I've been playing drums my whole life. I grew up in the projects of Queens, NY. It was a tough time and the streets where I was living were a tough place to be. Music and karate saved my life. As I grew up I pursued both drums and karate with a passion. After I wore out my mother's pots and pans, she got me my first kit. Soon after that, at around 11 years old, I joined a band. It wasn't just any band, but an all black, all adult funk band that had to sneak me into the bars where they were playing. Nobody bothered me about my age once I got behind the kit.
I studied karate at the same time. I learned Shotokan directly from Master Toyotaro Miyazaki. He's a living legend in the world of martial arts. When I studied, it wasn't long after Sensei Miyazaki had arrived in Flushing, NY, and he was still very old school from Japan. He used to beat the crap out of me. And then laugh. He taught me to find the strength within myself and tested me daily. I eventually went on to become a second degree black belt and taught many students myself.
As I grew older, I played with many different bands in Queens. Together with JT Cane, now host of New York radio's The Hair Hut, I played in May Orbit. Our first big photo shoot was at Flushing Meadow Park under the World's Fair globe. May Orbit never hit the big time, but being in my first big local band that played to packed clubs was a tremendous influence on my showmanship. I learned early on what a crowd wants and how to deliver it. I've never been the drummer who could be easily forgotten in the back. Instead, I became known for delivering great solos.
Not long after May Orbit parted ways amicably, I found my way to Teazer. With Mark Daven, Eddie Gunn and Jeri Vega, we became one of the most popular bands in the NY area. We regularly sold out L'Amours in Queens and Brooklyn and had a very loyal group of fans. We delivered the best of 80s hair metal and were soaring our way to the top. And as the story goes, things didn't work out with the record company and we remained one of the best known unsigned bands on Long Island. Once Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit the air and changed the music scene, we decided to go our separate ways.
I immediately filmed an instructional video, "Visual and Special Effects Drumming with Kato Peragine" which Carmine Appice saw and appreciated. It was then released under Carmine's Power Rock video series and was later picked up and distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. I spent time on a clinic tour to support the video.
In the years that followed, I played on a number of albums as a hired gun, and pursued a few different projects. My band Kill City was very close to a record deal that never quite worked out, and the same could be said for one of my more recent bands, Soulshake. It was definitely frustrating to go through all the ups and downs the music industry is notorious for, but my passion for playing the drums and making people happy was always stronger than any momentary disappointment might have been.
From the ashes of Soulshake, two more bands were formed. A have-fun, party all night classic rock cover band, Blackjack Betty was made up of the former members of Soulshake with a new lead singer, the great Brian Andersen. And award-winning singer/songwriter Johnny Bhive was also looking for a band to write original music with. The former members of Soulshake plus Johnny resulted in the band Bhive.
While I was playing in both of these bands, guitar hero Greg Polcari called and asked if I would be available to play a fill-in show with his band, multi-platinum artist Britny Fox's US Tour which kicked off in Tempe, Arizona on April 17, 2009.
I've been a professional drummer for as long as I can remember and played with lots of different bands. The Long Island music scene was dominated in the 80s by bands like Zebra, Twisted Sister and Teazer. I was the drummer for Teazer for over ten years until we adjusted to the changing music scene and went our different ways.
I took advantage of some solo time to put out an instructional video "Visual and Special Effects Drumming" and toured extensively on a clinic tour. I played with some of the top bands in NYC including Kill City and Michael Knight and was a gun-for-hire doing fill-in gigs and studio work all over the place. After thousands and thousands of gigs played, I found my way to the band, Soulshake.
Based out of New York, we played from coast to coast, including stops along the way at Madison Square Garden, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Hard Rock Cafe. We were selected to be "The Radio Chick's" house band and were featured on her show many times.
During the small downtime between gigs with Soulshake, I kept busy doing fill-ins for The Good Rats, Paul Terror and Randy Coven, and The Eden Project.
After a lineup change, Soulshake morphed into Blackjack Betty which became a favorite LI cover band. Then Johnny Bhive, an award-winning songwriter and extraordinary showman asked us to join forces with him. Our original project with him is simply called BHIVE.
