Pete is the member of the band I have known the longest and the one for whom I feel the most affection. I bet if you asked Gordon and Jordan they would say the same thing. I mean, I love Gordon and Jordan, but because of the volatility of our three personalities there has always been some friction. Not so with Pete. He's just a really nice guy who is ridiculously easy to get along with.
To imply that Pete's easy manner was his most important band contribution makes it seem like I think he isn't a good musician. He is. He is solid, dependable, creative with the bass and is becoming a better singer every day. But he isn't flashy and doesn't demand the spotlight. He has a lot less ego than the other three of us, but his musical contributions were always unique and important. It's just that I value Pete so much more for his non-musical abilities.
This brings back to his easy manner. It's important to realize that about 90% of what makes a band successful is non-musical. By being a sweet guy, a great listener, an enthusiastic supporter and a voice of reason Pete Galea was the glue that kept this band from disintegrating. I consider him the soul of the group. There would have been no Fooled By April without him.
This contribution would have been enough, but Pete has a special place in my heart because he is so fucking smart. He is bar none the smartest person I have ever known (sorry Craft, you're #2). Not just book-smart (which he is), but intuitively intelligent and filled with the desire and capacity for learning. If I don't understand something then I ask Pete. He'll either know the answer or by god he'll find out.
Pete's intelligence and thirst for knowledge made my life in the band a lot easier. With Pete I could take time off from my spiral of self-destruction to play a couple hours of Scrabble or work on The Incredible Machine. Without these distractions, tours would have been rough. Instead, they were a ball, and I actually learned things! Damn.
Finally, Pete believed in this band. Another non-musical aspect of a band's success is money, and with extreme generosity (like, many thousands of dollars worth) Pete floated this band during our formative years. Without his belief that we were going to make it we never would have even gotten out of the gate.
He is an eccentric enigma in many ways. I can't say that I always know what goes on in that bald head (sorry, couldn't resist), but I do know that it's probably something really cool that I'll be interested in. He is a unique guy and we're all better for knowing him.
Not once but twice at FxA / Scamper shows at the Lizard Lounge, Marc Roderick was delayed and Pete sat in on our soundcheck, fudging his way through "Oh Lucy" like a champ. He acted very benevolent about the whole thing, but I'll bet he was seething under that calm, unruffled exterior.
His pants at the Paradise were awesome, and he does excellent things with his facial hair.
Pete was always nice to me. And as a slobbering, over-zealous fan I always appreciated that. Plus, he came up with 'Brattiest' as an anagram of 'Tibet Arts'. I'm not sure that's the best trait for a person to have though.
ok folks. so for joe what we have is: a) the rock b) the cock c) the asshole
i feel we can successfully conflate these. the "rock" might just as well be the "rocks", that is to say balls. so if joe is the cock, balls, and asshole of the group, he is basically the entire FXA nether region: he doesn't always smell good, but he gets the job done, he takes care of business, and damn don't it feel good when he does it.
that leaves us fans as the torso and limbs. i view myself as a small semi-chronic fungus on the right middle toe of FXA.
