BJs Bio
BJ Walraven (guitar and vocals)
BJ grew up in a small town outside of Jackson, MI. There wasn't much to do out there...so BJ turned to music at a young age, influenced by his best friend Jerry. Some of the first artists he tried to copy included REM, Midnight Oil, and Living Colour.
After high school and through college, BJ's influences grew to include Toad the Wet Sprocket, Jimi Hendrix, Jane's Addiction, John Mayer, Jimmy Eat World, the Verve Pipe, and the Pixies. He started writing music, and eventually songs, with his first song (The Key) penned in 1994. It took him another 7 years or so to figure out that if he was going to get his songs performed in a band, he'd have to form one, and someone would have to sing them. That realization led to the formation of View...and since no one else volunteered to sing, BJ got started learning right away...
BJ uses the following gear: PRS, Line6, Fender, and Westone / Electra guitars, GHS strings, Dunlop picks, Digitech effects, and Peavey amplifiers.
For recording, BJ uses ProTools, Cakewalk Sonar, and n-Track Studio multitrack recording software, Yamaha monitors, Mackie mixers, M-Audio Delta sound cards, Universal Audio UAD-1 effects and Hafler amplifiers, as well as a myriad of microphones.
Before View, BJ has been fortunate enough to play some great shows at venues such as:
The Michigan Theatre - Jackson, MI
The Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
Mac's Bar - Lansing, MI
The Berkley Front - Berkley, MI
Cricket on the Hill - Denver, CO
Herman's Hideaway - Denver, CO
with some great bands:
Leading Green (Monroe, MI)
Right on Red (Denver, CO)
Driven by Steam (Canton, MI)
Lurch (Jackson, MI)
The Everyday Peephole / The Neverbeens (St. Johns, MI)
Sweet Pickles and the Good Time Jug Band (Horton, MI)
and some great people:
Jerry Weston - guitar (Sweet Pickles)
Shawn Wernette - bass, guitar, vocals (Sweet Pickles, the Everyday Peephole, Lurch)
Dennis Hughes - drums (Sweet Pickles, the Everyday Peephole)
Nathan Shafer - bass, piano, guitar, vocals (Sweet Pickles)
Serenity Delavan - bass, guitar, vocals (the Everyday Peephole, the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Erik Weber - drums, vocals (the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Patrick Regan - bass (the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Coley Dennis - guitar (Lurch)
Jarrett Hoffman - drums (Lurch)
Brian Warner - trumpet (Lurch)
Josh Gallant - bass (Lurch)
Michael Connolly - bass (Driven by Steam)
Peter Higgins - guitar and vocals (Right on Red)
Chris Gartenmann - bass and vocals (Right on Red)
Brandon Lund - drums (Right on Red)
Tom Haynes - guitar and vocals (Leading Green)
Dustin Mullendore - drums (Leading Green)
Liam Donahue - bass (Leading Green)
BJ grew up in a small town outside of Jackson, MI. There wasn't much to do out there...so BJ turned to music at a young age, influenced by his best friend Jerry. Some of the first artists he tried to copy included REM, Midnight Oil, and Living Colour.
After high school and through college, BJ's influences grew to include Toad the Wet Sprocket, Jimi Hendrix, Jane's Addiction, John Mayer, Jimmy Eat World, the Verve Pipe, and the Pixies. He started writing music, and eventually songs, with his first song (The Key) penned in 1994. It took him another 7 years or so to figure out that if he was going to get his songs performed in a band, he'd have to form one, and someone would have to sing them. That realization led to the formation of View...and since no one else volunteered to sing, BJ got started learning right away...
BJ uses the following gear: PRS, Line6, Fender, and Westone / Electra guitars, GHS strings, Dunlop picks, Digitech effects, and Peavey amplifiers.
For recording, BJ uses ProTools, Cakewalk Sonar, and n-Track Studio multitrack recording software, Yamaha monitors, Mackie mixers, M-Audio Delta sound cards, Universal Audio UAD-1 effects and Hafler amplifiers, as well as a myriad of microphones.
Before View, BJ has been fortunate enough to play some great shows at venues such as:
The Michigan Theatre - Jackson, MI
The Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
Mac's Bar - Lansing, MI
The Berkley Front - Berkley, MI
Cricket on the Hill - Denver, CO
Herman's Hideaway - Denver, CO
with some great bands:
Leading Green (Monroe, MI)
Right on Red (Denver, CO)
Driven by Steam (Canton, MI)
Lurch (Jackson, MI)
The Everyday Peephole / The Neverbeens (St. Johns, MI)
Sweet Pickles and the Good Time Jug Band (Horton, MI)
and some great people:
Jerry Weston - guitar (Sweet Pickles)
Shawn Wernette - bass, guitar, vocals (Sweet Pickles, the Everyday Peephole, Lurch)
Dennis Hughes - drums (Sweet Pickles, the Everyday Peephole)
Nathan Shafer - bass, piano, guitar, vocals (Sweet Pickles)
Serenity Delavan - bass, guitar, vocals (the Everyday Peephole, the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Erik Weber - drums, vocals (the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Patrick Regan - bass (the Neverbeens, Driven by Steam)
Coley Dennis - guitar (Lurch)
Jarrett Hoffman - drums (Lurch)
Brian Warner - trumpet (Lurch)
Josh Gallant - bass (Lurch)
Michael Connolly - bass (Driven by Steam)
Peter Higgins - guitar and vocals (Right on Red)
Chris Gartenmann - bass and vocals (Right on Red)
Brandon Lund - drums (Right on Red)
Tom Haynes - guitar and vocals (Leading Green)
Dustin Mullendore - drums (Leading Green)
Liam Donahue - bass (Leading Green)