Erez Ginat drums for Wil Seabrook's band. Recently, their song "It's Your Life" and "They're Living It For You" was all over the WB television network in promotional trailers for Dawson's Creek. The song was off an album recorded for Maverick under the guidance of legendary John Ryan, known for his work with Santana, Styx, and the Allman Brothers. Erez stopped with the band in Los Angeles for a gig at The Roxy as part of their west coast tour and related the story of how he came to attend the LA Music Academy in 1999, and the course his music career took from then on...

"One of the teachers in the Bass Department at the time, Guy Erez, recorded Wil's first album, and Wil was looking for players. I got recommended and auditioned, and that's how I started in the band. We met in July of 2000. I had come to the LA Music Academy from Israel just one year before.

We rehearsed and went on the road and started getting lots of attention from record companies. Finally, Maverick [parented by Warner Bros.] seemed to be the serious one. We recorded in the Capitol Records building in Hollywood last year. That's where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and all kinds of famous people recorded. It was an amazing experience. Maverick wanted to do lots of PR for us before the release, so the promo department introduced our music to Dawson's Creek. We featured a trailer for one of the episodes and got a whole month's worth of play on the WB.

Right now we're touring with Great Big Sea, a Canadian band, and then we're touring the Midwest with Sister Hazel, and the southeast with Cowboy Mouth.

My year at the LA Music Academy really prepared me for touring professionally. You can always talk whenever you want to the teachers. The attention you get is wonderful. The teachers have well-known names and amazing reputations, and sometimes you stop and say, 'Wow, those are the best players in the world and they're sitting here talking to me!'

When I decided to come to the LA Music Academy, I had just finished 3 mandatory years in the army in Israel. I spoke to Tom [Aylesbury, President] and sent in an application and a demo tape. I recorded one song with some other musicians, and I played a solo. When Tom called me to say I got accepted, it was one of the happiest days of my life. I pretty much screamed in his ear with joy.

I packed everything up in March '99, and the first time I landed at LAX, which was my first time in the US, I was scared and felt very alone. But I caught a taxi from the airport to the school, and they really welcomed me and were very warm people. They hooked me up right away with the apartment coordinator, and she found me a nice place to live with another student close to the school. I had no problems.

At first, with the language, it was a little hard to adjust. I recorded all my classes and went back and listened to them on tape. The classes were so small, and the school was such a great environment that I just walked around the hallways and got to know everybody. I got a lot of attention in class and the teachers treated me really, really well.

The school helped us by telling us about every available opportunity or audition. I was invited to stay on for the graduate program and extended my student visa and kept on studying at the school taking one-on-one lessons, which were part of the program.

I got a car and started reading Music Connection, and I called pretty much everybody. I worked for nothing with 5 different bands and then Wil called. When I heard his voice I quit all the other bands and concentrated just on his project. He stood out because he was very honest about everything that was going on for him, and he offered me a chance to tour.

My time at the LA Music Academy was great and amazing. Most of the students were from all over the world, not just Americans. The school is very open to the cultures of the world, and it feels like a small family. For me it was just fabulous, and I'd recommend it to anybody wanting a career as a musician."