"Once...When I was 13, in Band Camp..." My Steemit Introduction
silverbackjonz·@silverbackjonz·
0.000 HBD"Once...When I was 13, in Band Camp..." My Steemit Introduction
https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/13718802_10208500320417453_4032419224488400728_n210b1.jpg Hi! My name is James Robinson, also known as siLvErbAcK jOnZ. Though I use siLvErbAcK jOnZ as my artist name, I view the name as a state of mind for something I love. For example, if you love chicken and waffles, as well you should, you have a siLvErbAcK jOnZ for them. It's like a monkey on your back...but not just any monkey, **IT'S A BIG ONE!** https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/silverback-gorilla-vs-polar-bear-13653ba7df.jpg # They Don't Get Me.. # I was born and raised in Virginia. Arlington, Va, to be specific. Though I haven't been back there in over 20 years, looking back, it was a fairly conservative thinking state. I never really felt like I fit in. My dad is Irish and my mother is African American. I was born in 1969. I'm sure at that time, biracial relationships were pretty much frowned upon. I was often the only biracial person in attendance everywhere I went. So I kind of grew up feeling different and a little self conscious. I used to ask my mom as a child, why people stared at me. She would say,"It's because you're so light". Thanks mom! That really helped... https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/uO8w3pz7e327.jpg # Dear old Dad # My dad was an alcoholic. I say was as I don't know if he's dead or alive. Since he had substance abuse issues, my mom decided not to marry him and he was never in my life. I spoke to my sobing father only one time in my life when I was about 13. Some say,"You can't miss what you never had". In this instance, I feel for me, this is true. I'm not bitter about it, as I never knew him. Thus, I've never felt the "loss". # Chuuch # Growing up, I spent most of my time in a nondenominational church. My aunt Gloria was the pastor. It was a very small congregation, as at that time, women pastors were frowned upon. My mom was the deacon. So I had to spend **HUGE** amounts of time in church. Up until the time I was about 13, I wasn't allowed to listen to anything but Christian/Gospel music. Though I love old school gospel for it's raw emotion & soul, when I turned 13 and was allowed to listen to secular music, I went **HOG WILD!** My friends listened to groups like Van Halen and Journey, while the cousins that I was close to, listened to the then budding beats of The Sugar Hill Gang. I took it all in and to this day, there's not much in music that I don't like. Something else I went hog wild on was marijuana...more on that some other time... # My First Guitar # The age of 13 was an important age for me, as you might be able to tell. I began playing guitar. I was heavily influenced by groups like Dokken, Ratt & Van Halen. Pretty much anything hard rock and metal. But the artist that made me want to play was Jimi Hendrix. He just looked **SO** cool and sounded so completely different than the gospel that I grew up listening to. Besides, all of my stoner friends loved him and I looked up to them. My mom bought be a cheap "strat" style guitar from a record store called Sam Ash that was located in Springfield Mall, in Springfield Va. I **LOVED** that guitar. I think she bought it for me as I put kite string on my tennis racket in a pathetic attempt to make my own guitar. I guess she felt sorry for me and purchased it with her tax return. We were/are **DEFINITELY** not part of the 1%, so i'm sure it was a huge sacrifice for her. Love ya mom!!! # Stevie Ray Vaughan # Fast forward about 3-4 years later and I'm still playing guitar. It was then that I discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie Ray Vaughans version of Little Wing was the first recording of his that I'd heard. Of course I'd heard Jimi's version, but when I heard Stevie's version, I thought it was an unreleased version that Jimi had recorded. I soon found out that it was SRV and not Jimi. So I got into Stevie Ray heavily. Which is when I "found myself" on the instrument. Since then, I've lost a little passion for all things Blues Rock, but there will always be a **VERY** special place in my heart for Stevie Ray Vaughan. I cried for hours when he died. Remembering that moment brings a tear to my eye as I write this introduction. I need a moment... https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/StevieRayVaughn0008ba87.jpg # Corruption # At about 16, my cousin Marcus, who'd started playing bass around the same time that I started guitar, and I formed a band with an incredible drummer named Chris Wing. Later we got a singer named Shannon Bollman & named the band Corruption. Even then, I wa a bit anti-authority, before I knew what to call it hence the band name Corruption. But I'll admit to not knowing a lot about politics at that time and it sounded cool as a band name. We played mostly covers at parties and school events. https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/34522_128811290489539_1716341_n91e19.jpg # Wedlocked Up # It was around this time that I met my ex-wife. I wasn't a virgin at the time, but she was the first person that I had an orgasm with. It was life changing as we married just a few years later. We had our son when I was 21. My ex-wife and I always argued, but I was determined to be in my sons life, unlike my dad. However, much like my father, I partied a lot & after 12 years & a possession of a controlled substance charge later, we divorced. Btw, the pos charge caused us to lose our apartment and I had to move in with the in-laws. Her dad was in the reserves & moved quite frequently. The last move was to Killeen Tx. There weren't many jobs there and an altercation between my ex-mother in-law forced me to be homeless. From there, I moved to Austin around 1995 while on probation. # What Now? # I now live in Austin Tx, with my girlfriend of 9 years. My one & only marriage kind of soured me to **"putting a ring on it"**. I've been producing music under the name siLvErbAcK jOnZ! for the last 14 years. I still play guitar everyday & I use Propellerheads Reason DAW for production. I recently started to sell some of my music on POND5, under the name Tracks On Hand (https://www.pond5.com/artist/tracksonhand#1/2064). I mainly produce old school boom bap hip hop & trap. I throw a few rock tracks in as well. I'll be posting videos from my youtube channels (https://www.youtube.com/user/Benill03, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcWqkfnSxibP1sYcx7nJZtg), as well as my music productions posted from soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/silverback-jonz/tracks). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcGTH-OICw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Aqij-1PULc https://soundcloud.com/silverback-jonz/sets/silverback-jonz-boom-bap <iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/186959140&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true"></iframe> I look forward to chatting with the steemit community about music, politics and any other interesting topics that I come across. I'm truly inspired by steemit and I hope that I and my music are well received. https://steemimg.com/images/2016/09/06/SteemitPic00076997.jpg