BIOGRAPHY

    Gary MacKenzie was born in Sioux City, Iowa, 1951. His family moved to Atwater California in 1956 where his mother and father were stationed at Castle AFB.  His inspiration in the low end was when his brother, Brian, came home with a record introducing him to the music of James Brown. “I was fascinated by how that soulful groove made me feel.” His passion for the frequencies at the lower end of the spectrum continued through the years with inspiration from such bassists as James Jamerson, Bob Babbit, Anthony Jackson, Larry Graham, Rocco Prestia, Louis Johnson, Nathaniel Phillips and Verdine White. He currently holds in high reverence to Victor Wooten, Matthew Garrison, Lincoln Goines, Mike Pope and Dominique DiPiazza. “These bassists are virtuosos, with their agility, chordal sophistication and harmonic intricacy, they can step outside and get back in as they please, if I tried stepping outside like they do, the screen door would hit me on my way out.”

    In 1962, their mother and father noticed their interest in music grew and bought them both electric guitars from the BX on Base and began taking guitar lessons. In 1963, they met two brothers, one played guitar the other played drums and decided to form a band. Realizing the need for a bass player, Gary didn’t hesitate to fill the spot. “I took the B and E strings off the guitar, turned the bass all the way up, the treble all the way down and that became my first bass.” One day after coming home from school, the two brother found themselves in amazement, their parents had bought Brian a Fender Stratocaster, Gary a Fender Jazz  Bass and a Fender Bassman amp to share. At age 12, Gary had his first real bass. “I’m still very grateful to my parents for their compassion, understanding, support and patience all those years.”

   Since then, Gary has played in a multitude of groups and styles of music, but the pocket and groove has always remained a constant. His ability to hold the foundation, lay deep in the pocket and pull out a groove has given him recognition from many. His influences from the Funk Brothers have taught him the importance of the pocket and the groove.

    His love of jazz was also introduced to him by his brother while listening to an album by Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Swiss Movement, also Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters album, Chameleon. “You put the R&B, Funk and Jazz influences together and that gives me a ‘Pocket Full of Funk’.”

    After finishing college in 1972, with a degree in the arts and music, Gary moved  to Fairfax, in Marin County, Ca. to pursue his music only to become disillusioned. One year later he moved back to Atwater and got a job as the technician of the Fine Arts Division at Merced College where he is still employed. Gary continued his music with some of the local groups for a while before taking a 10 year absence from music when he then joined the art faculty to teach photography and ceramic courses while still maintaining his position as technician for the fine arts division. During those 10 years he still set in and jammed with local bands. He was called upon so frequently, the local musicians started calling him ‘Standby’. One night filling in at a local club, Gary was approached by two musicians asking him to come set in with them sometime, not knowing at the time they were looking for a new bassist; he showed up at a few of their performances and learned some of their songs. “The energy these guys had with one another overwhelmed me, I needed to get back into my music.” In 1990 Gary joined their group, Other Hands, with Phillip Matayag, vocals and drums, Don Maghoney, vocals and guitar, Darin Morris, vocals and guitar, Alan Yagi, keyboards. “Being the new guy in the band, sometimes the drummer would look over at me, smile and start playing circles around me just to keep me on my toes, the other guys would look over and just smile.”

   With a few member changes over the years, the group changed their name to Donnie and the Wayrads, still with Don, Darin and Gary but added drummer Dave Hawks. “Dave is a phenomenal drummer, man can he lock it down, he makes my job easy, Donnie has a fantastic voice and great tone, Darin is a masterful wizard on guitar. I refer to Dave as my Groove Bro and Donnie and Darin as my Gig Bro’s.”