The Story So Far...

     For those of you that don't know me (or do but care not about the little things) my full name is Ian Matthew Perge, but I've also been known at various points in my life as scarred2112 (my 'net nom de plume although I've been using it less in favor of "me") and such unfortunate nicknames as Ripley, I-Dog, Little Mary Sunshine, and 10-Cents Each (Please don't ask about that last one and simply know it has nothing to do with "50 Cent".)  I was born on January 11th, 1976 in Staten Island, New York.  My family, then consisting of my mother Donna and father Stephen moved to Queens in 1978, and two years later to Syosset, NY, where I lived until January 2001.  My brother Timothy was born in 1981...and it took me until 1987 to get used to him.

     I've always considered myself a musician.  After singing in my school chorus from elementary school until my junior year of high school, I got my first bass when I was 13 (and I've never been without one since...).  After many a high school cover band, I formed my first "true" band Antem after graduation in 1993.  While my parents weren't pleased with my leaving college to play in a band (that's the polite way of stating it (they were pissed), that experience is one I would never give up.  We played grimy clubs all over, recorded 12 songs, and generally had a great time.  However the party couldn't last forever, and when we broke up I felt the time was right to return to school.  After spending a few years as a Criminal Justice major at Nassau Community College in New York (eventually making both the honors program and the Dean's List), I transferred to Transylvania University here in Lexington, Kentucky to be with my better half Stephanie in January of 2001 and am pleased to report that on February 14th, 2002 Stephanie accepted my proposal of marriage.  Until then, we're living in sin and proud of it.

     I stopped attending Transylvania after May of 2002 due to a combination of health reasons as well as a fairly humiliating occurrence of discrimination from a member of the facility and mirrored by the administration, but was a senior majoring in Political Science (pre-law) and minoring in Sociology, and plan on finishing my degree in due time.  I'm currently an indentured servant specializing in cooking, cleaning and ego enhancement while Stephanie finishes her Doctorate in Counseling Psychology (She finished her Masters in May of 2005).

     In my spare time, I've played with several different bands of varying styles which you can find on my Current and Past Musical Projects page.  I'm lucky to have played with some of the most dedicated people out there, and would like to say a hearty "Thank you" to everyone I'm currently working with, and to the people I've played with in the past.  You guys have made me the musician I am today.  I'm also always gathering info and writing for a "solo" project I hope to record in the near future.  More information on this can be found here.

     Some of the other things I enjoy include cooking (I toyed with the idea of culinary school), movies, literature (I am blessed, or cursed, with the ability to speed-read at about 180 pages an hour) and current technology.  I've also been fortunate enough to have been able to lend my acting and voice "talents" to several interesting projects:

"Playing with Mr. Greeley" (1997 - Director - Don Philbrict) as 'the paperboy'.  Don was an old Blockbuster Video friend who gave me a cameo in his first feature film.  It won "Best Sixteen-millimeter Film" at the Long Island Film Festival.

"Kung-Fu 2000" (1998 - Director - Bruce Gilbert) as the voice of "Keito".  Bruce asked me to do a voice for his art school animation project... who was I to say no to bad Asian accents?

"Kung-Fu 2001 - A Dojo Odyssey" (2000 - Director - Bruce Gilbert)  I set up and produced the voiceover sessions and provided the voices of "Dao Jong", "'Keito" and "the guard".

Full Name - Ian Matthew Perge.

Date of Birth/Birthplace - January 11, 1976/Staten Island, New York.

Height - 5'4"-5'5", Depending on the shoes, and the weather - humidity and temperature are variables for someone lacking vertebrae.

Eye Color - Dark Brown.

Hair Color - Naturally dark brown, but it's been dyed and streaked every color under the sun (Blond, blue, red, purple...)

Marital Status - On Febrruary 14th, 2002 I became engaged to my love, Stephanie Joy Cunningham.  At this point we're simply "partners", awaiting the time and money to plan a decent wedding.

