Tom started in music at the early age of 7, studying classical flute and music theory. By the time he was nine he was playing in various youth orchestras. A strong desire to play heavy rock led to Tom picking up the guitar at 13, and he started learning various BLACK SABBATH and KISS tunes. The punk explosion finally hit the land of Wyoming in '78, and Tom started listening to the RAMONES, PISTOLS, DAMNED, etc. "I could always see a correlation between punk and metal even at that age. They both had a common theme of anger and desperation. Living in Laramie, Wyoming, I could relate to that!" In late 78 Tom moved to Maryland and put an ad in the paper to start up a band. He met up with a guy who seemed to like

the same style he did.  "The first time I heard Marty play, all I could think of was, Damn, he can play Kiss tunes to the tee!" Tom's mom had built him a "barn" to practice in, complete with a stage! With that, Tom, Marty, Chris Tinto (drums), and Steve Leter (bass), began what would be (unbeknownst to them at the time), a legendary time period known now by many followers of metal as the barn years. " We were out to destroy and pulverize in the most un-gracious manner possible, the soft rock crap that dominated our area of Maryland!" Known as "Deuce", they played and wrote music way ahead of its time, at least in America. "We didn't really know that the NWOBHM was getting ready to take off. We were just too isolated, although we did get to listen to bands like ULI ROTH YEARS SCORPIONS, FRANK MARINO MAHOGANY RUSH, AND YESTERDAY AND TODAY." Eventually, Tinto and Leter lost interest and were replaced by Billy Giddings on drums and Mike Davis on bass. The "classic" Deuce line up gigged anyplace that would have them, and started getting a buzz going through people looking for a hard edged sound that was sorely lacking at the time. Also, "the Barn" was beginning to be a very popular place to be. "I remember one party where we had about 300 people and someone was selling arts and crafts from a makeshift stand!"

