Gary 'Zeus' Smith

Gary's love for percussion became apparent at the early age of 8 when his father purchased a $25 snare drum. He began playing the drum kit at age 9 and by his 14th birthday as a self-taught drummer, he was playing local clubs as a "fill-in" drummer-for-hire for bands in need. By age 17, he was playing the East Coast circuit with his first band. Studying under the direction of Jeff Bryant in high school, he refined his rudiments and reinforced his dedication to music and the instrument through Music Theory, Jazz Band, Contemporary Ensemble and Marching Band. He was also accepted into the National touring drum & bugle corpse "Bridgemen" out of Bayonne, NJ. Early influences include (but are not limited to) John Bonham, Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland and Lars Ulrich. His first recording experiences were doing various demo's at the age of 17 as he was "weekend touring" the region until after he graduated high school. Shortly after his graduation, he entered into the U.S. Army and had to take a 5 year hiatus. After getting back in the saddle in 1996 with a cover band, he moved to Northern Virginia to join "Madtabber And The Freakshow" performing live and recording original music. His next endeavor was with "Tangent" whom also performed originals and covers in the Northern VA area. Tangent recorded a full length CD (self titled) of which was distributed at local stores and several songs were being played in rotation on local radio stations. Tangent was very well accepted when opening for "Lynch Mob" in 2002 but disbanded after he relocated to North Carolina where he resides to this day. His previous band "Mr. Blackwell" of North Carolina was also very well accepted and is still occasionally performing around the Raleigh area. His current projects include: "Aittala" (Raleigh, NC) who is in full force with new original songs as well as a plethora of previously recorded material for live performances as well as 2 European tours. "The Fifth" (Fayetteville, NC) who is also in full force writing new material and preparing to record as well as touring the U.S. with a previous tour to Japan (prior to his joining the band).