AGENT: LENNOX
CODE NAME: WOLFF

INTERESTS:
My interest in music started the early 1980's, I still lived in Venezuela at the time, Van Halen’s "Jump" was the first song that I can remember listening to and thinking to myself "Wow I want to be able to play drums like that". I have always wanted a drum set, but never had the financing required to own such an instrument. So I resorted to “air drumming” songs and I could play that song backwards and forwards with my eyes shut.

HISTORY:
Moved to the U.S.A.  on July 22nd 1984 , at the ripe old age of 13. I made friends with some kids that lived down the street, and I was introduced to  Mötley Crüe’s music. I thought they were really heavy, in comparison to what I was into. Madonna, Michael Jackson, and such other pop icons were my only choice of artists at that time. I then found a cool add in a TV guide that offered 12 CDs for a penny (no I did not read the fine print) so I figured I would be cool and order all the bands that my new friends listened to. I ordered Twisted Sister's "Stay Hungry", Mötley Crüe's "Shout at the devil", Ratt "out of the cellar", Dio "Holy Diver" amongst others. I was then catapulted into the dark world of metal. My tastes in music had just been expanded further, and craving the heavy sounds got more and more fiendish so I began listening to bands like Metallica, Testament, Slayer, and Napalm Death. This had awakened a new desire in me, the dream of being the lead guitarist in a metal band, and the wanting to be a drummer had been put on the back burner. So I took an old tennis racquet and used a bathrobe belt as a guitar strap, went down to the local music store and purchased a couple of guitar picks. I would then begin mocking playing the songs, and doing the incredibly difficult solos that would be in these songs that I listened to. In 1987 I got my first guitar, a cheap Arbor (Fender strat imitation) guitar along with a CRATE practice amplifier. This is where my family's tortures would begin; not knowing how to play a single note I would try, and I emphasize the word TRY to play along with the songs no matter how horrible and unbearable the squeals and feedback that came out of this amp. I had someone tell me once that when playing the guitar "if you can't do it slow, you can't do it fast". I have never had any musical training, and I can’t read music to save my life. I have always had a good ear for picking out notes, and I discovered that I had the ability to play guitar by ear.

In 1992 I was in my first band, RAZORBACK, playing cover songs. The band consisted of school peers, and my brother. (I played guitar in this band). In 1993 I put together an "all original" project named DIOGENES playing the guitar, I recruited 3 of the best amateur musicians from the local paper to form this powerful foursome. The foursome later became the 5 horsemen of the apocalypse, getting heavier and changing our name to CONTEMPT, in order to represent the kind of music we played. A close brush with fame broke the band up, and dreams were shattered to the point of giving up music for a couple of years. In 1997 I joined a band named S.I.C. (System In Chaos). This time I traded guitar playing for a Microphone and was the vocalist in this band. This was a short lived endeavor, and S.I.C. disbanded, and again I was left with the cravings for music making. This time I decided to keep writing and recording music and I went solo with and created my first solo project, and called it WOLFF. After many years going solo and 5 CD releases later, I met John, and Sub-level 03 was born. 2002 marked the beginning of what would end up being an exciting time in my life. Our first release “Music for dogs” put us on the map with its eclectic spread of tracks. 2004 brought “Elements of the paw” where I got to dive deep into my emotions, feeling more confident with my vocal abilities, and presented them in the form of music. 2005 introduced a different side of Sub-level 03 in the form of “Touch of pink”. Now in 2008 I’m really excited with the evolution I’ve gone through since joining SL-03, and this is going to come to light with the release of “Undercover”.

STATUS:
Lennox has been the guitarist and lead singer to Sub-level 03 for 8 years.

  
AGENT: JOHN
CODE NAME: TOGO

INTERESTS:
My interest in music extends back to my childhood. Even as a child I was interested in synthesizers and electronic music, and the machines that enable an artist create those tones and timbres.

