Jon Crosby

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Jon Crosby (born July 25, 1976), in Long Beach, CA. as Jonathan Matthew Miller, is an American musician, founder of the musical outfit VAST.

Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in the Humboldt and Sonoma counties of Northern California, raised by a single mother from an upper class family. She owned a record store in Fortuna, CA. At the age of 13, he was profiled in Guitar Player magazine and Shrapnel Magazine as a rising young star. He developed a love for classical music after watching the film Amadeus. When he met a girl named Michelle in 6th Grade, he learned to play The Beatles' hit "Michelle" on guitar to impress her. This sparked his interest in The Beatles, and in rock music in general. Crosby's other influences include Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, U2, and Depeche Mode. He formed VAST in 1993, at the age of 16, after moving to Petaluma, CA with friends Mike Alioti and Dimitri Katzoff, formerly of ska-band The Conspiracy, though that line-up was short-lived and would be frequently supplanted. He played few early shows, mainly at the famed Phoenix Theater, where many early acts -- like Green Day -- got their first big break.

At 19, Jon's manager/ex-girlfriend took him to New York, along with ex-members Daniel Alva and Stephen Garver, for the purpose of shopping his demo tapes through Shiva Baum, former manager for Opiate for the Masses, and a bidding war broke out; he then signed with Elektra. Two albums were released by Elektra - Visual Audio Sensory Theater in 1998 and Music For People in 2000. In 2002, however, Jon left the label. 2003 saw him break new ground when he released two digital download albums, Turquoise 3.x and Crimson 3.x. He then moved on to Carson Daly's 456 Entertainment, where Nude was released in 2004.

In 2003 he started his own record label, 2Blossoms Records & Media.

[edit] Influences

Nine Inch Nails, the Cure, Metallica, the Doors, Mr. Bungle (whose first drummer, Jed Watts, played briefly with VAST), Machines of Loving Grace, Mozart, assorted early 90's Techno, World Music, and Nirvana, as well as goth clubs, which he frequented in San Francisco and NYC.

[edit] Trivia

Jon has auditory dyslexia, along with other learning disabilities.
Loves foreign films and David Lynch.
His great-grandfather was Congressman John C. Crosby; his ancestry on his mother's side is English and Native American. It is speculated that his father, who was a lounge guitarist whom he never met, may have been partially Japanese.
An extremely proficient chess player.
He has had a number of spiritual affiliations, ranging from Hinduism to Christianity to Shamanism, which is reflected in his music.
While Jon has never been married, he has been engaged twice, once to ex-manager and writer Sakina Gerhard and once to adult model Debra Jean Schwartz a.k.a. Debra Jean Danger.