F5: BAND MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES: [Leann Serao] [Chris Rifkin]
 
HI, I'm Chris. After months of people asking, I have decided to tell you about myself.
 
I have always seemed to have had a love of music since I was a kid. I grew up listening to stuff like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Rainbow but it was Rush that made me want to play guitar. I started playing guitar in high school, getting more and more into progressive music like Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Crimson Glory and Helstar.
 
Around that time, I started to take lessons from John Petrucci, the guitarist of Dream Theater. I also had an appreciation for 80's new wave like Duran Duran, New Order, Gary Numan and Depeche Mode and new age artists like Jean Michel-Jarre, Tangerine Dream and Kitaro.
 
Throughout the late 80's to mid-90's I played in numerous local progressive metal bands that started out promising but due to the usual ego-driven internal problems, none of them amounted to much.
 
Frustrated, I started to release solo projects, the first of which, Itopia, came out in 1992, which was nothing more than a commercial metal experiment. In 1996, after my last band dissolved miserably, I put out my first CD, Eye of the Storm. Featuring the Geoff-Tate style vocals of Jeff Kimpland, EOTS was a blend of classic prog-power metal with 90's thrash and ambient new-age textures. While making waves overseas, I somehow felt I needed to do something different.
 
Around this time some of my heavier musical tastes, such as Prong, Fear Factory and Pantera started to come out. Also, I discovered the underground trance scene, so right there I had an interesting witches brew to create the sound of the new millennium. But there was still something missing.
 
Around late 1997, I got an idea. Why not add female vocals to the mix 'ambient thrash' I was trying to create. I was looking for someone not only with a golden voice, but with model looks and an ability to write lyrics that hit hit everybody. My search lasted a year until I ran into Leann (who I had known for months, but had no knowledge of the vast musical, vocal and lyrical ability that was well hidden) at a certain Texaco food mart in Yonkers, NY. With that final piece to the puzzle in place, and a new name symbolizing the most powerful force in nature, F5 was born.
 
So, in April 2000 F5's first release, Dawn of a New Age, is released. This is the culmination of years of musical influences along with the additional influences Leann adds to the mix.This is, by far, the most mature, musically diverse release I have ever been a part of. With Leann, I have finally found that other collaborator that makes F5 the most unique metal if not musical, group around today. I am already working on new material for the next CD, and I am really looking forward to working with Leann on it.
 
With Dawn of a New Age, I have finally begun to execute the vision I had when I started writing music. 3 songs represent how: with 'You Don't Know Me' I combine my heavy 7-string thrash grooves with a Sade/R&B side of me that previously I had locked up deeply. Combined with Leann's powerful vocals this song is the first you will hopefully hear.
On the other hand, 'Silence' is one of those songs that has a soft, new-age, ambient beginning, yet builds to a powerful, almost violent, ending, while maintaining that ambient beauty.
 
A future 'Stairway/Fade to Black', the title track demonstrates all the qualities of F5. Starting off with Leann singing in a baby-soft tone over an ambient cosmic wind, the song steadilly builds with trance-like kayboards then in one stant, turns into an all-out speed/thras frenzy with blastbeats, all yet still mixing with the vocals and keyboards. This song truly is the definition of ambient thrash.
 
For those who have wondered, I use ESP 6 & 7-string guitars, Landy 6 & 12-string doubleneck guitars, Mesa Boogie amps, Roland and Korg keyboards.
 
Thanks to Freedom of Speech studios (Micky, you rule... Go Mets!), Dr. Scott Mosher at Progressive Tape Corporation, all the radio and internet stations and distributors (Molten Metal especially) who believed. Brett from Trascending the Mundane, every friend and relative who has been there, and most importantly, my partner in crime, the other member of F5, Leann Serao, without whom, this CD would never had happened. Keep the spirit happening in NY.
 
Look for an EP of trance, house techno remixes of some of these songs from Dawn of a New Age in the spring.
 
Hi, my name is Leann Serao, and I'd like to tell you a short story about how "F5" was born.
 
I would like to start off by saying that it has been a pleasure meeting and working with Chris Rifkin. He is the brain behind this whole concept of music that we have created. I met Chris accidentally when he came into my job looking for some lunch, and walked out with a chicken sandwich and a new singer for his project. I have this little habit of singing along with the radio forgetting that there might actually be someone around who might hear me. It just so happened that the right person was listening that day.

I have always been into music. Since I was a little girl I always dreamed of being in the spotlight. Thanks in part to great musical genes, I guess I was born with some natural talent, and I have spent the last (let's just say my whole life) few years refining it. My father and his parents were professional musicians. My father even started a band when I was seventeen to give me a push in the right direction. My brother Ron, my sister Alaina, my father Anthony (or Buddy as he is affectionately known in the music business), and two of my father's friends, Joey and Dino, were known as "The Citi-Lites" for many years. All good things must come to an end though, and soon we all went our separate ways. I was left missing the biggest part of my life: performing. That's when things started to change.

Things seem to happen to me purely by accident. I don't know whether to call it luck or just good fortune. I met someone through a friend of a friend, and he pointed me towards "Al Scatt's Stolen Moments", an entertainment office specializing in weddings, parties, etc. Boy if that wasn't a plug for the company then I don't know what is! Anyway, to make a long story short, (although I'm not sure if I have ever told a short story), I am now happily an integral member of "Stolen Moments". Here I have met seven people whom have become part of my family. Certain members have inspired me to go further and through their example encouraged me to pursue my writing abilities. I was finally getting it all together when I met Chris. He was looking for a singer- songwriter, and I was looking for a producer to get me started. East meets west as they say.

Now I should tell you that Chris' project was a little different than what I was used to. I have a very eclectic style of writing. I get my inspiration from artists such as Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, Sarah Mcloughlin, Alanis Morrisette, and even New Age artists such as Enya, or Yanni . I also love Jim Brickman. His music is the kind that just helps me remember to breathe every once in a while. I write from the soul, and pour my expression and heart into everything I create. When I first heard some of Chris' work I thought it would be a challenging composition, and I was so ready for the task.

Working on the songs, I chose some diverse topics, and some that I hope you can relate to. "You Don't Know Me" is a particularly angry tune, but it screams of personal strength and growth. And Karmine, thanks for your inspiration while sitting on the living room floor that night, I couldn't have gotten through it without you. I also incorporated some religious aspects into a few songs, because I believe the millennium is about hope and dreams, and a bright new world, and the theme of the CD is about the future, the universe and the uncontrollable forces of nature.
I thank God for all His blessings and I thank my family and friends for all their support and influences that have made my dream a reality. I also want to thank my honey Angelo for without his love and constant encouragement, (and of course putting up with me through all my nights of frustration); I could not have reached for the stars. I hope you all enjoy our music and I look forward to your support.