Early Life
Mendonça was born of an English mother and a Portuguese father in the west London suburb of West Drayton and educated in Hillingdon. The youngest of four children, he was raised in a house where music was always being played; either by his sister on the piano or his older siblings listening to bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols, as well as a collection of classical music records that the family owned.
He had piano lessons from the age of 5 and at primary school began playing B flat Cornet. Later playing Cornet from age 7 and then Baritone Euphonium with the Yiewsley and West Drayton Silver Band. At the age of 10, he acquired a three quarter size Spanish guitar from his Uncle and attempted a few basic chords.
Soon after starting secondary school at age 11, already keenly interested in bands such as Rush, Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Black Sabbath, he was introduced to the music of Jimi Hendrix by a school friend. This was the turning point at which Mendonca realised he must obtain an electric guitar. Allegedly saving up £4.50 a week from a Saturday job, he accumulated sufficient funds to buy a guitar from the older brother of a classmate.
Read more about this topic: Jason Mendonca
Famous quotes containing the words early life, early and/or life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“The shift from the perception of the child as innocent to the perception of the child as competent has greatly increased the demands on contemporary children for maturity, for participating in competitive sports, for early academic achievement, and for protecting themselves against adults who might do them harm. While children might be able to cope with any one of those demands taken singly, taken together they often exceed children’s adaptive capacity.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“The painter stood entranced before the work which he had wrought;... he grew tremulous and ... crying with a loud voice, “This is indeed Life itself!” turned suddenly to regard his beloved:MShe was dead!”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)