Early Influences:  The Dirty Dogs, Kiss, Dead Boys, Ramones, Clash, the Damned, Uli-Roth era Scorpions, Yesterday and Today Favorite Bands:  Raven, Riot, Accept, Priest, Maiden, and many more from NWOBHM Equipment:  2 Les Paul customs (1 black, 1 metalburst), 1 Gibson Flying V (black). 3 Marshall 8200s (200 watt heads), 6 Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinets, 1 tube screamer pedal, that's it. Years Playing Guitar:  21 Seriously:  0 Favorite Rock Star:  El Duce! R.I.P		Line up changes continued. By '81, Marty had left for Hawaii, and was replaced by Timmy Meadows, brother of ANGEL axeman Punky. Mike Davis was replaced first by Chris Hall, then by Mike Francis. In 1981, Tom's mom continued her support for the band by financing the Deuce single containing Bad Boys and I'm Saved. At the time, the band would playfully throw the 45's around like Frisbees, unaware of what a classic collector's item it would become. Tom went to England in '82 to check out the scene. He went to the classic Readding Festival, and even sat in as a singer for Angelwitch at a practice. Throughout the early 80's, DEUCE played countless shows with bands like METAL CHURCH, QUEENSRYCHE, MEGADETH, EXCITER, GRIM REAPER, OVERKILL, and many others. They had firmly established a reputation as a killer thrash act! In 85, DEUCE recorded the LP Breaking Point. During recording the band found out of a band already names DEUCE, and they changed names to TENSION. Breaking Point received fantastic reviews worldwide, with great articles in such publications as Kerrang and Aardschok. It seemed that Tension was breaking the thrash metal scene wide open, and all they needed was a few tours and festival gigs to solidify their future. Unfortunately there was absolutely no support for the album, and despite the ravings from around the world, the band went nowhere. Faced with re-location as the only thing left to do, Tom left Tension to pursue an engineering degree in Las Cruces, New Mexico.	OK folks! for years i have been reading other people's playlists.  now its my turn!! MY Top 20 albums of all time 1. RAVEN-WIPED OUT /CRASH     BANG WALLOP!!  2. IRON MAIDEN-IRON MAIDEN,      W/ WOMEN IN UNIFORM 3. ACCEPT- BREAKER 4. DEAD BOYS-YOUNG LOUD &      SNOTTY 5. RIOT-FIRE DOWN UNDER 6. SCORPIONS-TAKEN BY FORCE 7. RAMONES-RAMONES&ROAD                      TO RUIN 8. KISS- ALIVE I & II 9. Tie-bad brains-rock for            light UFO-STRANGERS IN THE            NIGHT 10. JUDAS PRIEST-STAINED       CLASS 11. SLAYER-REIGN IN BLOOD 12. VENOM-BLACK METAL 13. MOTORHEAD-ACE OF SPADES        & 1916 14. TYGERS OF PAN TANG        SPELLBOUND 15. SAXON-STRONG ARM OF THE        LAW 16. MERCYFUL FATE-DON'T       BREAK THE OATH 17. YESTERDAY & TODAY        -STRUCK  DOWN 18. AC/DC-HIGHWAY TO HELL&        IF YOU WANT BLOOD 19. BLACK SABBATH-HEAVEN &        HELL 20. FIRST THERE WAS ELVIS,       thEN THERE WAS THE        BEATLES, NOW  THERE'S THE MENTORS!!! FAVORITE NEW BAND:THE LORD WIERD SLOUGH FEG LEAST FAVORITE ALBUMS: JUST TURN ON THE RADIO TO A SO-CALLED "METAL" SHOW. NOW PICK UP A GUITAR, TUNE WAY DOWN, CHOP OFF ALL YOUR FINGERS ON YOUR LEFT HAND BUT ONE,  AND COMMENCE SUCKING!
DISCOGRAPHY: "DEUCE-45 SINGLE-I'M SAVED,  BAD BOYS"-1981 (classic) Tom Gattis (G,V) Timmy Meadows (G) Billy Giddings (D) Chris Hall (B) ---------------------- "DEUCE-LP"- 1997 (classic) Tom Gattis (G,V) Marty Friedman (G) Billy Giddings (D) Mike Davis (B) ---------------------- "TENSION-BREAKING  POINT" - 1986 * * * *  Tom Gattis (G,V) Timmy Meadows (G) Tim O'connor (B) Billy Giddings (D) ------------------------------- "TENSION-EPITAPH"- 1997 * * * * * Tom Gattis (G,V) Timmy Meadows (G) Tim O'connor (B) Billy Giddings (D) ------------------ "WARDOG" - 1994 * * Tom Gattis (G,V) Chris Catero (B,V) Ross Martinez (D) ---------------------------------- "WARDOG-SCORCHED EARTH" - 1996 * * Tom Gattis (G,V) Chris Catero (B,V) Ross Martinez (D) John Hererra (D) ----------------------- "WARDOG-A SOUND BEATING" - 1999 * * * Tom Gattis (G,V) Chris Catero (B,V) Eric Bongiorno (D,V) Paul Sullivan (G) ------------------------------ "BALLISTIC-BALLISTIC" 2003 * * * * * Tom Gattis (G,V,) Rikard Stjernquist (D) Tim O'Connor (B) Petio Petev (G)	While in his last year of college, Tom met Chris Catero who played bass in a local cover band Called Machine Gun Kelly. Soon the band dropped the covers and began writing as WARDOG. "I had fun playing covers and getting drunk, but there was absolutely no way to take any pride in playing someone else's songs, even just for fun." After a killer reunion between Tom and Marty, where WARDOG played allot of great old DEUCE tunes, the band went into the studio to record their first CD. Unlike the reviews of TENSION, the CD was met with a lukewarm response. After graduating, Tom re-located to Phoenix, where WARDOG recorded their second CD, Scorched Earth, on Metalblade. Despite a great mix by BILL METOYER, and kick ass metal songs, the band again went nowhere. In 1999, WARDOG released A Sound Beating. The CD found much better reviews on the strength of undeniably great metal music. WARDOG played shows in Germany that provided quite an amazing fan response, the magnitude even the band themselves couldn't believe. Unfortunately, the CD just couldn't pack the punch of the live shows. Late in 1999, WARDOG amazingly turned down an offer to tour Europe with FEAR FACTORY (and get paid for it). Consequently, Tom left the band. "I had been threatening for months to quit if we didn't get on the ball and start working in a productive manor, but that was the straw that broke my back, and it still hurts me REAL bad to this day.  People stare at me in disbelief when I tell them "we" turned down that opportunity, but I had been warned long ago this day would come and I wouldn't listen.  At least, through feedback I've gotten from people familiar with the situation, and my work with BALLISTIC, my ideas and visions have been vindicated.  But it won't bring back what we could have done had we wanted it bad enough and worked as a group.  The times onstage in Europe were the best times for me in any band, but the time off stage was miserable.  Despite how things looked on the surface, I was clearly NOT in control of my own destiny.  There are many of you who were sorry to see WARDOG go, and I'm sorry as well.  If only we could have been "as together" as we appeared on stage." Tom put an ad in the local paper, and was answered by drummer Michael Scott. The two had allot in common, and sure enough, the jamming sounded like they had been together for years. Tom got former TENSION bassist Tim O'Connor, who in the prior ten years or so since the TENSION breakup, had gone from a great bassist to absolutely amazing. Michael Scott had heard of a killer shred guitarist named Peter Petev, and soon he was laying down unbelievable speed licks to the ferocious metal the band was writing!  They went in to the studio to record their first demo. From the beginning it was clear to everyone present that this was a project like no other before. "John Herrera recorded us, and I had never, ever, seen him react like he did, because he is very hard to impress." Tom got in touch with Achim Kohler who did work with PRIMAL FEAR, and his mix sealed what was the best product yet by Tom. "When I got home and put the CD in and played it, I just couldn't believe how great it sounded! So often I had come back with this problem, or that, but the Ballistic demo just blew me away without comment! I stood in front of my stereo and honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing." "AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Throughout Tom's career, the focus has always been on writing good music.  "I have had all the opportunity in the world to change my style to fit the trend of the month, but I have never elected to "follow" anybody.  "Trends"  limit you to what someone else thinks you should do, according to non-musical criteria. But metal can be as diverse, or as complicated as your imagination will allow.  THAT'S FREEDOM!! Wacken: The aftermath

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