Now we delve into the mysterious past of the man so aptly named Jonzar. Many questions will be answered in this small piece of literature. What made him decide to become a musician? What powerful forces guided him to pick up the bass, and what villainous sadists drove him to sing Gloria Estefan? All will be revealed.
It was the year 1997. Jon Collard had picked up the trombone a few years earlier, and was now an esteemed classical brass musician. Although he was respected by his fellow band geeks alone, his path was soon about to change. This was the year in which he connected with John Giacchi, freshly moved from the depths of West Warwick, RI. It seemed that Giacchi had a two person band going, and was looking for more. "I remember he [Giacchi] was very impressed that I knew who Rush was and was into them." -- Jon Collard.
So Jon first joined the band as, not the bassist, but the keyboardist. Although he liked the keyboard, the one who came to be known as Magicfingerman hungered for something a little different. He had always been interested in the bass. As a trombone player, he knew the function of the lower toned instruments, so he picked up the bass and before long, had mastered it. "It was a little while before I had enough money to buy one, so I taught myself a little about it using a broken acoustic guitar that only had four strings left." -- Jonzar
In 1998, Jon moved to Paxton, MA, where he attended Anna Maria University for music therapy. His instrument focus there was the trombone, since it was a classical-oriented school. There, he was trained in ear-training, sight reading, transposition, all manners of music theory, history, and composition. It was also the first place where he was every formally taught how to sing. Jon had only spent three quarters of the year in Massachusettes, when he realized that he yearned for something different out of life.
He moved back to Connecticut and focused more on the band. Throughout the following years, many "extra" people came and went, but it seemed more and more evident that the drum, guitar, and bass trio was what was meant to be. This was when Jonzar finally stepped up to the mic. "It was very unnerving to me. I didn't really have a lot of confidence in my vocal abilities and I had a big problem with stage presence at first." -- Jon Collard.
Jon Collard now is a very important part of the band. Apart from vocalist and bassist, his creative contributions to the band are countless. He is like a never ending fountain of musical ideas, and always has something to contribute to his bandmates' riffs. He is truly an asset to the band.