DeMarcos School Of Music - Private Music Instruction- Ohio

As a young lad, Gerard was influenced by the music his many older cousins played. The Beatles, Elvis, and all the hard rockers numbed his senses. On his family’s Pennsylvania farm, his dad was huge country music fan and that became the house standard. He didn’t recognize those great artists until his later years. With only one good radio station in signal range, he was inundated with classic hard rock. As a freshman in high school, he decided to take up the guitar. His mother, not knowing the difference between a bass and six string, brought home a Hohner “Beatle” bass and a Sears Silvertone amp (rare classics now). With guitar in hand and lessons scheduled, he began his stage and performance career. His bands in PA were fun, but unfortunately they never took hold. His influences had changed to all the great punk and alternative bands . . . which . . . made him a “music outcast” in a predominately classic rock area.

In 1984, he moved to Akron, OH, for an art position and was able to perform with some amazingly talented players from the outset. For almost 6 years, he toured, performed, collided, collaborated, and thoroughly enjoyed his experience with the alternative rock band In Fear Of Roses. They made their mark by playing at the SXSW CMJ Music Conference, numerous high profile conferences around the states, and opening for many national artists. Next up, he and his drummer from IFOR joined forces with a wild industrial group Indian Rope Burn and played and promoted two great records internationally. After IRB, Gerard had a laugh and story-filled blast performing with the band Paranoid Lovesick (1995 – 1996), and continued touring and meeting new people around the states. Paranoid Lovesick enjoyed some excellent radio success with songs ranking in the Top Ten on numerous commercial radio stations regionally.

During this time, Gerard was also heavily involved with his daughter’s sports activities and coached girls basketball, volleyball, and softball. He also taught specialized art classes at her parochial school and instructed many students on guitar and bass. Teaching and coaching became one of his greatest enjoyments in life (ranking second to the birth of his daughter).

In 1998, Gerard formed a band called STRiP with an extraordinary female vocalist fronting her extremely “ugly” bandmates. At the same time, he was pulled in by a great friend to be part of a new theatrical psycho-billy band called Psycho Charger which was originally based out of South Beach Florida before moving to NYC. With STRiP, he was able to produce two great records and built up a huge local and regional following before the group disbanded. With Psycho Charger, he was able to perform on stage in everything from Saran Wrap, to theatrical blood, to some very nice cuts of flank steak and went crazy at all times. The band was featured in commercials for SPIKE TV’s Ten Days Of Bond and left lasting and disturbing impressions on all concert-goers.

He has been fortunate to tour and share the stage with groups including Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Goo Goo Dolls, Bob Jovi, Dave Matthews, Weezer, Eddie Money, Oasis, Firehouse, The Pretenders, Afghan Whigs, Georgia Satellites, Justin Heyward (Moody Blues), No Doubt, Bush, and too many others to mention. He also appeared on The Rachael Ray Show as well as World’s Dumbest Criminals (Episode 5 – where his basses were stolen and then retrieved by using his cunning investigative techniques).

For more than 20 years he maintained two professional careers as a musician and a design and marketing business owner. Gerard expanded his marketing business and brought the first MMA Cage Fighting events to Ohio in 2004 with a King Of The Cage event held at the Canton Civic Center.

In the last ten years, he released records with Fierce Invalid’s, 10 Cent Lover’s, Tripnotic, and played on numerous recordings including releases by Zach, The Fifth Wheel, and Brian Lisik. On one of Zach’s releases, he was able to record with legendary bassist, Jeff Berlin, and then performed a duet with him at Cuyahoga Falls' Rockin’ On The River.

Prior to 2006, when he took over bass duties for The Colin John Band, his blues experience was minimal. During his stay with CJB, he was able to tour and play shows in France, Germany, the west coast, and the Hawaiian Islands.

In 2009, Gerard's good friend Beau saw an ad placed by a guitarist named Bob who was looking to do original music. This was right up his alley and they formed a short lived group called the Honey Badgers. During this period, two members of Bob’s band The Juke Hounds left. Their original drummer came back and the group needed a full-time bassist. As a player who always focused on original music, Gerard felt that this was a perfect opportunity to bring his immense library of written songs and collaborate with the great players in The Juke Hounds who were also working on original material. Now he is a permanent fixture with The Juke Hounds. The 2012 release of TJH's Low Man On TheTotem Pole marks his 19th full-length recording and adds his bandmates to the list of artists with whom he’s had the pleasure of recording.

Gerard plans to make his endeavors with DSM memorable. He is excited about the opportunity to do what he loves: teach students of all ages and share his career experiences in music and band marketing and promotion.