I started playing ball when I was a kid. My dad was a pro ball player and he passed on his knowledge to me.
When I was about 12 and first started wearing lipstick my dad would ask 'Are you wearing makeup?' I would say back 'You're wearing more makeup there than I am!'
I used to be really nervous when I sang. Like when I was a kid starting young 18 and 19 and my dad really had to sort of push me to start singing in front of people. Ever since I got out there and really started doing it the only thing I've ever tried to do is just sort of is be myself you know never put on a voice. Sing naturally.
Although becoming a singer was my plan A after first hearing Whitney Houston when I was 17 I started off with plan B by going to the teacher-training college that my dad went to. It was a slow coming of age.
Because I was starting out in my 20's. I wanted to do it on my own. I didn't want to use my dad or have people say I was using him.
I was who I was in high school in accordance with the rules of conduct for a normal person like obeying your mom and dad. Then I got out of high school and moved out of the house and I just started for lack of a better term running free.
Right now it hasn't affected my music other than the fact that I don't have time to write any of it. That's no different from when I first started and I lived at home. I would play the guitar in the afternoon and then my mom or my dad would come home and I'd have to quit.
Well Steve Vai joined my dad's band right around the time when I actually started playing guitar. So he gave me a couple of lessons on fundamentals and gave me some scales and practice things to work on. But I pretty much learned everything by ear.
Keep in my mind my dad didn't become a huge huge mega actor until I was halfway through high school - so right around the time he's going through his big renaissance is right when I'm starting to do my high school revolting.
One day my dad would say 'OK if you want to play tennis I can help you out.' And that's how it started. And I had a goal. I wanted to beat my mom first. And my parents and my brother. And that was the ultimate goal.