|
KuzinRob.com [Home] |
About Me My name is Rob Menak, aka "Kuzin Rob." I was born November 27, 1982 and have lived in the Long Island town of Elmont all of my life. I was always fascinated by the music my dad would play, particularly Chuck Mangione. The song "Feel So Good" is one of my earliest memories. I began with formal music lessons in fourth grade, when we had to pick either chorus, orchestra, or band. I went with band, specifically, the trombone. It was then at Covert Avenue Elementary School that I would set the groundwork to all my music theory. Even though I am not a hardcore expert in theory, the basics I learned helped me immensely in my later years. I continued with the trombone until eleventh grade at Sewanhaka High School, when I didn't have the time for band class in my schedule anymore, and unfortunately dropped out of the class. However, by that point, I had been well into rock and heavy metal, thanks to my cousin, Dan. Kuzin Dan (he gave me my nickname) introduced me to Metallica and Iron Maiden when I was just starting junior high school. One of my vivid memories is being legitimately frightened listening to Cliff Burton's monster intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls." I'd also been considered somewhat of a nerd, so I was always cast out by the "in" crowd. Naturally, some aggression was born because of this typical teenage ostracizing, so I needed to let that aggression out... ...Enter the drums... In 1995, shortly after my Confirmation, I bought my first set of drums. It was a five-piece TKO set in black (what else), with a pair of 12" thinner-than-paper-thin hi-hats, and a 16" crash. I remember the first day I set them up in the corner of my basement, I turned the radio on and jammed a bit to Stone Temple Pilots' "Vaseline." My parents were gracious enough to give me lessons at the place where I purchased the kit (they were also gracious enough to let me play in the first place!). And so began my professional relationship with my instructor, Pat. Pat gave me the basics first, 4/4, two-handed hi-hat patterns, but then he started letting me in on the secrets... the Bonham doubles, fast double bass, and with his marching corps background, he made sure I was up on my paradiddles, double-strokes, flam accents, and all that good stuff. After the basics, Pat let me start with Metallica. The first thing I tackled was the "black album." He made sure I wasn't playing just "Enter Sandman," either... the whole album, "Holier Than Thou," "My Friend of Misery," and "The Struggle Within" included. We hit on every Metallica album at that point (1995, pre-Load) except ...And Justice for All. After that, it was a bit of Led Zeppelin, and even some Rage Against the Machine. Pat didn't want me to focus solely on rock, though, so he brought me some funk patterns to work on. So I had a drum kit, what about a band? Dan and I got together with James, a friend I had met via the Metallica club fanzine, "So What!" Since James lived locally, we jammed and started a metal band, Pathogen. It was with Pathogen that I played my first gig at CBGBs in February of 1998. But then Pat introduced me to something that would change my musical world. Rush. He gave me some transcriptions and a tape of Freewill, Red Barchetta, and Natural Science. I was blown away, and I was extremely intimidated that he asked me to play Neil Peart's drum parts. But I accepted the challenge, and I've been working at Rush ever since, of course accepting new challenges along the way. So that'll bring us to now. I'm going to St. John's University, Queens, NY, and I'm working towards my doctorate in pharmacy. I traded in my TKO kit for a mixed set of black Tamas, and then went with a new set of "misty chrome" Tama Rockstars in 1999. I'm currently playing in the band Substrike with my friends Bill and Adam. I also collaborate with Dan and my friend Gennady on progressive metal material.
Kuzin Rob's Stats [Top] |