Biography

Full Name
Russell John Allen Bergquist

Date of Birth
Jan 16

Place of BirthPrince Albert Saskatchewan, CA

Residence
Burnaby British Columbia, CA Married

Biggest influenceLife itself, man

Favorite bassists
Geddy Lee (Rush)
Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
Billy Sheehan (Mr Big)
Flea (RHCP)
Mars Cowling
Ken Sineave
Chris Squire
Stanley Clarke
Jaco Pastorius

RUSS Biography

Music was always something I wanted to do in some way shape or form. As a kid growing up in farming community in north central Canada , there was plenty of down time in the winter where you played hockey, or watched hockey.

Maybe a little ice fishing on the weekends. So, I started taking up the drums in the school band and stayed with it for 2 years. Although it was painful to listen to what went on in that class, I did learn basic fundamentals of counting, but they would only let me play one drum! And all we ever counted to was 3 or 4.

So I asked for a guitar for christmas from my folks, which I got and took my weekly lessons learning everything that I never, ever wanted to play. First, I never wanted to play acoustic guitar (I found out later) and never wanted to play “Mary had a little Lamb “ either.

Much to my parents chagrin I gave up the acoustic guitar and bought a bass. I believe it was a Kent. It has a hollow body and was shaped like a Gibson ES335. It seemed easier for me to get a grasp on the instrument, the bass. Plus, I had learned to count to 4 in band class and this thing had 4 strings! Perfect.

I took some lessons and practiced hard. Dreamed of being on stage. But I had to start somewhere. Where I grew up, we lived a ways out of town and it was difficult to get there on a regular basis. My mom would go into town on the weekends for shopping and to bring my brother to his hockey games.

So, I would catch a ride with my mom and go hang aout at the music store which later led to hanging out at the saturday afternoon jam sessions at the local downtown bars. There was always lots of great players playing in those bars and they were always willing to give some kid a try.

So, I got my first chances in those bars. Which led to running into a few kids my own age that were into what I wanted to play and we formed our first band. We didn’t play covers but started writing metal style tunes while we idolized Iron Maiden and Metallica and every other metal bands at that time, which was the early eighties.

The nice thing I always remember about that time was that there were about seven little “kid” bands in that town. So there was always lots of competitions and a generally great atmosphere for young musicians. All in a town of about 30,000. But as time went on, it all died out and those who still wanted to play, pretty much left town, as I did as soon when I finished school.

For the next 3 years I spent all my time on the road with a varity of rock cover bands. I learned how to play much better and be comfortable on stage. I learned alot of other things as well.......

I ended up living in Edmonton where I got a job because the gigs dried up and started an original band called “Freaks By Nature”. This was new for me because I now stepped into a different realm of players. Basically, a couple of the best guys from that bar circuit.

We worked really hard and even moved to Vancouver, where we recorded or first CD. Guest what, It didn’t go anywhere . But we vowed to keep trying. And I kept practising everyday. Not sure if anything would ever “happen”. During this time we also recorded 4 heavy metal versions of christmas songs for a sports show here in Vancouver.

A friend had a copy of this tape and showed it to Jeff Waters from Annihilator , which at that time, was looking for a bassist. I got the gig. I then found myself flying overseas to do gigs instead of riding in the back of a van to do a local show. I stayed with annihilator for 5 years and left recently to persue “my own thing”. My time with Annihilator was fantastic.

All the players were top notch. Lots of great gigs and great experiences. My life turned out completely different from joining that band. So did my bass playing. I always look at everything as learning experience so Annihilator was perfect for that. Plus, I met my wife while touring with them.

And, now I have the chance to continue with music how I want to do it. I also keep busy with a cover band to make some cash and travel with and alot of free form jamming with a live jam band and open mic sessions. Currently I am recording demos of my own songs and starting a few project to be named later.

I have also had the chance to meet some of my peers. Which is great because for the most part, they are not much different than you. And they have had to battle through the music industry to be where they are. Best advice I ever got was from Billy Sheehan while we drank some beer on Tokyo. He said :

“ You just gotta keep going and be yourself. Eventually you will get something out of it”.

Best advice I could give is to keep going and play with everybody, and keep an open mind. And, enjoy music for what it is, an expression. If it is not fun then don’t even bother.