Guitar: Dave Isom
My interest in music began at an early age. We had this old piano in the basement when I was a kid. My parents taught me how to play “Heart and Soul” on the keys, and I thought it was just the coolest thing!
Years later I went on to join the middle school band at Kahler and learned how to play the saxophone. Throughout middle school and high school, I continued doing as much as I could musically. I played in marching band, concert band, jazz band, and even played in a couple theater pit orchestras.

Then when I was 14, I decided to take on a new instrument. I bought my first guitar from Music Lab in Lansing for $236 earned from my job as a paper carrier. It was a Peavey Predator – basically a Stratocaster knockoff. I played on that for years to come, as I tried to mimic the great guitar players of the ’80s and ’90s. My particular favorites were Slash, Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen (until I realized what a dick Eddie was when he and Sammy parted ways). One of my high school band mates, Bill Hughes, played the drums and we would get together just to jam around and play half of every Guns ‘n Roses song ever written. Bill’s parents were so cool, they’d let us rock hard and loud in his tiny little bedroom until 8 or 9 at night just about whenever we wanted.

The old Peavey Predator after 5 years of jammin, and stickers. The pick guard is Jimmy John’s menus from Lafayette.

Back in 1995, Bill and I co-founded a band named Mire along with Bill’s girlfriend’s co-worker Lisa. We never made it out of the garage, but we did manage to record an entire album of all-original material (in a weekend long blitzkrieg recording session). We parted ways somewhere around 1997 when Lisa disappeared and we lost touch with her.
Later, Bill and I co-founded another band called Lazlo with bassist Dan Paztor. Again, we jammed around and had lots of fun but never really made it out of the garage.

A few years passed, and an old friend of ours from high school band moved back to the area after spending many years out in a little patch of desert known as Las Vegas. Tim Parish was a region rat once again! And even better yet, while Tim was away he decided to start playing bass! Again, Bill and I joined forces with a bass player to form a band called 8 Ball Chaos. And again, we played to audiences primarily made up of closed garage doors or local law enforcement officers asking us to close the garage door.

Then something happened that would spark my musical ambitions in to high gear. I moved in to a new house in the spring of 2007, and was celebrating the fact that I no longer lived in a duplex. What better way to celebrate than to crank up the amp and thoroughly exercise the tubes (a feat that I couldn’t do with someone else living on the other side of my walls). A couple days later I’m talking with my neighbor, Ken from across the street, and he says, “Oh, I heard you playing your guitar the other day.”
My first thought was, “Oh shit. They’re telling me to turn it down already!”
Then Ken says, “You should come by and jam some time. I play drums!”
I started jamming with Ken and his buddies occasionally. I brought Tim by and introduced him to the group, and before long, Tim and I were founding members of the band Gone Shootin’.

Gone Shootin’ is a fun band to play in, but I missed my Billy! I took a bit of advice slightly modified from the movie Contact, “why build one band when you can build two for twice the time investment?” Tim, Bill and myself started playing together again, but we were still missing vocals. Unlike times past, I actually owned PA equipment this time around and I just happened to know a talented vocalist. My wife’s friend Jessica has a magnificent vocal talent and she was eager to come out to Dyer to attract the attention of local law enforcement with us.

Together, the four of us created Six Five Nine (named for a secion in the Dyer, IN Town Code). Our combined musical tastes and influences have created a sound that blends between the classic rock of old and new metal of the present day with various sonic field trips in between.
Throughout my life, music has been a driving force. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without the ability to create music. I’ve been playing music since before I was born. (I used to hum in the womb, but no one could hear me.) I’ll be playing until I’m put 6 feet under ground. It’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun along the way. I hope you get to come out and catch one of our shows, and become a part of that sonic journey. Rock on!