Wall of Echoes is Florida’s longest running Pink Floyd tribute band performing throughout the state since 2005. Centered on energetic and memorable live performances, Wall of Echoes takes audiences on an incredible journey into the world of one of the most beloved rock bands of all time paying tribute with highly accurate sonic recreations and stunning visual imagery.
Wall of Echoes is comprised of passionate, highly skilled musicians all of whom share a love for the music of Pink Floyd and its faithful recreation. The band performs the biggest hits from every era of Pink Floyd's extensive catalog including; the formative years of the 1960s, the epic albums of the 1970s, and the spirited songs from the 80s and 90s. Wall of Echoes is also known for performing entire albums as part of their show including; Animals, Wish You Were Here, and the iconic The Dark Side of the Moon complete with saxophone and female backing vocals for The Great Gig in the Sky.
RON ARBISI
Ron Arbisi plays bass and sings lead and
backing vocals for Wall of Echoes. A founder of the band, he brings a strong
progressive rock and classical music background to Wall of Echoes.
He is a
native of the Tampa Bay area, originally emerging locally over thirty years
ago. A series of increasingly successful club bands and original projects
followed, culminating in slots with national recording act Outdrive, and as a
session bassist at the Rockhaus studios in Tampa. 2001 saw a return stint with
Outdrive, including a performance at the inaugural “Live on the Bay” concert.
He founded Wall of Echoes in 2003, the culmination of a goal he had had since seeing Canadian Pink Floyd tribute Clear Light in 1985, after a chance meeting with keyboardist Peter Baum. When not playing with Wall of Echoes, he builds guitars, writes, and teaches history at several colleges and universities.
Major influences of his include Chris Squire of Yes, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, and Geddy Lee of Rush. He plays Rickenbacker and homemade basses, and uses Hartke, SWR, and Gallien-Kreuger amplifiers.
BILLY MAC
Billy Mac completed his studies under Mr. Carodiskey while in high school, and finished his grade school tour succeeding to 1st chair solo clarinet in 11th grade, holding the position until graduation. High school also included 3 years of marching band. College included theory, harmony and voice. Yes, he sings well too.
During this educational journey and these accomplishments, Billy’s love for the drums also started early and loomed large. As the drummer in him was taking root, he started by playing percussion in the school Big Band, and that led to the purchase of his first drum kit and his first rock band. He rarely practiced his clarinet but retained his love of classical music and theory. He did woodwind and brass jams with his jazz friends to keep his clarinet improvisation skills fresh.
Fluent chart and sight reading taught Billy how to count in odd time signatures and helped strengthen his meter, and his predilection for classical, soundtrack and progressive rock music continues to challenge his abilities and keeps it exciting.
Billy Mac was a founding member of Washington MIDI Users Group which shortly thereafter led to the formation of 11:11 Productions/Pro Media with his sound engineer partner Dave Fletcher as a song writing, recording and media entity, producing soundtracks and special effects, cementing their involvement with Interworld Productions and Mythic Entertainment. This led to the development and successful release of 7 internationally released online multiplayer video games.
Billy is also involved in the technical aspects of performance and live production and the 11:11 Pro Media team is still active today.
As a founding member of Wall of Echoes, Billy performs with passion, striving to give the audience an unforgettable experience.
ERIC SANDALIC
Eric Sandalic, born and raised in Queens NY, is a fan of many different genres of music. He first gained an interest in music after being blown away at his first concert: RUSH at Madison Square Garden. He immediately began taking guitar lessons at the age of 12 and by the age of 16 his original heavy metal band won 2nd place in the Long Island Drum Center's battle of the bands held at Queens College. Several months later, the band took first prize in a similar battle of the bands held at the famed Calderone Concert Hall in Hempstead, NY. The band won 50 hours of recording time in a 24 track recording studio. This is where he met, befriended and learned how to record with future Grammy winner Ric Wake (Taylor Dayne, Twisted Sister, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Lou Reed) In 1988, he and legendary NYC bassist Danny Lilker (Anthrax, SOD, Nuclear Assault) formed a crossover side project called Extra Hot Sauce. That same year they signed with Peaceville Records in the UK that produced their debut 12" vinyl record, "Taco Of Death". The record went on to sell over 30,000 copies worldwide and still fetches a premium today on ebay. Sandalic got involved in the high speed audio tape duplication business for many years after and in 1995 began playing bass guitar with the Long Island death metal band Butchery. Butchery released a single full length CD before being forced to change their name due to lineup changes to Exuviate and eventually settling on Grotesqueuphoria where they signed with Destro Records and put out 2 full length CD's. During these years, Sandalic's death metal bands played events such as the Milwaukee Metalfest, the New Jersey Metalfest, Lamours, Sundance, Coney Island High, Castle Heights and many more. His bands had opened for some of the biggest death/thrash metal bands of all time including but not limited to Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Suffocation, Obituary, Cryptopsy, Deeds of Flesh, Immolation, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dying Fetus and Nile.
