New years! (Taken with instagram)
New years! (Taken with instagram)
Game time. This is risky. (Taken with instagram)
GET TO KNOW THE BAND MONTH!: Aaron Smith
This Week is the final week, we saved the best for last….AARON! Isn’t he so good looking?
My name is Aaron Smith, and I am a violinist. I’m not a very good violinist. I also play the piano, guitar, and sing, but I’m not very good at any of those things. I’m not really very good at anything, but I pretend to be and sometimes I trick people.
I spent the first years of my life running around in the woods with my friends and playing made-up games like “Super Gorillas.” We were gorillas and we were super, like, we could fly and stuff. I don’t think I need to explain why we liked playing it. I would play my mother’s old records that she didn’t like, and when she told me to stop, I would turn off the speakers, bend my head, and listen to the faint strains rising from the needle. I knew Johann Sebastian Bach made music, but I thought Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was cooler because he wrote Solfeggietto in C minor, which I often requested that my mother play.
I went to a private high school named Cornerstone Christian Academy. It was the real deal, with a dress code and uniforms, which prevented me from making any fashion decisions until I was 18, and I have a severely stunted fashion sense today as a result. In reality, that’s not the reason—I just have no sense of fashion. But I like blaming it on my high school. I had great teachers and great friends, and I never did any hard drugs, though I did have to put the smackdown on some punk ass bitches. One time I climbed a radio tower all the way to the top and almost fell off. That would have been the end of my story right there, if not for my clever fingers which eventually turned to playing instruments.
I started playing piano when I was 6 and then quit until I was 19. I took up guitar at 14 and hated it. I started playing violin at 16, and it made my back hurt. But I kept playing for some reason, and wouldn’t you know it, I surpassed all my expectations and ended up being mediocre at all of them. Now I play in a band called The Lighthouse and the Whaler.
Ask me what I’m doing here, I’ll tell you that I don’t know. I used to hate everybody, but now I think they’re alright. One time I had a girlfriend, now I don’t even think about women. I’m trying to be nice to you—please take the ugly grimace on my face as a smile. Sorry for being born ugly, and hopefully we can be friends!
Get to know the band month: Mark Porostosky
My name as it appears on my certificate of birth is Mark Steven Porostosky Jr. However, I will gladly accept other nombres ( or shortened nombres) including Marquese, Poro, Jr., Mike, and Hannigan.
I was born in a city east of the home of the mighty Browns known as Painesville, Ohio. My Hungarian family owned a shoe repair shop when I was very little. I probably would have followed into the footsteps of my Grandfather; however my fate was instead decided by the technology that now can make several pairs of cheap shoes abundant and affordable to every human being. I am only partially grateful for this.
As a boy, I soon came to love the smell of vanilla, and the sound I heard in my head when I smelt its sweet soothing fragrance. However, I also soon developed a severe allergy to fragrance, and I have had to avoid most chemical fragrance mixes ever since. I soon turned toward the latter part of that initial statement and begin to desire the crafting of sound.
It is within these days that I decided very carefully an instrument to begin my romance with. I chose the guitar. I found it intriguingly exciting and studied its string vibrations seriously through college. Now I am only half serious about my studies of string vibrations. Through my life I have picked up and played an assortment of other instruments that I have found as suitable mates for myself and the guitar. Currently I am learning the art of the clarinet.
Like my dear friend Steven, I too have played in several bands and have traveled the road alone as a singer/ songwriter. However, that road was very lonely and full of tears so I must say I am quite ecstatic to be playing with the four fine individuals within TLATW.
Other than this romance with musique, I can only say I have one other affair. This is the distant sport of running. I use to be a pretty serious freak about running. Now, I am only a half serious freak runner. It is true. In fact if you are driving in Northern Ohio this winter you might find me once again focusing on the pavement in front of me as I run and think through the cave that is myself. I actually really enjoy it; but I enjoy it even more when running with other personas.
