Outside Pedestrian Artist Bio (unabridged)
Combining an eclectic mix of influences from jazz to modern metal, chamber music to rock, Outside Pedestrian takes on the spirit of fusion while creating their own genre defying voice in the twenty-first century. With each musician being accomplished in a wide range of styles, Outside Pedestrian’s voice emerges as a fresh new sound in contemporary instrumental music.
Guitarist, Anthony Fesmire, and bassist, David Lockeretz began their musical relationship in the early 1990s as students at Berklee College of Music. Through playing on each other’s respective projects, in college ensembles, and recording sessions the two developed a musical kinship that led to the formation of Outside Pedestrian as the two reunited in Los Angeles in 1999. At the time, Fesmire was producing an album with inmates at California Rehabilitation Center. Having the opportunity to record at the institution, Fesmire and Lockeretz were inspired by the intensive security at the prison that required passage through two heavily armed gates, the inside pedestrian and outside pedestrian gates, and the ensemble had found its name. The name Outside Pedestrian aptly describes a musical style that is eclectic and outside the norm.
Over the next two years, Outside Pedestrian performed throughout the L.A. area, promoting their CD “Sunless City” which featured drummer David Kontesz, alto saxophonist Matt Zebley of the Brian Setzer Orchestra and veteran Hammond organist Joe Bagg. Fesmire moved with his family to complete his doctorate at the University of Northern Colorado and then to Ohio, where he served on the faculty at Ohio Wesleyan University, before returning to Southern California. Lockeretz continued to perform with a wide variety of musicians and recorded several albums. Despite their individual accomplishments, when the two reunited again in 2012, they knew that it was time to get the band back together.
Joining the new Outside Pedestrian was David Oromaner, a veteran drummer, composer and producer from New York who had achieved success with a diverse array of acts including art-rock band Changing Modes, jazzy singer-songwriter PJ Loughran and indie-punk songstress Marianne Pillsbury. The newly reformed trio charged ahead stronger, mixing their original jazz/rock sound with reggae, funk, surf, and other influences.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, Outside Pedestrian reunited with their original drummer, Steve Tashjian, remotely recording new versions of Southern California Highway Song and Northern California Highway Song, both heard on “Pedestrian Crossing.” Steve Tashjian started playing drums at the age of 6 in the suburbs of Los Angeles. He began playing the local clubs of Pasadena by the age of 13. At 17 he began playing with Japanese blues guitarist Nobbie along with Mandrill bassist Wilfredo Wilson, playing national festivals and the local clubs on Sunset Blvd. He met OP guitarist Anthony Fesmire in 1998 while playing with University of La Verne Music Department Chair Reed Gratz and graduate alum Alex Martinez. Steve has spent the past 20 years directing sports science and medical services for professional soccer teams in the US and Europe. He will serve as Head of Performance for the US Men’s National Team at the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar. During the COVID shut down in 2020, Steve built Bomb Shelter Beats, an acoustic drum recording studio in the bomb shelter below his home in Columbus, Ohio. Recording remotely from the Bomb Shelter, he went on to record 4 more tracks for Anthony’s solo album Abandoned Places. He currently plays for the gospel worship group at Vineyard Columbus Church in Columbus Ohio, Columbus gospel recording artist Nicholas Sherrod and other local Columbus artists. He continues to record remotely in addition to mixing, mastering and producing.
For more information on Dr. Anthony Fesmire, click here. For more information on David Oromaner, click here. For more information on David Lockeretz, click here. For more information about Steve Tashjian, click here.
Outside Pedestrian 