“The Gypsy spirit, lives and thrives in the deepest parts of my soul. So, are you going to finish that Egg Roll?” S.
Semyon, the Gypsy Mountain Man… Born to a family of traveling musicians and carnival workers… Semyon’s love for the arts was bred into him at very young age… Along with a sense of adventure that would make the average person tremble… Semyon was the second child of Simon and Sarinia… His parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe, but were of the wandering kind… Simon’s love for his family was what brought them to America… They ended up settling up in northern California in a small valley community of Atwater, California…
Semyon’s love for the outdoors was firmly planted in him during this time… He was constantly going camping with friends and family… He became a tour guide at the age of 15... Taking tourist out for days at a time… His love for the outdoors was only matched by his true calling in life, Music… He began to play the Cello at the young age of 9... Studying with his parents, who in their own right, were great musicians and songsmiths… It wasn’t until he was 17, that he began his formal education in the Arts…
While giving a tour to some people from the Bay Area, he was advised to study music with William Bryant Anderson… A renowned Cellist that resided in San Francisco… The man who’d suggested this to Semyon, was a former student of Mr. Anderson, Derik Howard… So with the blessings of his family, Semyon headed to the great unknown… The Bay Area…
While studying abroad, Semyon's days consisted of getting up at 6 am, eating breakfast, going to school, taking lessons, running scales, eating dinner, then finally, watching some sportscenter… Where he was looking to catch some Lumberjack Championships… But he ended up getting hooked on Basketball in the process… You see, Sem didn’t grow up playing sports, but he so admired the skill involved to play… By the way, his favorite team is the Golden State Warriors… So as I was saying, Semyon's days were, to say the least, a bit brutal… But he loved every minute of it…
After studying with Mr. Anderson for about 2 years, Semyon broke from his formal training to take to the streets… To become a player, and like the pro’s in the NBA, he too wanted to jump up and slam dunk a ball… But he was too short… So he did the next best thing, he went out and joined a rock band, The 5 Digits… Yea, I know, I thought the same thing… “Cello in Rock?” But he found a way to make it work… “A natural fit,” you could say… So a rock star he set out to be… I’ve heard Sem say that he never really wanted to be a Rock Star, but that teaching was his thing…
“To take a young kid with real talent, and mold his mind with technique, knowledge, theory, and more importantly, a way to look at life.” “That would makes me smile.” S.
But Sem loved the limelight too… It made him feel 3 inches taller, like a swift footed point guard… To get back to the story, the 5 Digits were a local favorite in the Bay Area… Actually they played all over, San Fran, Oakland, Berkley, and the surrounding areas… But one place in particular, The Digits, as they ended up changing their name to, they were kings… The Starving Poet… They were practically the house band, but with original material… This is where the boys ended up meeting the man that would change their musical lives forever...
Alberto “Bird” Como… A brilliant young A&R Cat from a start up Label called, Keen Eye Records… A small but well funded operation, and Bird was eager to get his 1st band signed… He showed up at the Starving Poet to check out this band that had been making waves around town… He was floored how the band seemed to flow… These boys were tight… But the Cello was what really caught the eye of Bird… How it could so easily fit in with a Rock Band amazed Bird… The Digits inked a deal with Keen Eye Records shortly there after…
Things were looking up for the boys, but things were also changing for Semyon… He’d outgrown his band mates in musical taste… His love for the organic, worldly tones, and floating melodies, was tearing him apart... You see, Semyon was also a excellent writer himself, and that’s where his true passion dwelled… He fancied himself an intellectual man with something important to say to the world… So after about 4 years playing with the Digits, Sem broke out on his own… But he soon learned quickly that the place he needed to go, lied Due South… So he packed up his bags and equipment and moved to The land of the Falling Hillsides…
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