Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonah Nimoy.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jonah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, I come from a family of whacky, passionate creatives, so my exposure to music and art began at a very young age… and seldom has life been boring since.
I began playing drums at the age of seven after relentlessly watching a VHS tape of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Specifically, The Who were on this special, and Keith Moon totally blew my mind. The performance, the attitude, the aesthetic… I didn’t know what I was looking at, but I knew I wanted to do exactly that.
Soon after, I got my hands on a drum set and started banging away in my garage for hours, trying desperately to learn the entire Moby Dick solo or any Ginger Baker motif. Not much has changed these days… I was also interested in guitar, but my hands were too small to hold a chord. Hitting stuff with wooden sticks seemed far more achievable at the time.
In those early years, my dad would jump on guitar and with me on drums, followed by the occasional guest vocal appearance made by my mother. We’d play anything from R.E.M. to Elvis Costello, Beatles to Petty, Nirvana, Sabbath… and lots of Neil Young. It was this time spent learning songs with my dad that I realized I loved music and wanted to know anything and everything about it.
Not long after, I was starting bands with friends at school, where I’d soon discover my love of punk and metal music. I was always the youngster in whatever band I was in, so my older friends/bandmates were constantly corrupting me with such bands like Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, and whatever else was loud and heavy at the time. My parents were thrilled, obviously.
Through my high school years, I would play in a metal band called Brutal Force, where we would actually make some moves in the local metal scene. We’d pack up the van and play shows locally as well as up and down the coast… We partied, we blew shit up, it was rad. Those were some of the best times I ever had being in a band, and I learned so much about what it meant to be a contributing bandmate. But as we all know, nothing lasts forever.
At this point, the band was over and I was practically a high school drop out, but my future remained bright. I was given the opportunity to go to a music school in Pasadena formerly called Los Angeles Music Academy (LAMA – now called LACM), where I would study drums and percussion. I was ready for whatever was to come next in my ever expanding musical journey, and my big choices at that time were to either go to music school or get a job at guitar center. I chose guitar center.
To be fair, I had initially gotten into music school and did show up for about ten weeks, but the idea of learning Jazz with the jazz nazis, or reading a Pat Metheny chart seemed like the most un-metal thing to do, so I left.
So there I was, selling drum sticks to kids in West LA, having no idea what I was doing. At this point, I had joined a few local bands, trying to do the band thing again, but it wasn’t working out, and Guitar Center was grueling. After my short-lived stint as a Drum Salesman, I finally decided to go back to school. Little did I know, I’d soon meet some of my best friends that remain to this day, and would learn more about my love for music than I ever could have imagined. My time studying at LAMA was when I’d grow into the musician I had never dreamed of becoming, and I’m forever thankful for my time spent there.
After I graduated, I spent the next few years gigging with my metal band Legal Tender, as well as other various projects in which I was now singing and playing guitar in. Soon after making these occasional instrumental switches, I suddenly found myself to be a full-time frontman guitar player/singer and a “sometimes” drummer on the side. I was now singing four-hour sets at a bar in Big Bear, or playing guitar in the house band at the Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland, or playing lead at a charity run with a country singer. I was learning the ways of becoming a true gigging musician, playing hours of pop, top 40, country, rock, metal, punk, folk, ANYTHING for any gig that would appear, and now as a guitarist. I was constantly playing and learning about these new territories of music that I’d never played as a guitarist, and I was having lots of fun doing it. It was all over the place and I was in hog heaven.
In the midst of all of this, I had a multitude of odd jobs to keep myself afloat. I became a barista, a pizza boy, a stagehand, a PA on film sets… anything with flexible hours that would work with my chaotic schedule. While juggling this lifestyle for years with off and on gigs, the time came that I got a call to play with The Offspring, and everything pretty much changed from that point on. Within that first year, I was constantly booked and got to tour the world with other renowned acts such as Stone Sour and Fuel, as well as anything else that popped up in between. All of a sudden, I was a touring musician and I was working. A “pinch myself” moment. I’d been bitten by the bug and I was done for. I couldn’t wait to be on the road again and again and again!
Currently, I’ve been staying busy as touring guitarist/keyboardist/percussionist with The Offspring, as well as my band Furiosa and being a music teacher when I’m home, and always staying busy as an illustrator/artist. In the recent years, I’ve hosted many art shows in and around LA, I’ve designed numerous album covers, concert flyers, guitar picks, I got to design and draw a mural for a Jay Rock/Kendrick Lamar music video last year as well as contributing artwork to the occasional horror movie… It’s been busy and I’m loving it.
There are always challenges, but looking back would you say it’s be relatively smooth?
Not to sound like Yoda, but “smooth”, it has not been… Music is for everyone, but this industry is not for the faint of heart. If you’re in it to be rich and famous, think again. As a working musician, you have to put yourself out there, and more than most of the time, you putting yourself out there means getting shut down. Whether it’s pursuing your own original project or auditioning for something else, the rejection is inevitable.
Through the years, I’ve had bandmates who’ve pawned my gear for drug money, situations in which I learn three hours worth of material, only to get paid a quarter of what was agreed upon… The struggles were constant and real.
Another struggle I faced through the years was finding a balance between making my living and maintaining my love for music. Once in awhile, I’d play a gig where I had to practically wear a monkey costume and play multiple sets of terrible songs for too many hours… It was moments like these I began to get very confused about what I was doing, and why I was doing it. The struggles of pursuing a career in music are fairly customary and typical, but how one overcomes the struggles is what truly sets you apart. Learning from my mistakes and keeping an open mind helped me get through all of it. As well as writing the occasional song about that shitty promoter who screwed my band over, or doodling an ex-manager being eaten by the undead…. cheaper than therapy!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Besides being on the road, I’m constantly working on other projects, both artistically and musically. For the last year, I’ve been secretly developing a comic book that I hope to someday turn into a horror/sci-fi series. It’s always been a dream of mine to take a stab at directing, or to develop something visual. Either way, I don’t have much time at home these days, so I work on that when I can. I also just wrapped up illustrating the chapter headings for a memoir entitled, “The Rogue To Nowhere” by my good friend Jason Christopher. It will be out on Rare Bird Lit very soon.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was very friendly. I got along with most people and always had a good group of friends. But even with that, I still had that slight feeling of never really belonging. I loved the occult, evil music… still do. I was fascinated by the abnormal since my home life was anything but normal. Finding a home in music and art with my specific taste over the years has gotten me through the worst of times, and keeps me going to this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jonahnimoy.com
- Instagram: @jonahnimoy @boredomsketches @furiosarules
Image Credit:
Offspring Photos by Tijs van Leur – @tijsvl – www.tijsvl.net; Stone Sour by Stubs – @stubs_dsm – www.ravenscape.com; The Mustang by Kelsie Koziol – @35mmkelsie; Desecrate Drums by Sarah Simile
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