Serious Guise
"A Seriously Fun Rock n Roll Band"
MEET THE BAND
More Than Love(click the play button)
Dennis Gonzales Dennis/ Rock
I was born and raised in Chula Vista-Otay
Rick Williams 
I was born in Virginia, a Navy brat, so growing up, moved often. At around age 9 I saw my cousin's drumset and knew I would be a drummer. My parents divorced around the same time. Living with my Mom & 3 sisters in Alameda, CA a couple years later, my Dad was stationed in Vietnam and sent me $200.00 for my first drumset.(from Spiegal mail order catalog) I did alot of practicing and band at school for the next few years. Around ninth grade I went to live with my Dad in Staunton, VA. I had to take up playing the Bass guitar to a get band formed in high school. Had a brief stint in the Navy as a Boiler Technician. Then back to the drums. Played in a band in Staunton called Barnstorm for a few years. Then moved to San Diego in 1979. Played with a bunch of different people and bands and nothing really took off until 1984, when I saw Crystal advertise in the San Diego Reader for a drummer who could sing. The audition was a success and Crystal spent the next 10 years (NO DAY JOB) playing music for a living, writing original music, recording, opening concerts for national acts, touring the western U.S. including Alaska and even played several tours in Japan. The band called it quits in 1994, stayed friends and put up a Crystal website around 1999 and got signed to a distribution deal for a Greatset Hits CD,called Crystal "Collection" with REWIND RECORDS & AOR HEAVEN. Find out more about that at: www.crystalmusic.net In 1994 I started working at Mark's Guitar Exchange. www.marksguitarexchange.com Two years later, became the manager and still there today. In 1996 I agreed to fill in for Serious Guise, who had 7 different drummers that year, that had not worked out. I enjoyed working with the Guise so much, I took the gig fulltime. It has been more than 12 years together now and we have played all over San Diego County and CA. We played 3 times for the troops in Japan, in 2000. HELLO TO IWAKUNI AND SASABO, JAPAN!!!!
GOD BLESS THE U.S. MILITARY!!!!!
Rick
(Drums & Vocals)
Mark Griffin 
The Griffin brothers(Mike & Mark)grew up in Melrose, New York, a typical family for the time. Our father was a fireman. Our mother was a stay at home mom. We have two sisters and two brothers. Our father found a guitar by the road on his way home from work one day and we would play it no matter how many strings it had. We would get together with other kids on our street and have contests to see who could play the most songs(all the way through). We all played by ear, so Mike & I never learned to read or write music. It didn’t matter though, we were hooked. By the 8th grade we had our own band and started playing partys and school functions. I graduated at 16 by taking 11th and 12th grades at the same time. I wanted to get to California to see if I could make it in the music biz. So my parents signed a permission slip to join the Navy, under age. When I was discharged in 1985 I still had 2 years of Navy Reserves to go, so I couldn’t grow my hair long(those were the big hair days). Mike joined me shortly after I got my first apartment in Mira Mesa and we set up a little recording studio complete with digital drums. We spent a couple of years creating music with Mike on drums. It was really hard to find a drummer and bass player willing and able to play our music. Still we had fun! Jamie Fox lived a couple doors down from us and he used to come over and record demos. We played a talent show at USIU with him! Our band was called New York Blade and you can hear us on: www.myspace.com/newyorkblade. We played alot on Camp Pendleton and at the Del Mar Fair. After 15 years of playing in the showcase circuit, Mike started hanging out with the Serious Guise, and eventually joined the band. After about four years of playing every night, Mike needed a break and that's when I stepped in. Its been a wild ride ever since!
Mark
( Guitars, Bass, Synth & Vocals)
Wolfgang Hopka 
I was born in a little town in (communist)East Germany
called Neuruppin, about 100 km from Berlin. My parents fled when I was three
years old, to the west, so we settled in Frankfurt. Since I can remember,
the whole family was always playing instruments and singing every weekend. My
father played guitar and accordion, poorly, but he played, especially when he
was drinking. He would get me up at 4 in the morning & say “let’s play”. When I
was 18 I had my own band, and played Beatles music with a radio as a guitar
amplifier. Then I learned to be a car mechanic. After I received my
diploma, I quit and became a professional musician. I joined a band called
Speed Limit. We appeared on many TV shows and recorded many albums. Our producer was
Georgia Moroder. I backed up Donna Summer on a cruise ship for four weeks, as
well as a few big German stars and James Brown when his guitar player broke
his hand. I performed a concert in Nurnberg to 80,000 people with the Who and
Molly Hatchet, and a concert in Berlin in the Olympic stadium to 60,000
people. I came over to the USA in the early 1980's & played in many different bands, Rock & Country-Western. Then I joined the Serious
Guise in 1997, and we’re still together.
I started playing
trumpet at age 9 (4th grade) taking music in elementary
school and continued to the 8th grade, when I switched to
French horn. During that
summer I got my first bass, a Fender short scale base & a Kasino 50 watt
transistor amp with one 15” speaker. I started 9th grade
playing bass in my schools show band and drums for the concert
band. The transition was
easy, since I could read music. I took a bass book home & learned to read
the bass clef. That was so easy I took a drum book home & the rest is
history. As I started high school, I was introduced to an older group of
musicians that needed a bass player so instead of continuing down the musical
academic road, I started playing private parties & club gigs with the Armor Point Blue band. I met Jake E. Lee (years later, guitarist for Ozzie Osbourne) at
a Straight-Ahead-Sound gig one night and Jake really liked my
playing and said I'd be his bass player if he didn't already have one(he was a loyal guy). Amour Point Blue went on
to make a demo tape and during that time I felt the need to pursue a
different style of music. Then I answered an ad in the S.D. Reader & met a smoking
guitar player, Don Hammock. I invited Don to an Armor Point Blue gig and after
hearing Don's playing the band & I went in different directions. So Don & I went looking for a drummer.We found a drummer in Rick
Williams (years later, the drummer for Crystal and now with Serious
Guise) and the band Legacy was formed. In time Rick also became our lead vocalist with me singing backups. The band played for more than three years
before moving on to pursue different ventures.Rick & I met another guitar player Scott Madison and
formed the all original band Dream.
Dream went on to win a local contest of the battle of the bands in 1984, including The Blitz Brothers a well know San Diego band who had won the last two
years. After this minor success this
band too split. Rick & I formed another band a short
time later but that band never had the same potential so I left after a New
Year’s Eve gig in 1984. Rick W. then joined the band Crystal & I continued to play on and off. Occasionally sitting in on bass, over the years, with Rick in Crystal and
Serious Guise. In September of 2009 I played some gigs with Serious
Guise that has evolved into a permanent position with the name “Deuce” given to me by Mark Griffin. Deuce was derived from the two Rick’s and bass players in Serious
Guise.