Dave was at first influenced by the classic rock dinosaur guitarists such as Hendrix and then later Eddie Van Halen (for the skill), but in high school he began to listen to darker music. Briefly he listened to metal like Iron Maiden (for the speed--as you might recall he and Stephen Perkins were in a 'speed metal' band called Dizastre) and then he moved on to more "intellectual" English music (for the sound). He learned from guitarists like Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo work) and Robert Smith (The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Glove) that guitar playing didn't have to focus on skill or the technical side, but rather on simplicity of sound. Without a lot of technique Daniel Ash can play all sorts of hauntingly beautiful melodies. He is quite skilled at using an EBow and he is most likely the one to have influenced Dave on developing his own EBow skills. Dave started to learn piano when he was 6 or 7 years old. Shortly thereafter his parents divorced. Dave didn't like piano playing very much so it only lasted about 2 or 3 years. When Dave was around 11 or 12, his father bought him an acoustic guitar at a garage sale. Dave's cousin Dan (you know, of Lowen & Navarro) played guitar and showed Dave a few things. Around this time Dave, while still new to the guitar, he was at a skateboard park and could hear what he recalls as being either Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" or "Purple Haze" over the PA system. The moment that he heard that song, (yet which song it was is never consistently cited), changed his life. It was then that he decided he wanted to create those kind of sounds; that is what is importance--the spark of desire. It was then that Dave wanted to become "a rock guy". Later he would realize that the sounds he loved where coming from the same instrument he was learning. It wasn't long before Dave started playing electric guitar. This is when he began to practice constantly, to the point where he became isolated from the rest of the world. While still in the infant stages or rock guitar, Dave played in his first band, South Dakota Railroad. They mainly did covers of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. Also while mentioning this time period it can be noted that Dave went to John Thomas Dye elementary school with Eric Avery and dated Eric's (Avery of Jane's Addiction) sister Rebecca in junior high. Dave attended the well-known private Catholic Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. It was while he was in marching band, playing the triads, that he met Stephen Perkins. Together they formed a short-lived speed metal band called Dizastre (Dave guitar, Stephen drums, Rico Quevedo guitar [worked on Stephen's project Banyan's first album], a bassist and a singer) that played in local clubs for money. Dave didn't do well in school--he and Stephen were well known for their drug use. Eventually Dave was kicked out for "bad grades, long hair, and questionable ties to the LA drug community" during 11th grade. He then enrolled in public school and well, he never really attended. Thus, his classmates were the class of 1985 and he was the one who didn't graduate. (Though, later he did earn the G.E.D., a general education equivalency degree). After the education rebellion, Dave eventually moved into his own apartment in Westwood. Incidentally, he lived there the entire length of his membership in Jane's Addiction. Dave introduced Stephen to Eric's sister and Stephen began to date her. Eric met Perry Farrell through the now legendary "Jane" and he joined Perry's dwindling band Psi Com as a bassist for one hot minute. They then decided to play under the name of Jane's Addiction. Their drummer was a good friend of Eric's and was in another band at the same time. He decided to leave Jane's for the other. In need of a replacemnt, Eric's sister kept raving about her boyfriend and thus Eric brought along Stephen as the new drummer. They did have a rotating guitarist slot and the one who was there with Stephen quickly left. Stephen then raved about his friend Dave and called him, asking if he would like to jam with Jane's Addiction. Dave had seen them live before and received a tape of theirs. He liked it enough to go to Perry's house and play with the three of them. Dave started fiddling around with a riff from "Mountain Song". Thus, Jane's Addiction as the world has come to know was born in early 1986. You probably already know about Jane's Addiction. So much has been written on them that I feel there is nothing I can add. Simply, their first Farrell-Avery-Perkins-Navarro gig was in March 1986 in Los Angeles and their last gig was in September 1991 in Hawaii. Things seemed to go well for Jane's Addiction--drawing a large following in Los Angeles and eventually other major cities. They began to have a few hit singles and trickles of hype here and there, but by 1990 the seams were splitting. The members went from bare tolerance to scrapping entire studio sessions and the drug addiction was consuming much of their time. When there were even just tiny rumors of this new concept of a traveling musical festival in America called Lollapalooza (1991), it felt like every Jane's fan knew that they would break up as soon as the tour ended. Dave even announced that he would be resigning from the band at the end of the tour. The night before the tour launched however, Dave tried to end it all in his hotel room. A few days into the tour, Dave and Perry got into a fight that culminated into fists flying backstage. Tourmate Ice-T recalls one time that Dave was so furious he threw all his