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Gregory Hetson was born in Brooklyn and moved to L.A when he was two. He lived in Sheepshead Bay. He got a hand-me-down acoustic guitar from his dad when he was ten. At about 11 he got an acoustic guitar and amp, a Harmony. Then he decided to quit guitar and play Little League, and didn't pick it up again until he was about 16. He went to his first punk rock show and came back thinking he couldn't do the Eddie Van Halen stuff but he could do that. He thinks he originally picked up the guitar because of two songs he heard on the radio: Up Around the Bend (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and Whole Lotta Love. He was in highschool with (vocalist/guitarist) Jeff McDonald and in 1979 they formed Redd Kross. That year they made an E.P. (Born Innocent, on Frontier, although he is not credited on the E.P.) and then he decided that they weren't serious enough musicians and he left the band. He then hooked up with Ron Reyes, who had sung for Black Flag for a while, and they eventually formed the Circle Jerks. In 1984, when Greg moved back to L.A., The Circles Jerks were taking a year off so Hetson was on holydays and he came up with the idea of resurrecting BR. He convinced Greg and that was it [God bless Hetson]. They did Back to the Known and he played all guitars. Before that he hadn't been in the band (he only knew them and had played a solo in Part III). Currently he lives in L.A. (his home is by Madonna's), is married and has a daughter who was born in January 1997. He works with some bands, producing and helping them out. Hetson has played ice hockey for the past 15 years. He is going to be recording Edmonton band Choke sometime in 1997. Hetson, along with partner Steve Krevick set up Upshot Records, with bands like Speedbuggy and Choke. He drinks "michelob, or bud US, dos equis , mex, and warsteiner germany -I tried a red hook and it was ok" Jay on the troubles with playing live with little Hetson: "Hetson, he's cool, he just has to get out of the way. Between me and Graffin we're pushing 400 lbs, Hetson weighs in at about 96 lbs. It's crunch time!!!".
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