I've already mentioned that the impetus for this site is Pegataur.  But did I mention the impetus for forming Pegataur? 

Aaron, the drummer and other 50% of Pegataur, and I used to be in a band called Boyjazz.  We would frequently jam a little while waiting for Diego Snake to show up and help us bring it.  We started getting into some heavy riffage, and would always be sort of like, "whoa?!"  Then one evening in April 2006, Aaron had a dream.  The description of that dream is as follows: 

so this dream i had was that you and i were playing in a 2 man band called "pegataur".  i was excited cuz i have very few dreams where i'm actually playing music & this was pretty detailed tho i can't really remember the riffs (unfortunately).  it was really awesome tho and it seemed like both of us were playing well beyond our ability - which is another thing i've never experienced in my dreams before (being able to play better than I can).  anyways, we were opening for someone huge in a packed arena- i'm not sure who but it pretty much resembled the slayer stage from the dvd (which is why I mentioned it [Note:reference to Slayer's Still Reigning -- Ed.]) & the whole dream was just us performing, no real before or after story.  i do know we were opening for someone tho.

but what was rad was i really remember the stage setup & shit we were doing very well.  in fact, i remember it in frightening detail as you'll soon find out!

so it was just us side by side but there was a huge pegataur symbol above us which was a lot like the famous "baphomet" picture (goat head within the inverted pentagram) but instead of the goat head it was a pegataur viewed head on from the front and it was not inverted.  the pegataur was facing forward but he had a bow and arrow cocked and loaded and pointing right at you as the viewer.  so the top point of the star was the torso/head of the centaur/pegataur.  the wings were the 2 top points and the legs were within the bottom 2 points. the front legs were drawn close to the body with the back legs extended like a horse jumping into the air.   i think it was red on black and it was sort of stylized, more of an outline than a detailed picture. your guitar was shaped like a wing.  it was like looking at a pegasus wing from the side - it actually sort of reminded me of cam's old blue "usa" guitar but it was an ivory white wing & the head stock matched the body shape (so it was also a wing).  it was very beautiful actually, like a super detailed really nice baroque ivory carving of a wing.

so we started and it was a full pyrotechnic extravaganza (as the slayer show was).  the first tune started with a sort of crazy jungle type beat on the toms which was just me alone and they slowly raised the pegataur banner behind us w/the lights off.  then it started with you going to the front of the stage and doing some sort of crazy harmonic pull-off sustained thing, sort of like actual heat [Note: Boyjazz track off of In the City Tonight -- Ed.], but there was some crazy ass effect or like pitch-shift/octave harmonizer that made it a crazy sort of harmonic chord consisting of a ton of overtones.  when you hit it a huge fireball erupted from the front of the stage and it hit this pentagram that was suspended above it in front of, but below, the banner above us so that the pentagram caught on fire from the fireball and there was a flaming pentagram burning in front of us half way between us and the stage (you couldn't see it before it flamed up).  then you went to the right of the stage and hit another of these crazy ass harmonic chords and another fireball erupted from that side and hit another (until then hidden) pentagram suspended in the air which caught on fire.  you then stood in front of me and when you hit the harmonic thing i hit this huge gong (think bonham) behind me during my beat which set another pentagram suspended above it on fire  and then finally you went to the left side and hit the harmonic, the fireball launched, and lit the 4th pentagram on fire.   each harmonic thing was clearly in a different "key" tho it was the sort of thing that didn't have a real key per se but they were tonally distinct.

at this point i realized that we were playing within a circle with a pentagram on the ground in chalk and obviously realized that it was a sort of lesser banishing of the pentagram ritual we were doing (as i'm sure you do).  it was really crazy cuz i was very comfortable playing, like we had rehearsed but i was also very surprised and energized like i didn't know what was coming next.  the music was sort of second nature but i was mesmerized by the stage show while also playing.  recollecting it and the visual perspective i had on it, it is clear that half the time I was watching from my eyes and the other half of the time i was out in the crowd.

so anyways - the 4 pentagrams are flaming around us and we've not really even started the tune.  i'm still doing this sort of menacing jungle beat (think like the famed "pussy god" beat [Note: an early Stay Gold Pony Boy song.  --Ed.] and when you hit the 4th pentagram this crazy ass blue dome suddenly encloses us on the stage.  like the second you hit the last pentagram it sealed the "ritual space" and created this blue shell (like a force field created by a laser) that was described by the pentagrams around us and ending right below the banner on the top.  somehow i knew it was a complete globe but that the bottom half was cut out by the stage so it looked like a half dome tho it was complete.  it vaguely had a buzzing to it i could see that was somehow in tune with the harmonic u hit.