HISTORY:
I remember as a child visiting a music store in the town I grew up in. They had a variety of professional gear including synths and I remember being in awe of the imagined sounds that would flow from the machine buy turning the knobs and pressing the keys. I can attribute my synthesizer fascination primarily to "A clock work Orange," Wendy Carlos's break through all electronic motion picture sound track performed on a Moog Modular synth. I believe I was seven or eight years of age when I first heard that album. I can also attribute Carlos's album also for furthering my interest in classical music, too. I had some exposure to classical music, but it was after listening to that album that I really became aware of the enormous richness within classical style. Afterward I sought out classical music from the library and specifically remember checking out Beethoven's nine symphonies. Subsequently thereafter I received classical music typically for Christmases and birthdays ranging from Gershwin to Bach. My fantasy as a child was to make the same beautiful sounds I heard coming from the family's console stereo, or the vintage portable hi fidelity stereo record player I had in my room.

I was also bent on the hi-fidelity experience and strung speakers around the ceiling of my room. Quadraphonic technology was the popular extended stereo scheme of the early seventies and I was determined to create that experience within my room. My desire to "engineer" audio drove my parents nuts as they were ignorant of the technology and whether it was truly a hazard to body or property. In fact anything having to do with audio did truly fascinate me. I also became obsessed with cassette tape recorders and would record friends and phone conversations and other annoying things.

In junior high I joined the school orchestral band. I subsequently played tuba for 6 years through my senior year in high school. I strongly desired to play piano, but I did not have any opportunities for such. Money was always tight in my family and thus purchasing an instrument and lessons was not affordable.

My interests in music and music technology continued to grow through out high school and manifested as sound tracks and mixes for short films I created. I obtained my first serious piece of audio technology as a junior in high school. I worked my ass off painting barns that summer and with some of the money I earned bought a high quality Tandberg reel to reel tape machine. I was able to do sound on sound and other somewhat crude over dubbing. That coupled with a cassette recorder allowed me to create a lot of unusual mixes from existing recordings from the likes of The Beatles and The Clash.

I would say The Beatles played a significant roll in furthering my interests in audio technology and recording techniques and practices. The Beatles loved to experiment and explorer new ideas through the technological innovations of their day. They used multi track technology extensively, and are also the first band to incorporate the Moog Synthesizer into their music. I desired to emulate them and their ideas, and was inspired further.

In college I pursued my interests in film and music. Music wise I sought out a roll as producer and bank rolled one of my musical artist friends in a local studio. The project ultimately went no where, but it got me in the door of that studio and I subsequently went to work for the owner as an assistant engineer. Shortly after I began to work for the studio they purchased an entry level sampler. Digital sampling and technology was beginning to proliferate at this time in the mid eighties. The machine the studio bought was an Ensonique Mirage, and in addition to being a sampler it had a very simple four track sequencer on board. This allowed me to finally begin to seriously explore my interests in music creation without using the more expensive resources reserved for paying customers. I had taken a quarter's worth of piano lessons in college and had a general back ground in theory, which was just enough to make me dangerous. The studio also had a Commodore 64 and the required peripherals and software for midi and I experimented with midi sequencing with a Sequential Circuits drum machine and Synth plus the Mirage. It was all great fun, but my creative desires seemed to annoy my boss despite always doing my stuff in off hours and down time. I was there to be creative in addition to the duties assigned.

I eventually left the studio to pursue other interests, but continued my hobby of music creation by buying a used Teac four track reel to reel tape machine and a Roland Super JX digital synth. I pursued my passion for five years by also buying a Roland D50, and a Yamaha 4 generator FM tone module. I eventually sold all that equipment and bought a Korg M1. Wow! I was completely digital now with no more clunky tape machine and noisy mixers. I used the Korg extensively from '88 to '90. I then came to a creative impasse and traded the Korg for a 1962 Cadillac and became a motor head and pretty much abandoned my music for pursuit of auto mechanics and restoration.

In moving to Oklahoma I had abandoned my car fixation for computers and computer networks. My life was focused on fashioning a career in information technology, and it wouldn't be until after I met Lennox around Thanksgiving of 1999, and was securely in a decent paying job, that I would buy my first new serious synth. This was in lieu of Lennox expressing serious interest in creating music together after hearing some of my older stuff and strongly suggesting at some future point we work together. This zygote of a partnership coupled with that I could once again afford gear, and the desire to start creating again with this talented vocalist and song writer set the stage for this new musical adventure.

STATUS:
John has been with Sub-level 03 four years as the keyboardist and studio engineer.