Many people were born with a silver spoon up their ass, well I was born with a guitar in my hands. As far back as I can remember, I always had an acoustic guitar by my side. All of the early picture of me show this. I have no idea why I love the guitar. It just has always been a part of me.
For some reason, I don't think that the first six years of my life are that important. They couldn't be that great, because I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM! No matter how hard I try, I cannot remember ANY of those years. It's mererly a blank spot in my complex mind. So, instead of doing a MASSIVE amount of research, like I did for Alex, I will skip those blank spots and move toward the bright future! Yes, if those years were good, I would remember them. So, I won't worry about it, and don't expect you to worry about them either!
So, now I'm six. What do I remember about being six? I was made fun of for bringing my acoustic to school. It's not like I was just bringing my most prized pocession to school with me without the case...But those morons didn't understand the beauty of a guitar. They, on the other hand, were obsessed with some three legged cartoon action hero that I dispised. I had my own heros. Ones that could stand up to anything! As my pathetic class mates poored their allowances into plastic toys, with no value what-so-ever, I invested my money. At the age of six, I bought my very first vinal! Metallica's Ride The Lightning! A classic that all kids should have! Anyways, my heroes? The four gods of Metallica! There is nothing they couldn't do! Yes, it was safe to say that at the age of six, I was obsessed with my guitar, and Metallica. Strange how things never change....
In 1986, I bought Metallica's new album, Master of Puppets. That was a great day in my life. I would spend hours playing along to the acoustic part of Master of Puppets, and the intro to Welcome Home. However, this as not normal for a eight year old to do. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered "A Rock Star". When told that many don't make it as a rock star, I anwered "I will. Just you watch." My obsession with metallica grew even stronger during this time of my life. It seems as though a child will want something even more when it is taken away from him. Trying to make me like a normal child, my parents banned Metallica in our house. They took away all of my vinals, including my entire Metallica collection, my Ozzy collection, my Megadeth collection, and all other vinals I had. I was a poor seven year old without music.
Then, tragidy struck! Cliff Burten was killed in a bus accident. The reality that Metallica was only human had struck me harder than ever. They were not super heros, and rock stars do die. Thus, I halted my obsession with Metallica. This was done for two main reasons. The first being my parents still wouldn't let me listen to any of my vinals, including oldies like Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper, making music a thing of my past. However, I still had my acoustic. Second, the death of Cliff really hurt me. I stopped playing guitar, and the urge to listen to music died within me. At that point in my life, I decided to concentrate on school, and show all the jerks that I was smarter than they were. I'd beat them at their own game.
At the age of ten, I was the top student in my class, and second in my entire school. I was involved with a study that wanted to prove that music helped the mind learn. If that was true, it would explain my overall brillance. Thus, I think it was true. The tests got annoying, and I stopped doing them. No one could make me do much, unless I wanted to. I still wasn't listening to music, and hadn't played my guitar in a few years. I was just being a full out nerd. I can't say that I had more friends after this change, but I was looked at higher, and I was respected by most people. There's give and take to each event in life.
1989 was another turning point in my life. Metallica released another album. Cliff wasn't part of it, yet it was getting great reviews by the underground metal scene of Seattle. I wasn't into the grunge scene that much, and I had to be the only nerd who followed underground metal. The ban of music was lifted many years ago, so I took my lame ass to the store and bought myself ...And Justice For All. The entire facade of being a nerd was thown out the window halfway though the album. I was no longer a nerd! Instead, I was a full out metalhead! Yes, Metallica had worked their magic, and made me a believer! They truely were metal gods!
I dropped out of school a year later, because it was a waste of time for me. I had done so much extra work at becoming a nerd, I was able to get my GED at the age of 11. 1990, I was a high school graduate, so to say. What did I want to do with my life at this point? Still wanted to be a rock star. I formed a band wit an eighteen year old and we jammed on the weekends. When I wasn't playing my guitar, yes, I still had my acoustic, but I had a few electrics too, I bought vinals. So, I needed money for all those purchases. I didn't want some ghetto job where I got paid in dog crap, so I did what any twelve year old would do. I became a male prostitute.
Eventually, my band broke up because they didn't want to do anything except smoke pot. I never was, and still am not into that crap. They say they kicked me out of the band, but they were so stoned at that point, they didn't know where they were. Feeling down, I went to work. I met up with a nice female who hired me for the night, and eventually, the two of us started antoher band. She was on vocals, I was the guitarist, and a few of her other friends took the parts of drummer and bassist. We were called Garden 665, and cut a demo. This demo is still being circulated today! However, the band never did take off, and we split up. This was also the time when I called it quits to being a male prostitute. I wanted to pursue a living as a musician instead of a slut. I then got a job at a small instrument shop.
My vinal collection, AND my cd collection was expanding exponentially. I had many influences ranging from punk rock, to metal, to grunge, to ska, to early forms of hip hop. There was no form of music that I wasn't into. I started another band now that Garden 665 had died. We were called the Kidnappers. I was a punk 17 year old, and was the youngest of the band. This was also the first time I had been a vocalist. The Kidnappers was a great band, and we cut a few records together. Each person wanted our band to take off, and we dedicated all our time to it. We were able to spark the interest of many teenagers, and recieved a warm welcome from many local bars. At least in Seattle, The Kidnappers were a hot band. This band stayed together for three years, and then broke up. Why you ask? After three years, I realized that we had made many mistakes as a band, and I knew that we would never take off as a band. I was a twenty year old unemployed bastard.
At the age of twenty, I was still obsessed with Metallica. How could you not be obessed with that great band? They continued to get better as they released more and more albums. I strived to be as good as them. Everyday I practiced, hoping to catch a break. I didn't work at all for the next year. I was actually pretty well off, because I had saved a lot of money over the past few years. However, the name of Joseph Kimberlin was starting to die out of the minds of the fans as new types of music took over. I thought that my dream was falling through my fingers. So, I decided to relocate and start over. After twenty years Seattle, I thought that they were dragging me down. So, I packed up and moved to Japan.
Little did I know it, but that move would hook me up with Alex Ray! Eventually, we would start R2, and become the biggest rock sensation of ALL TIME! The rest of my history can be found in the R2 History Section
Also, I have answered many of your questions! Check them out!
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