Teeps, the axeman…

Back in the days when everybody wore baggy jeans and neon sneakers, I really dug Ice-T and Chris the Glove (e.g. Reckless, Reckless Revenge!)…Circa 1990, my buddy, Adil Jamil, got me into heavy rock…first it was Judas Priest and Rudy Schenker's band…later on life got complicated… I started listening to serious guitar players around 1993... beginning with Satriani and Vai, then Petrucci and Marty Friedman...later on I really got into Steve Morse, Greg Howe(more like Howe the &*^%!!!), Michael Lee Firkins, Vinnie Moore, Tony McAlpine etc and each new player I'd listen to would inspire me further. I started playing with an absolute monstrosity of a guitar!!! A hideous Russian electric with a whole bunch of fancy switches but absolutely no playability beyond the 7th fret! Life got better when I got hold of a Samick acoustic, and a little while later, an 'unbranded' single pickup Korean electric... In September, 1995 I bought a Black Maple Neck Standard Stratocaster which remained my trusted friend for nearly a decade before last December, when my wife got me an absolutely beastly BC Rich Mick Thomson Signature Series as an anniversary present!

I have always been into 'super shredders' and heavy rock. My favorite bands are Dream Theater, Pantera (RIP Dimebag…You were the man!), Spock's Beard, Tool, Mudvayne, and Slayer…In the past three years, my kid brother Umar has gotten me into some really cool heavy stuff like Shadows Fall, Meshuggah and Lamb of God…(Check 'em out).

I love music and what's even more inspirational are the people that I have met through music and become really great friends with…Sarmad (He is one AWESOME guitar player, and one helluva guy!!!), Edris (Miss you, highlander!) and Feefs (hats off to you, Mr Skinsman!!!) and lots of other great people! We've had some swell times together (and some really unforgettable gigs too!!!).

Also of great significance is our art director…Kaleem! A man of extraordinary artistic talent and a totally radical creative eye! Rock on, dude!

"Surge" is the result of years of friendship between four people that are truly passionate about music. We bring together diverse influences in an eclectic fusion of music that we'd only like to be called rock (please no genres!). Our spectrum of inspirations varies between Police and the Chilli Peppers to Meshuggah and Kreator…OK, maybe we're a little heavy… : Enough philosophizing…Crank it up…Let there be music!!!

A very special thanks to my wife for her continued support and faith in Surge, for having the unique talent of making things happen when all seems lost, and also for her boundless resources of love and appreciation. Momo…you da best…I love you!

To break your manacles of complacency
From the desolate plains a force will emerge
No more of this bullshit obscurity
Make way for the metalhead sledgehammer 'Surge'!!!