User:Matt656/Zak Hooper (American musician)

Zak Hooper is a musician from Connecticut. He is currently the lead guitarist in the musical group, Down On Seven. Zak has found success in local and regional music as well garnering national attention through his work at the Sound Emporium   studio in Nashville, Tennessee. He is managed by Octane. Revolt Management Zak was born on August 18, 1975 in New Britain, Connecticut. He grew up in New Britain, Connecticut, later moving to Portland, Connecticut and then to East Hampton, Connecticut. He is currently based in New Haven, Connecticut. Zak began playing drums at age 13. He switched to guitar the following year and soon became sought after for his tremendous natural ability. After about years in various musical projects, Zak began his journey to hard rock recognition. In 1999, he founded a Guns N’ Roses tribute band called Dust N’ Bones in East Hampton, Connecticut. Performing under the stage name of J. Bones, Zak’s repertoire spanned the entire catalog of Guns N’ Roses songs from the early unreleased songs such as Shadow of Your Love through the then current release Oh My God (Guns N' Roses song). Zak began using Gibson Les Paul custom guitars as well as Fender Telecasters, and a prototype from Fernandes Guitars. Zak also began using a Crybaby wah pedal and a talk box to accurately replicate Guns N’ Roses songs. Zak wanted to move away from cover material and into original compositions. By 2001, Zak left Dust N’ Bones to form an original hard rock project known as Bitterpill. Bitterpill recorded and performed regularly for the next six years. It was during this time that Zak the original version of what would become his first radio single Down N’ Beaten. During their run, Bitterpill was lauded on the performing and recording musician’s website GarageBand.com. Their single Leave Me Screamin' won several recognitions on the internet but was ultimately unreleased on the radio. By 2007, Bitterpill was starting to wind down its performances and recording. Zak began working on solo material. On July 7, 2007, Zak, Bitterpill bassist Kevin “Scooter” Blaine, and Bitterpill drummer Bill Taylor founded the new group Down On Seven.