Geek Code - GMU$/J/MD/SS d-(---) s-: a C++ W++ M+ N+ w(---) PS+(++) PE(PE-) Y+ PGP- t+(++) 5+(++) X R- tv+ b++(+++) DI++ D+ G e+>++(*) h--- r++ y** (decode)

Favorites:

Book/Author - "Drawing Blood" and "LLiquor" by the "old" Poppy Z. Brite (Thank to April Styron - wherever you are - for the introduction) and "Liquor" and "Prime" by the new.  "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" and "A Chef's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines" by Anthony Bourdain, "The Stand" and "Different Seasons" by Stephen King.  Among a multitude of others.

Bands - The Mike Keneallly Band/Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins, Nine Inch Nails, Celldweller, Dream Theater, Type O Negative, Tori Amos, and the immortal Rush to name but a few. 

Television Shows - Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Daily Show, older ER, Forever Knight, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mythbusters, Scrubs, Star Trek TNG/DS9, Twin Peaks, The West Wing.

Movies - Alien/Aliens, The Bourne Identity, Thhe Crow, Heavenly Creatures, The Incredibles, The Matrix Trilogy, Monsters Inc., Strange Days, Titanic, Toy Story I and II, and The View Askewniverse,

Drinks - Snapple Iced Tea and Diet Coke with CCherry/Black Cherry with Vanilla on the low-sodium/calorie free non-alcoholic side.  Absolut Mandrin and Orange Juice, Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout (Seasonal: October-March), Captain Morgan and Coke, Dixie Blackened Voodoo (MIA Katrina), Lambic Frambois, and a properly-mixed White Russian (1/2 an 1/2, not heavy cream)

Dream Basses - Mike Lull M4V and M5V fretted and "M5" Modern 5 fretted and fretless, Dean Edge Hammer 10-string, and a Rob Allen Deep 5 fretless.  For over 90% of my playing, a high-quality five string Jazz-style bass with an ash or alder body and maple fretboard such a Fender American Deluxe Jazz 5 will do just fine.

Dream Amplification - After many years of planning and 18 mmonths of purchasing a single item, paying it off, and repeating the cycle I've pretty much nailed it with my SWR Mini Mo' preamp, QSC PLX 1602 power amp, and Avatar 2x10" & 2x12" Neo speakers.  However, a WorkingPro 2X10c combo and  2x10" WorkingPro extension cabinet for more intimate gigs and recording sessions would be nice options to have available, and the (unfortunately discontinued) Interstellar "Stella" Overdrive preamp and two of their 2x12" "12-Pack" speaker cabinets would be the bee's knees.  Generally, an SWR endorsement would suit me just fine.

Bass Influences - Bryan Beller, Rex Brown, Adam Clayton, Tony Franklin, Simon Gallup, Mike Inez, Eddie Jackson, Geddy Lee, Tony Levin, Sean Malone, John Myung, Jason Newsted, Pino Palladino, Billy Sheehan, Daniel Shulman, Peter Steele, and Doug Wimbish.

Concerts - A two-night roadtrip to see The Mike Keneally Band on June 10th and 11th of 2005.  The first night's show was quite possibly the dream setlist that I would have written up if given the chance, and the second had a touch more of the traditional Keneally "weirdness", as well as some touching crowd participation singing fairly complex backing vocals.  The chance to truly hang out with my good friend Bryan Beller in an informal setting, simply chatting about typical "life" stuff as opposed to the more typical "musician/fanboy" relationship some have was icing on the cake.  Second would be Dream Theater on December 28th, 1995 at the "Malibu" in Lido Beach, NY, for the only reason as that I'm one of the few hundred people on the planet who can say they saw "A Change of Seasons" performed in its entirety (with Derek Sherinian) until the second half of the 2000 tour.  Third, fourth and fifth place go to Nine Inch Nails (touring for both "The Downward Spiral" in 1995 and "With Teeth" in 2005/6) and the first, only, and last live performance of Argyle Park on June 30th, 1995.  

Body Modification - I discovered the joys of body modificcation a few months after I turned 18 and got my first tattoo.  It's been all downhill since, and I'd love and plan on much more in the future.... 

Tattoos - Chinese Kanji symbol for "music&" on the right shoulder, tribal band around the left upper arm, Dream Theater "Majesty" symbol on the right upper arm, and a Calvin panel on my left shoulder.

Piercings - Ear (left - 3 lobe, 1 upper cartilagee. Right - 2 lobe), left nostril, labret (closed), tongue, left and right nipples.