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I grew up in a big Irish, Catholic family. My dad was a pretty rough guy. So one of my brothers left home when he was 15 and found his way to the gym. It gave me the opportunity to go and spend some time with him and work out in the gym.
I know who my dad is, I’ve met him a few times, but I don’t even call him dad. I know it sounds horrible, but I don’t even see him as part of my family, to be honest. If you want the truth, it doesn’t bother me because I don’t know any different. I just know that me and my mum, that was my family.
My folks have played everything from rock, disco, pop, funk, and blues. My dad has always brought and played different genres like jazz, classical, and Latin. With all this in my pocket, I feel I have a taste of everything for my influences.
My dad wanted me to play when I was a kid, so I learned to play the guitar. I pursued a career in music because I love it so much and I enjoy what it does to those who hear it.
I needed to step away from music because the truth was I couldn’t be the dad I wanted to be to my kids. My truth was that I could not reconcile the two worlds – the entertainment world and being the dad I wanted to be in the present. You can’t substitute time, you just can’t.
All my band members were old enough to be my dad. It was like this family vibe.
As I get older and I get a few more years experience I become more like Dad, you know, King Lear.
One day when I was like 9, I heard the Beatles on the radio, and I asked my dad who they were. He told me they were the best band in the world, and I became obsessed. He started giving me their albums in sequential order, and I listened to them – and only them – until I was probably in high school.
I think people like to think I’m in some way financially dependent on my family – on my dad – but the fact of the matter is I’ve been emancipated from my father since I was 14 years old. That’s something people don’t know or understand.
From about eight years old I was always making things on the sewing machine. Friends would see me making dresses and costumes, and I’d use difficult fabrics such as Lycra and elastic. But you know, my dad was creative and my brother is inventive too.