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Juan Alderete


Member

1985- Racer X - bass  
1990-1992 The Scream - bass, vocals  
1999- Vato Negro - bass  
2003-2013 The Mars Volta - bass  
2006- El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - bass  
2007- Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quintet - bass  
2009- Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group - bass  
2013- Zavalaz - bass, vocals  

Studio musician

1989 Tony MacAlpine - bass  
2007 Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch - bass  

Guest musician

1998 Paul Gilbert - bass  
2010 New World Man - bass  

Personal information

Born on: 05.09.1963

Alderete was born John Peter Alderete in Los Angeles, CA the fourth of five children to Angel and Alicia Alderete. After moving from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s, he began to build interest in playing music when he was a teenager.

He was exposed to jazz music on a weekly basis by his father who was a big fan of jazz music, and often played it around the Alderete household. Alderete's other early influences included his brother Carl's progressive rock albums, which included bands such as Yes, Rush, King Crimson, etc. He started learning the basics of the bass guitar when he was 16, and was influenced by such players as Jaco Pastorius, Geddy Lee, and Stanley Clarke. His fascination with the bass guitar revolved around it being a somewhat "underappreciated" instrument at the time.

After high school, Juan enrolled in Musicians Institute in Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA). He enjoyed his time in the school, explaining that he was able to learn techniques and styles that he had never even considered prior to his enrollment. Juan and fellow student Paul Gilbert started their musical relationship during an audition that Paul held to find a drummer. Juan showed up at the audition, bringing a Musician's Institute student and drum-playing friend named Bill Lescohier. Although Lescohier was turned down for the part, Paul was impressed with Juan's bass playing; the two quickly sought to form a speed metal band that would incorporate Paul's advanced neo-classical metal guitar technique with Juan's solid bass lines. To complete the band, Harry Gschoesser joined to fill the drummer position, and Jeff Martin became the vocalist; the group named themselves Racer X (a title that Lescohier had suggested). With this lineup, the band released their debut album, Street Lethal, in 1986. Juan has been recording with Racer X ever since (note: there was a ten-year hiatus starting from 1989), and their latest album was released in 2002, titled Getting Heavier. Juan is credited as John Alderete on all Racer X albums.

However, four years after the creation of the band, Paul Gilbert left Racer X to form the band Mr. Big. The remaining members of Racer X decided to stay active in music, although they went their separate ways. For the next ten years, Juan would be involved in several different bands (including The Scream, DC-10, Big Sir, and Distortion Felix) as well as becoming an instructor at Musicians Institute. Not long after, he released his first instructional video on bass techniques and modulation.

Although Extreme Volume II: Live was released in 1992, Racer X was not actually reunited. That year, Paul Gilbert was touring with Mr. Big, and Juan was recording with a hard rock band called The Scream. In actuality, the album was just a compilation of songs that were recorded in concerts before the hiatus. However, around 1999, Juan got a telephone call from Paul Gilbert, who asked if there was any possibility of recording another Racer X album. Juan agreed, and Racer X reunited to record Technical Difficulties, which features new material as well as older songs that were never recorded.

In 2003, while working as a radio producer Alderete received a call from Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta while on their European tour with an offer to audition for the band:


Eventually I auditioned, but they gave me no sign of whether I was cutting it or not. But they said I could leave my gear for the next day. On the second day, I didn't think I played that well. We jammed some more on the third day, but I was having trouble with this crazy drum break in "Roulette Dares" from the first record. I just couldn't hear what I was supposed to be doing, so I told Omar, "I don't know why I'm not getting it, but I'll really work on it," and he said, "You'd better get it down, because we have a show on Thursday."

He went on to record Frances The Mute in 2004. He has recorded bass on every Mars Volta album since, as well as a number of solo albums by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Since joining the band, he has played at Madison Square Garden and was featured on the front cover of the March, 2005 issue of Bass Player Magazine.

Aside from The Mars Volta, Juan has been invested in his own musical projects. Big Sir is a group composed of Juan and singer Lisa Papineau. They have released two albums, and are currently recording a third. Vato Negro is a group with a revolving door of musicians, including Deantoni Parks, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Jon Theodore. Juan has played shows with both groups in 2010, in California and Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.

In addition Alderete co-produced the film The Sentimental Engine Slayer with Rodriguez-Lopez and former Mars Volta bandmate Paul Hinojos

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Alderete