Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Vivi Rama received six years of classical music training before she started playing bass in music school. V’s love of music has taken her to live and work in cities as varied as Paris; Madrid; NYC; Burlington, Vermont, and now Los Angeles. She has performed with Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) for his release "Songs about Girls" (Interscope Records). She has also been asked to perform with Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls) and cut a track for her single, "Baby Love" (Interscope Records). She has also toured and recorded with Macy Gray. Other artists V has performed with include: The Floacist (Floetry); Mario (J Records); Il Divo, Howard Hewett, Alana Davis , Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue), Klymaxx feat. Cheryl Cooley and Nikki Flores. V was featured on the 2007 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, and the 2007 European MTV Awards in Munich, Germany with Will.i.am and Nicole Scherzinger. Other television and promotional appearances include: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, David Letterman Show, Jimmy Kimmel Show, The Ellen Show, Virgin Megastore in store appearances, several VIP private performances in Los Angeles and London (Will.i.am) and more. In Buenos Aires, she has performed with such icons as Celeste Carballo , Fabiana Cantilo , and enjoyed a high level of Argentinian national success with the all-female rock band Carmelas. Across all styles and genres of music, she is known for her oozy, thick bass lines which hold the songs together - earning her the nicknames “glue” and “jelly” from bandmates and fans. V enjoys a career as an internationally known, and sought out bass player for live touring and recording. V has been interviewed for the Bass Player Magazine September 2008 issue. V has also been recently featured in the Aguilar Artist Spotlight.

An Israeli native, Erez Ginat embarked on his journey to reach the world through his rhythmic talents at 21 years old. He traveled to Los Angeles, CA in 1999 and achieved success as a founding member of the Wil Seabrook band(Later to be Six Foot Halo), which was signed by Maverick Records. They toured nationwide opening for such acts as; The Dave Matthews Band, Chris Isaak, John Mellencamp, Billy Idol and many more. They've performed on MTV, VH1 and at many festivals worldwide.

Erez has expanded his resume and experience working with such acts as Tamia for the network UPN. He's toured worldwide with native american artist Joy Harjo and nationwide with persian artists Muhammad and Habibi. Erez was also chosen to perform in one of Elton John's music videos. In his studio, Erez has performed and engineered for "Port Authority" on Inner Dream Records, two full CD's for Kelly Clarkson guitarist Danny Weissfeld, as well as music for Activision Games' Spiderman III to name a few. He produced a Noah Pharan (Israeli Artist) remix of the number one hit, "Don't Mess With Me" with fellow producer Danny Manor, and together launched L.A.'s underground electronic smash success Adrenaline. Erez also worked as musical director for such artist's as; Natalia Lesz (EMI Poland) and Brig Feltus (Neo Rock). Erez now finds himself drumming for Hillary Duff, of which, it has been an incredible journey for him to be a part of. Erez is also a facilitator for the TRAP program lead by Eddie Tudury. Currently, Erez lives in Los Angeles.

I always find myself humming melodies. I pass by the ice cream truck and the next thing I know, I’m humming Tchaikovsky (but with the sound of that terrible, distorted speaker being the star of the humming orchestra). Those special sounds that we all hear everyday can become part of my palette for the songs that I create. Maybe I incorporate an ice cream truck lick, or maybe I choose a grittier way to say something pretty. The only problem with humming melodies is that even after an evening recording session, I’m still going to be humming the damn ice cream truck tune.
When I was four years old, I went into the den where my father had been practicing the piano and began playing what he had just finished working on. As the story goes, he peeked into the room and just said, “I’m in deep shit.” He started lessons for me the next day.
I attended school at California Institute of the Arts where I was able to learn from the great bass player Charlie Haden. I also have performed with Joe LaBarbera, Larry Koonse, and even the harmonically challenging Waddada Leo Smith (formerly of the Chicago Art Ensemble).
After leaving Cal Arts, I started the school of the street. Having been a player for many years with every style of band under the sun (from straight ahead jazz to country to pop to Latin music) I found that I had a knack for communicating with artists, which translated into some wonderful songwriting and producing experiences. Red Loquita - Salsa/kitschy Latin, Superkarma – New Age/World/Latin, Nate LaPointe – Alt Country, Shira Myrow – Singer/Songrwriter, and Roxy Especial – Latin music with pop song forms (and my wife’s band!) are all examples of my work and can be found online. In addition to these artists, I have also composed music for specific scenes in movies as well as underscoring commercials for eHarmony and the Hillsdale shopping center.
With all of this music being created, I was afforded the opportunity to build my own recording studio, which I used to record my ‘solo’ debut. The album is called “One Time Out Of Ten,” The title track is a song about the calm before the storm – how nine times out of ten, I can keep my cool and take the high road when life is challenging, but there is always that one time when I will break down and start throwing things. It’s a tantrum song. Each song on my album chronicles a moment in my life over the last five years, and I had a blast framing each song musically. I arranged a string quartet for a few tunes, oboe trio for another – even tympani for a ballad.

I haven’t found a specific use for an ice cream truck playing Tchaikovsky, but I hope to someday.