guitar pedals into the audience. Lollapalooza created a traveling festival that was not just of and for music, as it had international food booths and political tables. (Things like the Jim Rose Circus came about later.) Lollapallooza enabled a lot of different sounds and ideas to travel from people to people and city to city. For example, from the first year there was a second music stage with Hum and young bands like Mexico's Café Tacuba. The bands that performed often weren't familiar with their fellow touring bands' work and would hang out to listen to them perform--fast becoming fans and friends. (The bands chosen to perform on the main stage were all bands that the members of Jane's were fans of.) There was also wife swapping among the groups. Here are just some examples: Eric played bass on "Kiss Them For Me" with Siouxsie and the Banshees (Siouxsie said Eric's a great dancer!), Budgie (Banshee) played percussion on "Chip Away" (and also harmonica with the Butthole Surfers), Dave played guitar covering "All Tomorrow's Parties" with Siouxsie and the Banshees along with Jane's violin player Morgan (Budgie thinks he and Siouxsie still have one of Dave's guitars), and other spousal abuse (including onstage pileups). Eric became disillusioned with the music industry after the Jane's Addiction experience, but still wanted to continue with music and asked Dave to join him in a project. They formed Deconstruction (Eric vocals/bass, Dave guitar/vocals, Michael Murphy drums) and only recorded one album, Deconstruction, and one video, "LA Song". Deconstruction was never meant to be a lifelong project, but just a means to detoxify themselves from the after-taste of Jane's Addiction and as a way of finalizing the splitting, a good-bye as musicians. Due to disagreements, one of them being as to whether they should tour or not (Eric was against it, Dave was for it), Deconstruction deconstructed. (There's also a rumor they only had license to use the name "Deconstruction" for one album as another party possessed the copyright.) Dave had been asked to join the Red Hot Chili Peppers to help them with their 1992 Lollapalooza tour after the departure of their guitarist John Frusciante, but Dave declined because he wanted to be part of a writing process and not just play old songs. Second, Dave had just toured Lollapalooza the previous year and didn't quite feel like doing it again. Third, he was committed to the Deconstruction project. Dave was sought by other bands, all of which he declined, including Guns 'N' Roses. Finally, though, the timing was right when the Red Hot Chili Peppers asked again the following year. Dave became an official member on September 5, 1993, (Anthony Kiedis vocals, Flea bass, Chad Smith drums). Though they had already played 1 or 2 shows, it is often credited that his first gig with the Peppers was at the second Woodstock in 1994. He was so nervous that he didn't know if he could play that day. They wore costumes with a gigantic working light bulb atop their heads, (still on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada?). The light bulb suits were incredibly uncomfortable and this aided Dave in diminishing his fear because it shifted his focus to playing the song right. The Peppers soon realized the costumes were a bad idea for stage performance, removed them, and rocked, or should I say funked? Nancy Raygun September 4, 1999 20K Nancy Raygun The Whiskey 23K Nancy Raygun Los Angeles, CA 23K Dave in Nancy Raygun 17K As you may know, Dave's current musical experience (going solo) started as a side project between him and Chad Smith 1996/1997. It was known as Swallow at first (but there already is a group by that name) and then changed to Spread. In 1998, Chad opted to fully commit to the Peppers and left Spread. Dave in turn left the Peppers to pursue Spread. It turned out that there was already a group by the name of Spread so the side project became Dave's solo debut. There were several recording sessions and label changes (Warner Bros. to Sony Music under the Work imprint (which collapsed!) to Capitol Records). Dave has also created the company Spread Entertainment, Incorporated and the album, Trust No One, was releasted in 2001 under the imprint of Spread Entertainment. "Rexall", the first single, was released on May 18. The second and final single was "Hungry". There are music videos for both, but not the ones that Dave filmed while he didn't have label support. In 2002, Jane's Addiction returned to the studio to record another album. They played at major festivals throughout the world in the summer. Once again Le Noble was fired by Perry and Chris Chaney became the bassist. The album Strays was released in 2003. Also in 2003, Lollapalooza was revived and was dubbed to be the "wired" Lollapalooza due to interactive video games and cellphone quizes. Most of the lineup were Lollapalooza alumni. Now the members of Jane's Addiction say that Janes is here to stay. [Luckily for Dave all of the members of Love and Rockets live in Los Angeles now. Jane's Addiction even opened for Love and Rockets and at one show Love and Rockets joined Jane's on stage. In addition, all members of Love and Rockets contributed to Porno For Pyro's "Porpoise Head". To top that off, not only have Dave and Chad Smith of the Peppers work out at the same gym as Kevin Haskins of Love and Rockets (and Tones on Tail and Bauhaus, who also did programming for the song "So What" on Kettle Whistle), but Dave and Daniel Ash have shared the same motorcycle mechanic! Dave has also guest played on a David J song and David J helped to write a song on Strays. *whew*]