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Jeff Gaines
was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in 1963. At six years
old, his family moved to Detroit, were they lived for three
years until a tragic house fire claimed the life of his
father on Christmas Day, 1969. Soon after, his mother
brought Jeff and his sister to Florida, were they could all
be closer to her parents who had retired there.
Always fascinated by the ocean, Jeff loved growing up around
the water on West Central Florida’s “Sun Coast”. He spent
his teens enjoying all the adventure that the Gulf of
Mexico, beaches, local lakes, rivers and springs had to offer. An
avid camper and fisherman, he rarely found himself without
something “fun” to do. The diversity of his many varied
interests, (including; Boating, Flying small airplanes,
Wilderness Survival, The Arts, Animals, Sports, Astronomy,
Reading, Cooking, Roses, collecting Hard Rock Café T-shirts,
Bee Keeping, Computers, and any kind of Racing) are almost
as amazing as the man himself.
In school, he lettered in several sports, including Track,
Football and Wrestling, as well as being the President of
his Junior High School’s Future Farmers of America Chapter
and the President of his High School’s Audio/Visual Club.
(During his Junior High Years, he worked after school as a
ranch hand, mending fences, tending bees and branding cattle
at a local cattle and dairy ranch operated by his
Agriculture Teacher.) After graduating High School, he found
himself singing in a band and exploring a myriad of diverse
careers.
First, he worked in the sea on an assortment of Shrimp,
crab, scallop and mullet boats. Weary of the on again-off
again seasons of that industry, he then moved on to
operating heavy equipment. AS it so often happens, the band
fell apart, after which he became a nightclub/radio
Disc Jockey. During that time, he trained guard and
protection dogs and worked as an Audio/Visual Technician at
the World-famous "Innisbrook" golf and tennis resort, as well as driving dump
trucks and operating heavy equipment. Jeff spent six years
working in the day while honing his skills as a Club D.J. at
night. This often meant that he was holding down as many as
three jobs at a time, until he could hold his own in the
major Nightclubs.
It was during this period, that he "rediscovered" his next
passion; Sound and Lighting!
("While in High School, I'd
taught myself to use the School's lighting and dimmer system
so that I could light our band when we played in the gym. I found
that I really loved it and yet, had no idea how prophetic
that experience would later turn out to be. Since I’d become so good at
that, I thought it was only natural to go and get educated in
the science of sound as well. So, I attended a private,
technical school In St. Pete, in order to learn the art of
being a recording engineer. It was very, very intense
schooling, but definitely well worth it. Not only did I
learn how to mix and record bands in the studio setting, I
also learned to mix bands in a “live”, or concert atmosphere
as well. Learning both fields, plus my knowledge of
Video, definitely paid off later on in my life" -Jeffy)
He quickly raised through the ranks in the local nightclub
scene and, with the mentoring of some of the big name Club
D.J.'s and Lighting Jocks in the Tampa Bay area, he was soon spinning in the
biggest clubs in the area. Quickly making quite a name for
himself with the locals and the club owners, he was soon
recognized and sought after as one of the local elite Club
Disc Jockeys.
At that time, Moving lights, or “Intelligent” lights as they
later came to be known, were just being introduced to the
world. The large clubs Jeff was spinning in at the time, all
had these lights in their lightshow. With the further
mentoring of his friend “Weird Dave” Paine, he quickly
became adept not only at programming them, but working on
them as well. Inevitably, this technology made its way into
the concert production industry and Jeff followed right
along with them.
By being in the proverbial right place at the right time, he
quickly went from doing nightclub installs and lighting
Raves, to touring with some major pop groups (i.e. Snap! -
Bone, Thugs & Harmony - As well as the Def Jam 10th
Anniversary tour). Over the next twelve years, he also did
many major festivals in the Caribbean and Carnival in
Trinidad. When not touring, he gigged as a local stage hand,
setting up concerts for everyone from the Rolling Stones to
Mel Torme’.
After
getting a bit burnt out on the grueling production
lifestyle, he took some time off from the production world
to delve into
yet another passion: Writing. He has written a Novel,
started a second, he has a collection of fictional
short-stories as well as a collection poetry and is now
working on a collection of philosophical essays. While he
started writing, Jeff also set out to develop a piece of
commercial property into a Plant Nursery and Gardens! He
thought it would be a "creative" vent for him, as well as an
income while he honed his writing skills.
Sadly,
the
Florida Hurricane season of '2005 (four in 27 days!) wiped
out his property (and all his work) and he then found
himself looking for work. Never daunted, he put his resume
online and ended up moving to China to work for one of the
largest lighting manufacturers in the world! After living
there for almost a year, he decided to come back to the
states and move to New York. He is currently residing there
and freelancing in the production industry.
I’ve been close friends with Jeff for over eighteen years and
believe me, this is the “Reader's Digest”-condensed version of this
talented guy’s wild, roller coaster life! A world-traveler
and very well read, he
has an amazing ability to intelligently converse with just
about anyone, on just about any subject. He is, in every
sense of the word, a renaissance man and truly one of the
most amazing guys I’ve ever met.
-Stan Priest
Music Program Director
Kiss-FM, WKSS 95.7
Hartford,
Connecticut
www.kiss957.com
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