Carl Elizondo

Music has always been in Carl’s blood, from his earliest years playing violin at the age of 10 in Catholic school he has always felt the calling. “I remember jamming to songs with my older brother in our room, me on a conga of all things & my brother on guitar”, or “holding the Meet The Beatles album on release day in the backseat of our 64 Chevy as we drove back from Sears, I think the album cost $1.99 but then again gas was 89cents a gallon! We really begged for that album cause my mom had bought us The Beetle Beat album at first, some cheap rip off band!” During Carl’s grade school years, he dabbled in other passions such as guitar which quickly fizzed out when his guitar teacher told his parents “you’re wasting your money, your son plays by ear, only! So Carl found the world of drums.
He convinced a family friend to cosign on a drum set from a local dealer, now he had found his passion. Another interest was UFOs, buying books and reading up on the extraterrestrials was something Carl always felt was intriguing. In high school Carls passion for music only grew, he formed a rock band with some high school friends, rehearsing as often as possible. “I actually had band practice on prom night, as if I would have gone to that anyway!”
In 1978, after years of playing in local groups Carl met Bob Loza and joined Razu, a local but popular band that won a Battle of the Bands at Gazzaris in Hollywood. “We turned down the prize because Phil Spector was in on this & would have produced our album and offered a horrible deal!”
From there Carl joined up with Greg Leon in 1982, to form The Greg Leon Invasion, The two of them collaborated on many songs as the group saw a revolving door of members from Joey Vera (Armored Saint) to Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne).
They produced a single and an L.P. that moved in local music circuits. Tired of waiting for a break, in 1984 Carl was recruited for and took up the offer to drum for SIN, which included Rik Fox, a local bass player. The group quickly gained fame in the local music circuit playing and selling out clubs playing with the likes of Great White & Metallica. Rik Fox was eventually replaced by Joey Cristofanilli (Ratt) and the group changed their name to Jag Wire and were immediately signed to Target Records.
They released the well received album Made In Heaven in which Laura Canyon from Kerrang Magazine sites “this will place them among the royalty of rock.”
But as with many groups, the fruits of their labor were short lived, and Carl left the group. He met up again with Bob Loza to form “Heroes in Love”, now this was an awesome group with writing that was seldom found in the local groups.
After years of running in circles though, the guys decided to call it a day and disbanded. Carl jammed with other bands throughout the years but refused to commit to the ties that come with joining a group again. He has honed his skills in Drums, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Vocals and producing (his biggest challenge to date), and his story continues...
Carl has been writing music for years, taking the world that revolves around him and putting it to words. A lot of his music is kind of the standard protocol of songwriting such as love gained, love lost, depression and life.
The Beatles and Oasis are the main influences in Carl’s music “as Noel Gallagher said” (in reference to him borrowing from the Beatles) “if you are going to pinch, you might as well pinch from the best” “I do believe that” Carl says “it’s not like I don’t have an original Idea in my head, I just like that sound.” “I do try to write from the hip, meaning that I try not to think the songs out too much, they are what they are”.
Taking on the daunting task of writing, recording and producing each song has been the biggest challenge Carl faces “every day is a learning journey” not having an education in music or even recording, Carl hits this task head on. “It doesn’t scare me, the not knowing, it invites me in, I always say -Life is based on logic- and I can think anything out, my other creed is- I will cross that bridge when I get to it-, so I don’t worry about what I don’t know, I will eventually get it!”. And he does, this can be heard on his first CD The Crystal & The Cross.
Carl’s current project is an album called The Tomes Of Lore, just as with The Crystal & The Cross “It’s about the daily battle in my head with my conscience, religion, life, death, love, hate and the mystic side of life”.
I see myself as some old Scottish Rogue, sword in hand and my nemesis are the old demons of past lives I have battled. They still come around and knock on my door in the hopes that I will open it. “ and the battle continues...”
In April 2010, Carl released his third Album titled Pieces of Eight (referring to the Spanish coins of old), to great reviews, among this group of self penned Brit Rock gems is “Content at Tea” a song that pays homage to a “Barmy Nack”, someone in Carl’s past, and “Seven Seas” a song of lost love on the high seas, these are two of the featured tracks in this collection.
Carl says he has song ideas streaming into his head at all hours of the day, especially at 2 in the morning!
“I have at least 40 songs that are just waiting to be recorded, plenty of fodder to choose from!” Carl usually sequesters himself in his recording studio towards the winter months, his favourite time of the year to record.