"I was born in 1974 in Beaumont, Texas. Don't look; it's not on the map. If there's a spot on this planet that's farthest from the sun you'll find Beaumont just past that. At least that's what I thought when I was growing up. It was actually a quiet city with a lot of people who had a true love for music. I started taking lessons when I was 13 after two of my friends and I decided to start a band. We didn't have a drop of musical knowledge between the three of us but it seemed like the coolest way to get into the talent show. As it turned out we never entered the talent show because once we were in a band we were way too cool for talent shows. My influences at that time were truly groundbreaking bands such as Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Whitesnake . . . the list goes on and on. Luckily, the bands that MTV was spoon feeding me didn't do any permanent damage. I continued taking lessons and playing with high school friends, and by the time I was 17 the band I was in started writing its own music. We recorded five songs and submitted them to a magazine contest. We were sure that the contest would propel us into fame and fortune. As I am writing this in a 1 bedroom apartment in Valley Village, CA you can probably guess the outcome of the contest.

After I graduated from high school, I moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. I never declared a major and I had absolutely no direction. Fortunately, my hometown band mates made the move to Austin the following year and we started playing under the name Sunflower. Hippies? Perhaps. I quit college after my second year and we started playing full time. My influences at this time had shifted to rock bands like Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, The Black Crowes and Blind Melon to name a few. And I finally discovered Led Zeppelin – those guys made a huge impact on me during that time. We had a good bit of success around Texas. We recorded 2 CD's under our own label and toured nonstop for nearly 4 years. During that time we played in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana opening for bands like 311, The Nixons, The Violent Femmes, Vertical Horizon, Better Than Ezra, and even Def Leppard – nope, it's not a misprint. We even landed a spot on the Warped Tour . . . for one date. Hey, there are no small parts, only small actors . . . or something. We called it quits after exhaustion from playing the same clubs over and over again set in, and girlfriends started to take precedence in our lives.

At this point I returned to school at UT and enrolled in the Civil Engineering program to study transportation design. Why? There's a long answer but I forgot most of it. Maybe all those years of traveling around on bad roads worked its way into my subconscious. I continued to play music with former band mates and other friends in Austin while getting my degree. I finally graduated in December of 2001 (my parents were so proud) and moved to Los Angeles to start my career.

Once in LA, I met Brian Kahanek through a mutual friend from Texas while he was recording his first CD, Real Life. I wasn't playing at the time (I was busy trying to be a responsible engineer) but that all changed when his bass player was unable to make a show. Brian asked me to fill in for the show. After that, I started filling in occasionally and over the next year Brian and Dustin and I started playing more and more often. There was a definite chemistry there and my place in the band was finally cemented when we started writing music together. Over the next two years we wrote and recorded the music that became Suicide King. As far as my current influences? It's all over the place these days from Thelonius Monk all the way across the spectrum to Tool, but I still love Led Zeppelin. I recently discovered Motown and the bass player for most of the label's music, James Jamerson. A truly amazing artist that I wish I would have paid attention to years ago. And finally, if I had to give a bit of advice to young musicians it would be: don't ever listen to people who act like they know everything about music, soak up everything you can, and be open to change because life will change whether you want it to or not and sometimes the change you don't want to make is exactly the change you need to make – in life and in music. But don't listen to me – I think I know everything."

"1975. I was five years old. Leedo Shuffle by Boz Skaggs. From the time I first heard that silky groove by master drummer Jeff Pocaro I was hooked. I didn't know it then, but music was about to become a lifelong obsession. After moving with my family to Santa Cruz, California, in 1977, I spent my adolescent and teenage years surfing classic waves, playing football and jamming with my best friend Steve in the family garage. Although school, football and surfing took up most of my available time, the drums were never far from my mind. Epic garage jams to the music of Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Metallica and other 80's hard rockers only served to increase my appetite for drumming. My first live gig in college was with a cover band that myself and some friends pieced together…we named ourselves after the method of payment for that first gig…"Free Beer". While at U.C. Berkeley, I dove into the local music scene listening to awesome bands such as The Berkeley Chill Factor, Primus, Blu-chunks, Missing Link, The JFK, The Fabulous Hedgehogs and many others. The one thing all these bands had in common were incredible drummers, and listening to these bands night after night was the beginning of the technical side of my musical education. In 1995 I recorded drum tracks for my first record with my band, Heavy Petting Zoo. A year later I was fortunate enough to be part of a group with Alex Skolnick called the Skol-Patrol, which featured Micheal Manring on bass. While my time with that group was brief (a handful of shows and an EP), I learned a lot about what it means to be a true professional musician. Over the next 2 years I gigged and recorded with bands such as Chrissy Mclean and Hoe, Mamalovdus and the Freaks of Nature. By 1999, I landed in sunny Southern California and began searching for my next gig. I played a few gigs here and there, but never really found a band that I truly wanted to be in. Lucky for me I didn't have to wait too long. Brian Kahanek and I met while recording tracks for one of those no money-no publishing sessions (cue the groan). While that group was short lived, our friendship and mutual musical interests have kept us busy writing, recording…and generally rocking for almost 7 1/2 years. Currently, we have 2 records out, Real Life and Suicide King. The latter was written and recorded with the newest member of the group, none other than the master of low end, bass player Sam Daleo. As a side note, a few years back I became increasingly frustrated with the skyrocketing price of drums and the length of time it took to get a custom kit. This led me to start my own company, CCCD (Cunningham Construction Custom Drums, a division of my construction company). One of my first kits was used for the recording of our first record, Real Life. In April of 2007, I finally completed my ultimate dream kit, a 9 piece collage of honey-maple stain and rock maple shells for our upcoming local gigs and tour. (FYI: I use all Zildjian cymbals, DW pedals, Vater Piccolo sticks and the kit is mounted on a Pearl rack). Pictures of a few of my kits and the tour kit are available at myspace.com/cccdrums.