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Bio

Place and date of birth: Milan (Italy), November 9th, 1967

First instrument played: My first instrument was a drumset that I got at the age of 5. I tried to recreate the drum patterns I heard on Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple records. Later on, at the age of 14, I got my first acoustic guitar, and a couple of years later I embraced a bass guitar for the first time.  It was love at first touch!

First record bought: I sincerely don'tremember. In the Early Seventies, I used to listen to The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Aerosmith.  I learned a lot from those records, and I still listen to them

First concert attended: Milan was the place where one of the biggest hyppie events was held, namely the 'Festival Pop', where some of the biggest italian prog-rock and pop bands used to play. Luckily enough, my parents used to take me to this festival to see some of the biggest bands around 1973/74, including PFM and Area.

Main influences: Beyond the bands already mentioned, the punk revolution and the British rock invasion of the late Seventies and early Eighties brought my attention to new sounds. Bands like The Police, The Alarm, Clash, Killing Joke, The Cult were among my favourites.

First concert played: In 1988 I was asked by some friends to join them to play the bass, 'cause their bassist player quit just a few weeks before an important contest gig.  By that time, I was playing in a cover band as a drummer, but the bass sound was something already pulsing through my veins.  It went pretty well, despite having just a few weeks to learn the tracks and officially become a bassist player.

Bands: I played in so many bands that I can hardly remember them all.  In over 20 years, I took part in many different projects crossing different styles, from R&B cover bands playing tracks by Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Otis Redding, to funky vibes playing original compositions; from grunge bands to italian pop and dance tracks.  Check out my "Bands" section to read more.

Releases: A 4-track cd was released in 1996 under the name Street Tease, now available on iTunes, self-titled and released on an indie label.  A single on EMI was released in 2001 under the nickname "Outmean Rick." It was titled "Melodia," and was licensed in the USA, UK, Poland, Korea, with airplay in many other countries.

Collaborations and tv appearances: In addition to being 'televised' with some of the bands I played with, including my very first live appearance in 1988,  I was asked to join some international acts (Joe Cocker, Alex Lloyd, Jahmelia, Geri Halliwell) to perform on tv for some of the biggest Italian music shows. Take a look at the "Video" section.

Related projects: Beyond being a musician, I work in the music business as import label manager.  Occasionally, I write articles for some music magazines. I run Stewart Copeland's (the Police drummer) official website, and I wrote a book about The Police.

What I'm working at now: What I'm working at now: I continue working on several projects, demoing new tracks, co-producing new artists, arranging tracks, and recording new material. I run Low-Cost Records (iTunes distribution only), and will be soon on stage again. Come back and visit the "News" section
 

Giovanni Pollastri, March 2009

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