Artist Biography – Michael Gavriel
From a very young age I was raised in a house where music was prevalent. Not a day
went by where there was not singing or listening to music or hearing my father playing
the guitar and I note that as my first strong influence to entering the world of music. At
age fourteen I was concerned with little else other than skateboarding around the back
yard and showing up my friends with the latest tricks I had learnt. Soon however,
something in me became inspired by the band my father was part of and I found myself
gradually paying more attention to sounds and rhythms and the music going on in my
head and around me.
After being forced to choose an instrument to play in primary school, I decided that
drums were by far the coolest and most disturbing to the surroundings. What 14 year
old boy doesn’t enjoy hitting loud things with big sticks?!! My first home instrument soon
became a makeshift drum kit consisting of a discarded cymbal from the school rubbish
bin, a red folder filled with sheet music and a recycled pair of drumsticks which I played
at every chance. I still remember ‘orchestrating’ a version of ‘George of the Jungle’ with
2 friends also learning the drums and proudly performing it in class to the teacher. She
wasn’t convinced and after a while neither was I.
In what seemed a lengthy consideration, but I have been told took no time at all, I put
the skateboard and ‘drum kit’ away and lifted what I then didn’t know would become my
oxygen; the guitar. With my dad teaching me the intro to ‘More than a feeling’ by
Boston and his band members becoming increasingly flustered with me teaching them
the latest riffs they were struggling with, I soon realised that maybe I was ok at this and
consequently locked myself in my room for days until I perfected songs note for note
while sitting next to my stereo system.
My earliest musical influences came from hearing my dad’s band members play and
talk about strangely named characters such as ‘Hendrix’ ‘Blackmore’ and ‘Santana’
…..What ‘Sultana I said…what kind of a name is that??’ Fueled by watching the then
lead guitarist of the band I realised that being able to play guitar like that was far cooler
than any skateboarding trick I could have ever pulled off! I started getting my hands on
as much of the music they spoke about as I possibly could. This soon led to me fooling
around at band practice sessions and developing quickly enough to be included as the
bass guitarist in the band at age 15.
My first guitar was a red Squire Stratocaster,(just like Hendrix) that also came with a
small amplifier…..little did my parents know of the monster about to emerge! (The amp
went up to 11!) I intently and obsessively played and taught myself guitar technique and
theory to develop as a lead guitarist. Soon, I was jamming with senior musicians at high
school while I had only just started grade 8.
Now well interested in researching anything and everything about music, my influence
base expanded to include a range of classic rock bands such as Hendrix, Deep Purple,
Eric Clapton and the sultana guy…who I now knew as Santana. I continued to further
expand my aural horizons by incorporating jazz and classical music alongside my
classic and punk rock roots.
After begging my parents for tickets to Santana’s concert, we managed to secure front
row seats for my 15th birthday. This became a pivotal point in my musical journey. In a
state of shock while at the show, I realised that the man himself was pointing and calling
me to the stage. Nervous as hell and still wet behind the ears I walked over to receive
his plectrum……which still remains mounted with the tickets on my bedroom wall.
I started taking formal guitar lessons at 16 with a jazz teacher who taught me theory
and technique associated with the style. I was soon learning a treasure trove of new
concepts. During this time, I was also lucky enough to fly to Sydney to meet and see a
long idol of mine and guitar virtuoso, Mr. Steve Vai live in concert, which spawned
another state of personal musical development and drove me to practise the advanced
techniques associated with instrumental guitar music. As my skill improved, so too did
my role in the band. I took over as lead guitarist and soon the group was doing an
average of 50 gigs a year throughout venues in Brisbane, and all while I was balancing
my school studies with my music.
Increasing influence from artists such as Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and
basically anybody who had anything musical to say, led me to study and flood my mind
with musical information at every spare chance. My musical tastes diversified and my
choices today are as eclectic as Mozart and Nicolo Paganini to Jazz and Fusion greats
such as John Coltrane and Greg Howe to Heavy rock and instrumental artists such as
Muse, Dream Theater and Andy Timmons. I moved to a much more accomplished
guitarist and teacher, Clyde Schipke of Brisbane when I was 17 and was able to
develop my skill and style in a wonderfully challenging environment, and to a degree of
further accomplishment.
The challenge and passion of music has always intrigued and driven me to try and
develop as much as possible. I studied music at school and received excellent grades
for assessment on theory as well as arranging and composing for a variety of
instruments. I was also lucky enough to obtain the school Musical award upon
graduation.
I remained in the last line-up of my band until the beginning of 2007 to which my tenure
had by then been 5 years. I moved overseas to Vanuatu for a year to independently
study, practise, develop and record music away from distraction and the bustle of the
city. I set myself a rigorous practise schedule consisting of 6 hours practise a day and
broke this down into categories such as technique, chord work and theory. This helped
me to create a unique playing style and move my proficiency on the instrument to a
higher level. I also performed with the local acts and in a three piece acoustic band
while residing on the island.
The song featured as my entrance piece is Sunset Carousel. I wrote the tune while I
was overseas, in a sudden state of inspiration after viewing the amazing orange sun
burst and slowly fade behind the water from our home. With all my compositions, I try to
create unique and inspiring music that draws inspiration from a variety of genres and
playing styles. I strive to create a musical sound scape that contains well written songs
mixed with great tones and excellent musicianship, and always endeavour to put my
best possible performances on disc.
My aspirations and ambition has led to research into furthering my musical studies
overseas. Since hearing of my own heroes studies at Berklee College of Music in
Boston and Guitar Institute in Los Angeles, I have always hoped and worked hard to
have the opportunity to study abroad at one of these schools one day. With this
education, I’ll be able to develop and fully immerse myself in a productive and entirely
musical environment while entering the music industry as an extremely well qualified
and equipped musician.
Having won the inaugural Billy Thorpe Scholarship for emerging musicians this year, I
plan to study further, increasing my musical knowledge, performing my original music
pieces live with my band The Alpha Method and building a name for myself as a
musician.