Patryk's musical journey began with his father, an accomplished accordian
player/bandleader/teacher from Akron, Ohio. There was an antique upright piano
in the deRosa family basement and the two would sit while his father played
through and explained the jazz standards late into the evenings. Then his father
would get his Italian, hand-made accordian out. This was a sound Patryk recalls
fondly. "It sounded so rich, just wonderfully huge. My Dad played through a 1958
100-watt B-15N Ampeg amp, as was commonplace for professional accordian
players." This was Patryk's first amp to use also. "He can still play these gorgeous
chords spanning two octaves." His earliest memories are also taking piano lessons
from a neighborhood teacher, Mrs. Berge. She actually taught the then young and
eventually famous Carpenter brother/sister duo. Then it was trumpet class through
the public school system in Prescott, Arizona and finally guitar on his own terms,
saving $30 from his paper route to purchase his first axe. An electric guitar was his
15th birthday present, along with a practice amp. A new world opened up, as he
discovered the much-loved riffs of KISS, Toto, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Led
Zeppelin, and Motley Crue.
Early gigs were with a local mariachi group, Alma Latina, playing weddings and
festivals. Then rock cover bands in high school. Attending a Northern Arizona
University jazz camp one summer, he started to formulate ideas for his own
compositions, using a combination of jazz, classical and rock influences. Upon
graduating from high school, Patryk attended and graduated from NAU. While an
undergraduate, he formed his first successful power trio, The Wee Lads. They
would perfom statewide across Arizona and land some local radio spots. Studying
under classical guitarist/Artist-In-Residence Tom Sheeley, Patryk would perform
his repertoire at local coffee houses, catered parties, and country clubs. Then a
move to Ohio proved advantageous to develop a truly metal sound, joining LOUD,
a Canton-based metal act complete with a grim reaper mascot onstage. Then in
2000, a permanant move to the San Francisco bay placed Patryk in the west coast
for the past 10 years, where he would acquire his first Dean 7-string guitar and join
the Santa Cruz-based death metal band Skinfile in 2002. Eventually, Patryk would
create PDR, his present-day, all-instrumental shred trio.
PDR was officially formed in 2007 and has released 3 full-length albums
available through indie artist distributor CD Baby. Each release shows a different,
constantly evolving sound, yet embodying a focus on the spirit of Patryk's passion:
thick, 7-string, drop-tuned, largely overdriven, classical and blues-based shred
compositions to rock the world! Patryk and his band perform regularly across the
San Francisco bay and have recently expanded to further-reaching points to help
"spread the shred" to all.
www.patrykderosa.com
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