the second that you hit that 4th pentagram and the blue shield popped up I switched from the meandering jungle beat to a straight build on the toms. u walked back to the center of the stage aligned with the front (first) flaming pentagram and by some cue that i don't remember we finally busted into the tune which started (of course!) with hitting the crash on the 1.

as if it can't get any crazier - right when we both came in the blue force field basically like exploded outward and sent this insane shockwave out. all i can equate it to is when the death star explodes in star wars and (particularly on the newer edition) there is this insane ring of light/shockwave that comes from the center and just expands outward until it is too huge to see.

what was crazy was that right at that moment suddenly i had this crazy bird's eye view and i saw the blue shield burst at that moment and send a blue ring/shockwave outward.  while it was expanding my view was like a camera looking from above that was zoomed in tight on us and then super quickly zoomed out to encompass the radius of the shockwave ... ALL THE WAY TO OUTERSPACE! so it was like BAM! and suddenly i see this blue ring burst out of the building and start expanding while i'm climbing up in the clouds. i see it cover a city block and just expand over the globe like i was in a rocket blasting off looking down and seeing the shockwave.  i was rising in concert with the wave’s expansion so i could always see the full radius of it - it was like the reverse of the opening shot of "eyes wide shut" if u saw it (where it starts with a space view and then does this amazing zoom all the way into an apartment window).  the sound of the show was muffled while i was watching but then it sucked me back down and i was playing drums again.

that lasted till i saw it escape the atmosphere of the earth.  it totally happened in like a 5 second period tho and of course i thought nothing of it (ha!).

ok ... so u think it can't get any crazier.  so we were playing and we were shredding insane.  i think this is inspired from me watching all these metal shred videos but like we were both playing way beyond our current ability and there were times when these crazy sounds were coming out of your guitar like no effect i've ever heard.  i was also doing some insane drum shit and all i really remember is feeling all excited like i was able to do it for the first time (?) and mildly worrying that one of the pentagrams would get blown out.  there was some kind of connection with the pentagrams/ritual space and our super ability to play i think & i was vaguely worried that if the pentagrams went out then i wouldn't be able to do all my "new" shit - like they were the source of my power.

ok - so it can't get crazier right?  well it does!  so we play and just like kill it and the crowd is going insane.  i mean it was a huge crazy crowd anyways but basically after the force field explosion they were the most insane crowd i ever saw anywhere.

so it’s nearing the end of the set (which was pretty short, i'd say like 25 min tho i didn't see all of it - it is sort of a blur but i know it was short somehow) and it’s the grand finale.  so you start walking beside me on the set and we've hitting the last note and i'm doing the whole bonham ending go nuts on the drums thing and i hit the final note on the cymbals and jump up and we're letting it ring out.  you're beside me on my left so our shoulders are pressed against each other.  you're holding your guitar and i notice that i'm wearing this shirt which has a mirror image of the winged body of your guitar on it.  so you are holding the guitar on my left and it is perfectly aligned with the print of the wing on my shirt (like this \/) so that the wings form a perfect V.

suddenly i notice we're standing on this platform that behind the drums and these crazy huge wings start to just sprout out of the ground behind us and the platform slowly starts to rise towards the sky.  somehow in this process you left your guitar on the ground (? it’s not there anymore) and you grab a bow from behind your back while i grab an arrow from behind mine.  then we both turn like sideways towards each other so we're like basically pressed cheek to cheek like we were doing a tango or something.  your left hand is facing forward and my right hand is facing forward (our other hands are backwards).  then you raise the bow in your left hand (facing forward) and i take the arrow and thread it in the bow w/my right hand and pull back - like we combined to make a pegataur!  the whole time we're slowly rising on this platform with these huge wings.  when I pull the arrow all the way back it suddenly bursts into flame (very ted nugent hahaha!).

then i'm seeing it from the crowd’s perspective and it’s us on this platform slowly rising up with this flaming arrow and we're both wearing brown pants but there are like sequins on the side that look like horse legs so now that we are turned sideways it looks like 2 horse legs sparkling in the light from the front!  the wings are perfectly aligned and we totally look like a crazy fucking pegataur with a flaming arrow.  so finally we rise up behind the pegataur banner and shoot the flaming arrow right through the center of the banner (where the arrow is on the drawing) and the whole banner ignites in flames.  right at that moment all the sound and lights (and flaming pentagrams) total cut off (there had been some crazy guitar feedback happening the whole time we rose in the air). the whole arena becomes pitch dark except for the burning pegataur banner which is slowly drifting to the ground like a feather on fire.

then the dream ended.  basically it was the best show i ever saw!!

-a.l

And the rest, as they say, is history.