| Greg Scott Eklund |
Greg Scott Eklund was born on April 18, 1970, in Jacksonville, FL. Since his father was a Navy pilot, his family spent a lot of time traveling and had little money. When he was 10 or 11, Greg saw Adam Ant on television and realized he wanted to play the drums. His parents did not want him to, however. They tried to change his mind by mandating two years of piano lessons first. This did little to stop him; two years later, they bought him a Sears snare drum. Then, his family moved to a new house in Washington, DC. It took about a year before Greg finally got a full drum set, since his family could not easily afford it. His first inspirations included Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, and Foreigner. When he was in eighth grade, he dated the daughter of one of the best percussion educators in the country, Dr. Garwood Whaley. Whaley takes only one student a year, and since Greg was dating his daughter, he took him. For all four years of high school at Lake Braddock High School in Virginia, he learned classical percussion from Whaley. Also, he was a member of the school marching band, and, at about age 15, he played in the band Tension. Later, he played in three more bands, Red October, The Blonde Mexicans, and The Common Greens. Whaley started preparing Greg for Julliard, but he was growing tired of the drums. When Greg was 18, his father retired from the military and moved to Oregon. Greg came with him and attended the University of Oregon. He stopped playing drums for two years. It was at the University of Oregon where Greg met his future wife Ellina. She inspired him to start playing the drums again. He joined the band Jollymon and appeared on their album Sailing in 1993, while living in Eugene, OR. While still playing in Jollymon, he played on one song on the Sweaty Nipples' album Bug Harvest. Then, he quit Jollymon in 1994 because he believed a band had to tour to become big, and the other band members did not agree with him and wanted to stay in their new home, Portland. Greg began a search for a new band to tour with that would help pay for his $75-a-month room. During this time, he played a few lives shows with the band Nero's Rome. Then, however, he heard that Everclear, a band he knew about and liked, was looking for a new drummer. When Greg finally got ahold of Art's phone number and called him, Art already even knew his name. Following some questioning and an audition the next day, Art invited him to join the band. After Greg accepted, Art informed him that they were in the middle of an eight-label bidding war. Everclear signed to Capitol Records in late 1994 and started touring on the east coast two weeks later. Then, they went back to Portland to record Sparkle and Fade, though most of the drum parts were written by the previous drummer, Scott Cuthbert. They toured to promote that album until November 1996 and later went back to the studio to record So Much for the Afterglow. This time, however, all the drum parts were written by Greg. Greg married his long-time girlfriend Ellina on July 6, 1997. On their honeymoon, Greg acquired a ukelele. He has since been making a serious attempt at playing it and guitar as well. After their marriage, Greg and Ellina moved to Los Angeles, California. The two bought a new house there, and are living there happily. |