Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jason Gato. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jason, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve been involved with several projects over the years. They’ve all meant something different to me on a professional and personal level. By far, SIlenmara has been the most meaningful project I have ever worked on. The music speaks to me a different way in this band, it seems to capture a part of me I cannot put into words. All the current members of Silenmara all come from such different backgrounds and listen to such different kinds of music. Yet we all have found common ground here.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started playing guitar at the age of 12, around 1996. It was by complete accident… Right before I began playing, I broke my left arm climbing my neighbors fence. I got my arm stuck between the wooden panels and jumped over. I heard a loud snap and the rest is history… I went to a follow up appointment to few weeks after and I could not move my fingers or even feel my hand. The doctor said I had some pretty serious nerve damage and needed rehabilitation to try and regain function of the hand. He suggested picking up a guitar.
My father had a old beat up Yamaha acoustic in his closet, so we set off to get it strung up. We could not afford lessons at the time so I just started to noodle around and started finding familiar sounds.
I began to discover music along side with the guitar and man, did that open a can of worms! I found Led Zeppelin, Pantera and Metallica in the same week, my brain began to crave music, all I wanted to do was play my guitar.
Fast forward 27 years and I still crave musical discovery, whether it be in the guitar or just finding new music to fill my life. The culmination of all of these things makes me feel proud, not only did I learn an instrument but I healed my left hand. I feel that sets me apart in some weird way.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There were so many VHS tapes ( yes…VHS tapes) available at the time that I didn’t know existed!! I feel that I missed out on a lot of developmental growth by self learning the instrument. I do not think there is anything wrong with being self taught to an extent of course. I bet those VHS tapes would have taught me a thing or two back then.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I wish I knew what drives my creativity. Sometimes I go months without writing and sometime I will write 2/3 songs a month. I tend to be most creative when I am sad or nostalgic, I guess.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.silenmara.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/silenmara
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/silenmara
• Youtube: youtube.com/silenmara

Image Credits
Boris Gomez – Wanderlust prints