The “Unathorized” Bio

My name is Aron I currently front a band called The Swagger Sticks here in Los Angeles (I’m the guy on the right with the gold Les Paul). 

I’m originally from Chicago. Back in the day I played guitar in a bunch of Chicago bands and a few of the musicians I played with eventually got record deals.

I, on the other hand, packed it up and moved to Boston during the major label feeding frenzy that would eventually put bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Figdish, Local H, and Triple Fast Action on the map.  Also a great Chicago band, though they broke a couple years earlier, was one of my all-time favorite power pop bands, Material Issue.

I ended up in Los Angeles (by way of New York), where I had been re-located as one of the first employees in an Internet company founded by one-time Beach Boys producer-manager, Jack Rieley. In December 2005 my Tenacious D-inspired duo, which I started as a joke a couple years earlier, ended up appearing in a bit on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

I got my 15 seconds of fame when I sang Night Ranger’s classic 80s power ballad, “Sister Christian,” which you might remember from the Boogie Night’s soundtrack, with John Melendez (aka Stuttering John).

On a whim, I took a class at UCLA in the fall of 2006 called “Recording Professional Demos” with Jeff Lewis. I befriended Jeff and he ending up co-producing and mastering our debut CD at Moonlight Studios, which he co-owns. Jeff, among his many of his musical accomplishments toured with the Jackson Five and now plays with LA-based, Tierra, who was onced named best R&B vocal group by Billboard Magazine and who also twice cracked the top 100. 

A classmate from Jeff Lewis’ class suggested I check out a songwriting class the next semester. I did and, much to my surprise, I ended up getting a songwriting scholarship from Concord Records (thank you Marty Panzer). My focus then shifted away from trying to be a guitar hero to concentrating more on songwriting and performing live.

2009 has been a big year and, in addition to releasing our debut CD, Stick It, in August 2009 the band released it’s first video for their punk rock anthem, “She Wants Everything” in November of that same year. 

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. The Swagger Sticks are always interested in playing with new bands and meeting new people so we look forward to hearing from you. Let’s Rock!
Cheers,
Aron
talltodd27@yahoo.com