The Guitar Player's Resource
And now for something completely different. Instead of striving for sonic perfection, guitarist Pat Zelenka has deliberately sought out a lo fi sound, and in fact, named his CD appropriately - Lo Fi Happiness. The majority of the tracks were recorded on Tascam Portastudio and a Marantz 4 track, and two of the tracks ("Platypuss & Dolphins", "Funk In 'A'") were live-in-the-studio jams. A great deal of Lo Fi Happiness comes across as improvised, as Zelenka took the best of the material he had collected on little cassettes he had lying around in order to round out the CD. Check out Zelenka's album if you enjoy the off-the-cuff, shape-shifting, genre-blending solo approach to musical communication and emotional delivery.
Pat first began playing music in his teens, and began really working on songwriting in his mid 20's. He classifies his style of playing as a "hodge podge" of influences that he likes to channel. Everything has influenced Pat in one way or another, from classic rock to movie soundtracks, classical music to funk, jazz to country. Influences range from Uli Jon Roth, Jimmy Page and John Coltrane to Bach, Mozart and Ravi Shankar. Music for Pat is a religion, and he attends his musical church on a daily basis. Music has taken him to a place that he would not have otherwise come to. Pat is forever grateful that he discovered music when he did, and he hopes that it continues to bring him the peace that he has only been able to find through music.
Lo Fi Happiness is currently doing well on as many as 15 Internet radio stations, and Zelenka is hoping, through his promotional mailings, to reach an even wider audience.
Pat Zelenka
United States
Web site: www.patzelenka.com