In 2004, shortly after he moved from NYC to Tampa, he answered an ad for a band that was looking for a guitarist for a Pink Floyd Tribute. He has been with Wall Of Echoes ever since. Today, Sandalic teacher Biology, enjoys going to music festivals and also plays guitar with a local funk fusion band, The Low Heavies.
MICHAEL RASHAS
Upon arriving to the U.S., Michael was immediately exposed to different types of music -- mostly, whatever was on the radio at the time. Interestingly enough, he remembers hearing a few kids in the hallways of his 6th grade school singing an odd lyric, "We don't need no education." He had no way of knowing how those words would surface again in his (as yet uncontemplated) musical future...
Michael started playing guitar at the age of 16, thanks to a school friend who owned both an acoustic and an electric guitar. "Flash" had let him play his guitar whenever Michael would come over to visit, and Michael remembers figuring out (by ear) early (if, woefully, not terribly accurate) versions of songs such as "Stairway To Heaven."
Michael had gotten his first electric guitar (a Martin Stinger STX) during his senior year in high school; as part of his graduation present, he had it equipped with a Floyd Rose locking bridge. Sadly, he no longer owns this guitar, but he fondly remembers his early days learning rock songs and playing with a college friend, Jim, who lived down the hall (and who, to this day, remains one of his dearest friends). While in college, Michael had also acquired his first bass guitar. The bass had become a primary focus of his band playing for many years, although he had played guitar at home and occasionally in bands, mostly as part of a "switch-a-roo" spot with the guitar player.
Fast forward many years (and bands) to 2011, and one of Michael's dear friends, Steve, who had been drumming in Wall Of Echoes at the time, told him about a potential vacancy in the band. The band's founder and elder statesman, Ron, would unfortunately be stepping down to focus on his academic responsibilities. Would Michael be willing to step in as the bass player for the band? There really was no hesitation in replying. Michael's tenure with Wall Of Echoes had begun. During that time, Michael had played bass and even keyboards for a couple of shows. For those performances, the band was joined by Ron on bass and vocals. Two years later, the current version of Wall Of Echoes had unfortunately dissolved with the departure (and move) of Steve and his wife Tammie (female vocal lead). Michael had other band involvements to keep him plenty busy, but his time with Wall Of Echoes had come to an end -- though he had no way of knowing the hiatus would be temporary.
Fast forward again to 2019, and Michael was contacted by Eric, one of the band's long-time guitar players, about yet another potential vacancy in the band -- this time, on lead guitar. Again, the question was asked, and Michael had accepted the role of lead guitar player for Wall Of Echoes. Not long afterwards -- and much to Michael's abundant joy -- the band was also joined by Michael's wife, Leah, on female lead vocals.
Michael is thrilled to be playing with such a skilled group of musicians (and friends) in Wall Of Echoes, and especially alongside the love of his life, Leah. He looks forward to many performances with the band for years to come.
LEAH CLARK
Leah Clark has been involved with music her entire life. She started by picking out melodies on her family's piano at a very young age. She sang her first public solo in sixth grade and never looked back.
Her first band gig was at the age of 21 with a jazz band called The Bookends. Marriage and her daughter interrupted that for a while, but in 2005 she joined Dogtrax, a rock band specializing in performances of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. After Dogtrax broke up, she joined The Skywire Project - a Christian rock band where she sang lead and co-wrote several of the songs performed. In 2007, jazz again took the forefront with a band called Standing 8 Count where she sang lead with the band at local restaurants and private corporate events. From 2009-2015, after a total job overhaul, she became the music director at Unity of Tampa, where she was responsible for leading the house band and directing the choir. Again, several of her original compositions were featured. Concurrent with this employment was her position with Acoustic Harmony, an acoustic duo performing songs from the 60's-90's, as well as several of her own compositions. It was at this time that she began learning to play percussion.
The end of 2017 found her reexamining her musical directions and she began attending area Open Mics in search of a new duo partner. She and Michael Rashas connected - first musically, then romantically. In July of 2018, they played their first gig as the duo Koala Fire Music and continue to book gigs in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. In addition, they write music as a team and released their first EP of original music in 2019. In March of 2019 they became husband and wife.
Individually, Leah continues to write music. She's been a staff songwriter with Songs of Love, a nonprofit organization which provides one-of-a-kind original songs free of charge to children with serious illnesses, since 2008.