The Dukes – Bangs Entertainment Magazine
"5 SHOTS!!!!!"
Five Facts
Shanka:
1). I’m not proud of this,
but I started playing guitar because I got arrested when I was 14. At that
time, I was such an AC/DC fan I started stealing their albums since I did not
have the money to buy them. Of course, at some point I got busted and brought
to the police station. Next to it, there was a music store… Since my dad was late to pick me up, I
entered that store and saw an electric guitar for the first time. Then I
negotiated for months with my parents and finally they bought me one! They
never regretted it.
2). I’m a crazy cat man.
Cats are my only gods, I worship them all day. Like ancient Egyptians, I
believe they lead our souls to the afterlife when we pass away.
3). My first trip to the US
was with my dad in 2007. He’s a world-renown scientist and since he had to go
to Los Angeles for work, he asked me if I wanted to go with him. At that time,
I was so impressed! I never have thought I would be touring the US 10 years
later!
4). I have a few Gibson
guitars, and all of them have what I call "gold teeth". Here’s
why : I have this bad habit of smashing the drummer’s cymbals with the
head of my guitar when I play live. Sometimes it damages the guitar machine
heads so I have to replace them… But in France, Gibson parts used to be hard to
find (and expensive!). All the machine heads on my Gibson guitars were
chrome-plated, but I couldn’t find any so I replaced the damaged ones with
gold-plated machine heads, which were the only ones available at the stores in
Paris, hence the "gold teeth" look!
5). I graduated from the
equivalent of an Ivy League school in France, just to reassure my parents
before I started my career as a musician. It also helped me impress my in-laws
when I first met them. So, I would say it was worth it!
Five Favorite Albums or Singles
Music:
Music:
1) Type o
Negative – "October Rust"
2) The Stooges –
"Raw Power"
3) AC/DC –
"High Voltage"
4) Pantera –
"Vulgar Display of Power"
5) Depeche Mode – "Construction Time Again"
Five Facts
Greg:
1) I love golfing. I could
wake up literally at any time to go golfing.
My son Liam, who’s now 7 - is also crazy in love with the game. He grew up on a golf course and has been
playing since age 2. He’s my golf buddy,
we go golfing together 3 or 4 times a week.
Luckily, we live in Arizona and it's a golf heaven. :)
2) I love art. My dad used
to work for one of the biggest art galleries in the world, The Gallery Maeght,
they had an office in Paris, New York
and Zurich. Since they had some of the
biggest names of this business, I was
very fortunate to meet some of the main artists of the 20th century (when it
comes to painters and sculptures). As a kid I met artists such as: Juan Miro, Marc Chagall, Valerio Adami, The
Pissarro family, Alberto Giacometti,
Francis Bacon and many more.
When I think about it - what a
chance I had to be around those people and be introduced to art so young! I
developed a passion for it.
3) I’m a huge soccer fan. I grew up in a family where soccer was almost
a religion. We would play it, watch it,
talk about it… It's running through our veins. :) Funny
thing, my dad was my team’s coach when I was a kid and now I’m my son’s team
coach. Ah!
4 ) I had dinner once with
Herbie Hancock. A friend of mine, Ken Hertz, who’s one of the biggest entertainment
lawyers in Los Angeles, called me when he was in Paris to offer to take us (my wife and I) out to dinner to one of my
favorite restaurant's in Paris, The Hotel Costes. I was delighted by the idea, and he also mentioned he was bringing a friend
with him. Ken being Ken, I was wondering
who was that mystery guess?? What a
surprise it was for us when we realized his friend was Herbie Hancock!!!! It was a very intimate dinner since there
were only 8 people. At some point during dinner we switched spots and I got the
chance to sit next to and speak with Herbie…
It was as if we'd known each other forever! We mostly talked about drummer Tony
Williams. Herbie very generously shared
some delightful stories about their early years in NYC and Chicago. He’s usually questioned about his work with
Miles Davis, so when I brought Tony into the conversation he was extremely
happy to talk about it. He’s one of the
humblest people I've ever met in this business. And he looks great for a
seventy something year old dude.
5) I’m a cap and shoe
freak. I have hundreds of them and I
can’t get enough. I have every
color. When I travel I always put my cap
in a separate flight bag just for the caps - I make sure they don't get messed
up, even if it's just a weekend trip. Told you,
I’m a freak!!!
Five Favorite Albums or Singles
Music:
The Beatles - "The White Album"
The Clash – "London
Calling"
Jamiroquai: "Travelling
Without Moving"
Michael Jackson: "Off The
Wall"
Led Zeppelin: "Led
Zeppelin II"
Keep
in touch with The Dukes:
iTunes order link: HERE
Official Website: www.thedukesmusic.com
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thedvkes
iTunes order link: HERE
Official Website: www.thedukesmusic.com
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thedvkes
