years, I have lived in either Concord or Walnut Creek. Julielyn and I hope to live out here another 15 or 20 years before we retreat to the beautiful lands of southern Utah.
My brother Dave introduced me to Phil Corsetti we think in 1982 (the years become a blur). Amongst other things Phil was wearing a Hendrix shirt so we hit it off from the start. We soon found that we shared a common interest in music as well as the same birthday. Twenty three years later Phil is my best friend and the guitarist for Spacement. Or as Gayland would like to say Julielyn "good wife", Phil "bad wife".
During my senior year of high school Phil and I formed SYD with Doug Hatley, Dave Jones and Tim Gallagher (Spacement's current keyboardist). For almost the next 18 years of our lives we would look back on SYD as the best moment in life. Even though the band lasted for only 3 months but hey we were kids in high school with no responsibilites and playing in a rock band.
After high school, I got a job working at Tower Records. After 11 years of working there, I moved onto Sony Music at the urging of my soon to be other best friend Gayland. Tower allowed me to grow and explore the fringes of the music industry. While working there I formed a very short lived band management company Chippero Brothers. Chippero Brothers has now moved on to be the name of my side videographer business. So if you need someone to videotape you're wedding e-mail me at "video@chippero.com".
Sometime in 2002, I pulled my drumkit out of retirement and joined a band with Phil, Greg and Boon. That band would become Spacement. Of course it's nothing more than the equivilent of middle aged guys playing softball, only we play music and don't injure our knees. Thank goodness I have someone as understanding as Julielyn to let me live out my childhood fantasies. My future plans are to continue drumming for Spacement, to grow old and live happily ever after with Julielyn.
Well that's my life in a nutshell. Of course there is a lot more to the story but somethings are better left unsaid. Think for yourself, question authority and most of all Peace!
Fun fact: Phil Corsetti, one of A.J.'s bestmen and his best friends for many, many years, shares the same birthdate as A.J. only Phil is 2 years younger.
