E-Mail This Article to a Friend Mass masters Guitarist Gary Hoey and songwriter Tom Hambridge BY TED DROZDOWSKI
	Related Links Gary Hoey's official Web site Tom Hambridge's official Web site

Gary Hoey launched his career with "Hocus Pocus." Not sleight of hand, though his fiery instrumental technique has its own distinct magic, but the 1973 Top 10 hit by the Dutch group Focus. The Lawrence-raised guitarist covered the tune on his 1993 debut, Animal Instinct (Warner/Reprise), and it made the radio charts, transforming Hoey, a then-struggling player on LA’s metal scene, into a cult hero.

Hoey has maintained that status with a series of blood-boiling albums that are heavy on riffage while upholding the basic rock-and-roll values of melodies, hooks, and heart. He’s also diversified, creating soundtrack music for films and TV and cutting his popular Ho! Ho! Hoey series of Christmas CDs.

"I’ve been blessed with living my dream," he says. "I’ve played in front of 30,000 people. I’ve traded licks on stage with Brian May from Queen and Joe Satriani and Peter Frampton. It’s been great and my career is thriving, but I felt like it was time to come back home."

In September, Hoey left LA to return to New England with his family. He’s relocated to within a short drive of the Lawrence area, near his sisters and other relatives in Pelham, New Hampshire. He’s also built a studio in his basement, and he’s working on his next solo album and — drummers and bassists, polish your rŽsumŽs — looking to form a new, locally based band.

"LA is getting crazier by the day," he explains. "I wanted my kids to have everything I had when I was a kid. I have a three-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. I wanted them to be surrounded by family and to get to build snowmen. I wanted them to go to a good school. I love being back because the people in New England are awesome. You pull up to a red light and people are driving pick-up trucks and vans and they smile at you. In LA, you pull up to a light and there’s a kid half my age driving a $90,000 car. Here, there’s no attitude."

Hoey moved to Los Angeles in 1987, after he came this close to filling the guitar spot in Ozzy Osbourne’s band. Until then, he had been working 24/7 to develop his craft. He dropped out of high school to devote himself to the guitar, taking lessons, practicing, and playing in local groups until Ozzy showed up in Boston looking for a guitarist. Osborne liked Hoey’s tape enough to fly him to LA for an audition, and afterward, Hoey knew he had to go back.

"That was a very exciting time to be in LA. I got to live some of the glory days out there. Guns N’ Roses was just starting to break. I was right smack in the middle of Hollywood, living across the street from the lead singer of Ratt. I’d go to the clubs and there would be Slash and Axl, and in walks Gene Simmons or Lemmy from Motšrhead. You don’t see that out there anymore. I was in my dream. I had the huge hair and was dressed head-to-toe in leather. I’d be in a strip bar and Axl would give me change for a five."

Hoey thought his time had come when the metal band he played in were signed to Warner Bros. "They spent $400,000 on the record. We were going to be the next Van Halen." But Nirvana came along. Metal was out, grunge came in. Fortunately, Hoey’s A&R woman at the label was enamored of his talent and got him a $30,000 budget for a solo instrumental album. "The food budget was more than $30,000 on the band’s record," he says, laughing. But thanks to "Hocus Pocus," Animal Instinct and Hoey’s career grew wings. He followed with the soundtrack to the surf saga Endless Summer II (Warner/Reprise, now on Surfdog), which cemented his status as a demi-god among Southern California surfers. Even Dick Dale, the Quincy-born surf-guitar king, gave Hoey his blessing, proclaiming him his favorite guitarist.

Today, Hoey has 15 albums listed on his garyhoey.com Web site, but the best way to get a quick taste of his musical career is the recently issued The Best of Gary Hoey (Surfdog), which ranges from his singing-toned "Hocus Pocus" to the sweet, airy "Peace Pipe" to a dirty rocking version of Dale’s classic "Miserlou" to the big-bottomed "Blast" to the reggae-inspired "Goin’ Surfin’." That’s a lot of territory to cover, and his guitar always maintains a human, voice-like quality that’s the mark of a great player.

Since moving his family back East, Hoey has had time to squeeze in a few local charity gigs, but he’s got plenty of projects under way. He’s recording a new disc of classic surf instrumentals in his basement studio that’s due out in June. He also writing and recording new music for Disney’s Space Mountain roller coaster, composing tunes for ESPN, and doing the soundtrack for a new NASCAR TV show called Behind the Garage Door. "I love that name, because I started behind the garage door when I was playing with my first bands," he says. And now he’s aiming to get out of the basement. "I’m trying to get this record done and then find some local guys and get out to play." Interested? Send Gary a demo at Box 954, Pelham, New Hampshire 03076.