Brian Lee
Percussion - Vocals
Born, January 28, 1970 in Dayton, Ohio, Brian cut his teeth on Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, and The Association. His enthusiasm for upbeat tempos and catchy melodies was discovered in his toddler years as bounced back and forth on the couch in tempo with the music and sang at the top of his lungs. (Oddly enough, this bizarre behavior continued well into his twenties). Brian recalls, “It seemed like each year Santa would bring me a new musical instrument because I wore them out; not to mention countless wooden spoons, pots, pans and oatmeal cans.”
In the mid-seventies, while the disco genre was achieving mainstream dominance, KISS released their ‘Destroyer’ album. Brian says, “A vinyl copy of the top 10 single, ‘Beth’ mysteriously appeared on my turntable. I flipped the single over and on the other side was ‘Detroit Rock City’ …….and that was a big moment for me”. Less than two years and two studio albums later, they released ‘KISS Alive II’. Brian continues, “I was captivated by the ‘KISS Alive II’ album cover. In fact, Gene Simmons’ picture scared the Hell out of me, yet I was still quite intrigued”.
In 1980, on Brian’s 10th birthday, he received a gift that would start the ball rolling. It was a snare drum and lessons. “I took the leather ottoman from the living room and sat it just to the right of the snare drum and started banging out ‘My Sharona’. Who knew a leather ottoman would have such great acoustic qualities,” Brian laughs. A couple of months later his parents spent $150 to by a drum set for him, figuring it was cheaper than replacing the furniture.
The next year, Brian was approached by some other young musicians in the neighborhood who heard the sound of live drums emanating from the house. “They were seniors in high school and the look on their faces was priceless when an eleven year old kid came to the door to answer the call.” boasts Lee. He eagerly accepted their invitation to jam together. Lee explains, “This was the first time I had ever played with other musicians. The first song we learned was Clapton’s ‘Cocaine’. We also learned Donnie Iris’s ‘Ah! Leah!’ which remains a staple on BAD HABiT’s set list today. That was the end of drum lessons for me.”
Personnel changes within the group forced them to find another place to jam, so it was off to Brian’s place. With other band members’ musical instruments readily available at his conveniently located rehearsal space, Brian quickly became a self-taught guitarist/bassist. By age 16, Brian was invited to fill a vacancy in a band called ‘Destiny’ as their second guitarist. Brian recalls, “I didn’t go to Prom or any of the normal high school events. I was playing in Rock and Roll clubs instead. When I wasn’t playing in the bars, I was sneaking into them. I snuck into the Triangle in Greenville, Ohio one night and saw HOLLYWOOD. They blew me the f*** away! Although, I was playing guitar for ‘Destiny’, I wanted so badly to be the drummer for HOLLYWOOD. They would never have me, though. I was too young and not as good as their drummer.”
Brian stayed in and around the Greenville area playing with various musicians, all the while honing his drum skills. In spring 1990, Brian joined Cincinnati based band CHINA WHITE. By mid Summer CHINA WHITE was on the road. He was finally beginning to live the dream. CHINA WHITE disbanded by late 1991. He was then invited to join THE TAKE for touring support of their debut release ‘New Language’. THE TAKE disbanded by late 1992. In late 1993, Brian was approached by keyboardist Jim Questa to breathe new life into the BAD HABiT band. Brian gladly obliged. During his tenure with BAD HABiT, there have been three other drummers to cover conflicts with Brian’s increasingly demanding schedule. By the spring of 1995, the word on the street was that HOLLYWOOD was looking for a drummer. By summer of 1995, HOLLYWOOD was performing in the Cincinnati area again with Lee as their new drummer. He continues to play drums for BAD HABiT and HOLLYWOOD. Other credits to Brian’s resume include writing and recording drums and bass with KARIZMATA from Cincinnati and occasionally playing bass at Wellspring Community Church in West Chester, Ohio.
Brian Lee currently resides in Union, KY. He also has a son, Nick of Independence, KY. Nick, at only thirteen years of age, has begun to establish himself as an accomplished young musician while writing and recording original material in the progressive rock genre. Sound familiar? The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree!
And the rest is history…. in the making!
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