Now that I am an old man, I must say I still suffer from cold hands and cold ears. If I die within this decade, know that I truly do love people I just sometimes don’t know how to show it. As in the case of all humanity, I am learning to be someone. I hope so far you like who I am, but it is okay if you don’t. You might in time. Blessings from me to you
We are getting smoked by fanbridge at ping pong. But Matt almost won (Taken with Instagram at FanBridge HQ)
About to play ping pong at fanbridge! (Taken with Instagram at FanBridge HQ)
My excited face because your following us on instagram (Taken with instagram)
Chilling after soundcheck at The Mercury Lounge (Taken with instagram)
GET TO KNOW THE BAND MONTH: MIKE LOPRESTI
The next chapter of get to know the band month is today!! This week get to know Michael our lead singer and guitarist!! He is cool. CHECK OUT HIS FACE!
I was born in 1986, a magical year when the first ten members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were inducted and Top Gun came out in theaters.
I grew up in Mayfield Heights, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland playing every sport I could think of but my mom made me play this weird instrument called the piano when I was 10. It had all sorts of white and black keys, it was crazy. The first song I learned to play was the theme song to James Bond. I was sweet at it.
In high school I learned to play the guitar and at that point I realized I could just about learn any instrument I put my mind too. Except drums. I suck at drums. I played in a few bands in high school, none of which were very good and I wrote songs from the moment I learned to play James Bond. The place I learned the most about music was playing various instruments at my Church. It’s where I first played and sang in front of people. It’s those experiences that made me comfortable playing music in front of people.
I went to college at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. During my time there I really figured out that music was where I wanted to be. So much so that I interned with a musician in England for five months.
After college I returned home to Cleveland and started seriously writing music for the first time. It didn’t take long for things to start rolling and The Lighthouse and The Whaler was born. Basically, I’m always looking for an adventure.
GET TO KNOW THE BAND MONTH: STEVEN DIAZ
Hey guys, Week 2 of get to know the band month!!! This week you can get to know Steve. He is the most recent member to join, we like him a lot, heck we love em!!! If you have any questions for Steve he would love to answer them, send them to info@thelighthouseandthewhaler.com. 
My name is Steven Diaz, but my friends call me Stompin’ Steve.
I was born into a fairytale place called The George Washington Hospital in the District of Columbia. My father is originally from El Salvador and owns his own local business in my hometown. My mother is originally from Jeannette, Pa. She is an elementary specialist (which means she teaches English as a Second Language).
I grew up in Burke, Virginee. Which is NOT the south, but I certainly don’t have that harsh Canadian “a” that the kind folks in Ohio pull out from the back of their throats.
I grew up with a guitar and a soccer ball…and fresh tamales. (Seemed to make for a winning combination) (Or should I just say, “Winning!”)
I started taking piano and drum lessons in third grade and was progressing well until fourth grade…when I could join the school orchestra…and then band in fifth grade. By the end of high school, I was well acquainted with just about ten different instruments and wasn’t showing signs of stoppin’. The more interesting devices I’ve dabbled in include, Irish Folk Harp, Accordion, and the Melodica. But the Drum set and Trombone forever remain closest to my heart. (I plan to debut these on our next album, of course)
I played in bands through high school and college and even did my own signer/songwriter thing for a while, but I’ve always been more comfortable on stage with other people. There is something about the community on stage that really does it for me, whether it’s making jokes or feeling the same moment in a song.
I went to school outside of Philadelphia and studied Music Composition/Songwriting and Astronomy. (So I can write music to the stars? Yes, that seems to be the only career option I have. Thanks for pointing it out. Like I haven’t heard THAT before.) The connection is that I like math both majors peripherally involve math. Don’t believe me?!? I’ll explain it next time you come to a show.
After being coerced into moving north (yet again) to ‘The Land’, I have finally found Lakewood to be a fitting place to hang my (brand new Eddie Bauer) coat for a while. I work in the kitchen at a restaurant in Westlake and take odd jobs around the city meeting amazing people along the way.
In short,
Long walks on the beach hurt my feet and candle lit dinners are a fire hazard waiting to happen. How ‘bout we sit and play chess or take turns eating the same meal together (You take a bite then I take a bite). See! It’s all about teamwork!
Warmly,
Steven Diaz
