I had a 13 year old metalhead brother, and I was a child who was very "aware" of things from an early age. At age 4 I even wrote a song called "Bloody Hammer" that was inspired by Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" cover. I was also a big fan of Iron Maiden's "Somewhere In Time" album... and the "Wasted Years" video. Other groups I like as a young child in the late 80s included: Pretty Maids, Frehley's Comet, Helloween, Queensryche, Judas Priest etc. In the early 90s, when I was like 9-10, I dabbled a bit in pop music (Phil Collins) and even country (Garth Brooks, Alabama) for like a year. At age 11, I got into Led Zeppelin, U2 and the Ramones. At age 14, I got into Kiss, AC/DC and 70s Aerosmith. At age 15, I rediscovered my love for Maiden, Priest, Ryche, 'Deth, Dio... later I got into some classic rock like Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult... and then I discovered the world of underground metal and prog at age 18 thanks to the wonders of the internet. In the last few years, I've been expanding my tastes into all sorts of crazy non-metal stuff.
