*INTRODUCING THE FLOYD

The musicians that make the magic

Vince Gates – Vocals, Bass, Guitar

Vince has been in the Northern Nevada music scene since the mid 1980s. Owner of “Play Your Own Music” in Carson City, Vince continues to support the local music scene daily. In 2008, he was named one of Reno’s top 101 “The List: 101 who mattered”, (“some of the many people who’ve had a major influence on the musical world of Northern Nevada”) Vince’s passion for Pink Floyd started early in life. As a young guitar player, he studied David Gilmour’s licks and technique into the early morning. As an adult, he has come to appreciate the significance of the diverse socio-political message of Pink Floyd.

View Photos

Rob Lawrence – Keyboards

     Music is certainly in my DNA. I’ve had many mentors and teachers that have shared their knowledge and wisdom with me, and I can do that technical thing, but for those of us who are fans, Pink Floyd has always touched us in a very personal way. For me, playing this music live for you is the best life gets. It’s two hours on stage with nothing else on my mind.  It’s a challenge, it’s a privilege, and it’s exhilarating.Lucky for me I’m recreating the music of a keyboard player named Richard Wright, who’s role in Pink Floyd aligns very closely to who I am as a player.  He provides the atmosphere, the clouds passing by, the waves on the shore, the birds in the distance and the thunder clouds that surround the music.  He’s the unifying element that is always there supporting the other players. My task is to learn his method and get inside his head. This requires a lot of listening. It can take months, years to get close to it. Every year when The Floyd starts a new season, I go back and do revisions with a precise, analytical approach, having developed the ability to isolate parts mentally when listening to music and transcribe to paper what is on the recording.  Doing this not to memorize but to recreate exactly what Richard played.  Sure, I could learn the chords and play the parts the way Rob Lawrence would naturally do them, but the parts must contain all the voices, chord inversions, the timing and natural intuitive process of the musician who wrote and recorded the parts originally.  When you hear my keyboards on stage, you are hearing as close to what Richard Wright played as possibile.

I’ve played in many cover bands over the years and I can safely say that The Floyd is the top of the mountain in a life full of musical experiences for me.  We’re a family with mutual respect.  We’re fans of each other and consider it a privilege to share the stage playing music that we love together.

 

 

 

View Photos

Jeff Laakso – Vocals, Keyboards, Saxophone, Guitar

Jeff is a saxophonist/composer/producer with a weird story.  He started early with sax but needed to learn other instruments because his OCD was too focused on saxophone. His strange youthful, perhaps unhealthy, obsession with music manifested itself over years as a pseudo-adult musician. As hunger and necessity increased he awkwardly imposed himself to his bandmates as a multi-instrumentalist. He has since roamed the Nevada musical circuit for decades with numerous acts, playing in damn near all of the bars, theaters, cabaret stages & showrooms-including a couple good ones. He also has been accused of writing and producing music and sound effects for corporate gaming interests. 

Rumored to be comfortable with the abuse of many styles of music, his involvement in The Floyd has brought about a welcome opportunity for Jeff to expose himself as an accordionist/vocalist in spite of his long forgotten formal musical training and sensibilities. He has improvisational jazz tendencies but has worked to overcome them with self-reflection and Curtis (the maniacal guitar player.) He cherishes and is humbled by his involvement with The Floyd project, and hopes his antics like this bio do not belay his deep respect and love for his bandmates.

View Photos

Curt Mitchell – Guitars, Vocals, Bass

After playing with legendary Reno rock bands “Somebody’s Kids” and “Razor Maid”, Curt Mitchell was one of the founding members of the hard rock band “Bangalore Choir”. Their debut album was produced by Max Norman (Ozzy Osborne, Megadeath), and featured songs co written by Jon Bon Jovi and Aldo Nova. The album “Cadence” was released in 2010 through the German label “AOR Heaven”, and the latest Bangalore Choir album “Metaphor” was released in April 2012. Curt has sold over 1 million copies of various “Learn to play guitar in the style of…” videos marketed by “Learn to Burn” and “MVP” videos over the past 20 years and has been teaching guitar in the Carson City area for over 7 years.

View Photos

Lisa McCuiston- Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Percussion

I am deeply passionate about my position in The Floyd. Clare Torry’s original recording of Great Gig in the Sky, on the Dark Side of the Moon was my introduction to what my first role would be in this band. I studied every breath and nuance and strive to, in every performance, give the audience the album version of that iconic version. It is the most electrifying vocal I have ever had the honor to perform!

My other roles include bass, guitar and percussion.

I have been a studio recording artist for over 25 years in Northern Nevada. In 2017 I won the Northern Nevada Forte Awards for best female vocalist.

 

View Photos

Patrick McQuain- Drums

Hello, I’m Patrick. The drummer, and newest member of The Floyd. I’ve been playing music in and around Northern Nevada for 30 years. I teach drums in the Carson Valley. A lifelong fan of Pink Floyd, I am excited to study the drumming of Nick Mason. His melodic approach is brilliant, his sweeping and melodic drum fills are pure genius. I strive to perform with the same grasp of timing, dynamics, and musicality that test the very limits of my abilities. I am truly humbled, honored, and proud to be a part of this band. I am looking forward to sharing my love and admiration of one of the greatest bands in the history of rock music, Pink Floyd.

View Photos