DONNA CASTRO
LEAD VOCALIST – YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE
Southern California-based, Multi-Genre Artist, Lead Singer/Songwriter who has enthusiasm for playing Bass and Electric Guitar – Donna was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 4, she spent most of her time watching her mom rehearsing and singing as she prepared for her acting debut on Broadway. It was during this time that Donna fell in love with the idea of wanting to be a singer. When Donna was 13, her parents bought her a karaoke player, and she would find herself singing every day after school. Her early influences include Bette Midler, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. During her Freshman year of high school, Donna took a guitar class and while she played, she often would sing to her classmates. Her music teacher noticed her vocal potential and recruited her to sing in choir. Donna went on to sing in various choir classes and performances over the next three years and was awarded, “Top Performer” for her Senior Class. Throughout Donna’s early adult years, her sultry voice was heard winning The Gong Show in 1989, The 1993 Nashville Talent Show at The Grand Ol’ Opry and numerous Karaoke competitions throughout Southern California. As time passed, Donna’s passion for music and singing grew. With her main influences being Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morrisette and Wynonna Judd, she knew in her heart that becoming a lead singer in a band is all she could think about. In the summer of 2015, Donna met a musician that had a band, but needed a lead singer. She took a leap of faith and decided to go jam with them. After a few months of singing and jamming, Donna was hooked! In 2016, her band “Your Guilty Pleasure” was born. From 2016 to 2019, they would go on to perform at local breweries, bars, clubs, private events and became one the most sought-after bands on the local circuit. In early 2020, when the Global Pandemic changed life as we knew it, playing live shows ceased and the rest of the band members would go their separate ways. During this time of uncertainty in the world, Donna never lost hope of performing live again with a band. It was from an impromptu jam in 2021 with an Elite drummer Alan Strommer, that re-ignited her passion. In November 2021, Your Guilty Pleasure was REBORN!
ALAN STROMMER
DRUMS, HARMONY VOCALS – YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE
Southern California-based, Multi-Genre Artist – Alan was born in Los Angeles, CA and grew up in the San Fernando Valley, less than 10 miles from the epicenter of local music, Hollywood. Coming from a musical family, they knew by the age of three he was destined to be a drummer. In his youth, Alan was exposed to a wide array of music, but it was hearing drummer Ian Paice from Deep Purple play “Highway Star”, that set the course of his life. Alan’s thirst for music expanded to include blues and Motown artists such as B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and James Brown. However, his discovery of Led Zeppelin brought him to his skin-hitting hero, John “Bonzo” Bonham. Alan’s playing style is that most influenced by Bonham, but he attributes his diversity to an array of others, including Buddy Rich, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, Neil Peart and Taylor Hawkins. Alan began drum lessons at age eight. By age thirteen, he’d saved enough money to buy a brand-new jet-black Slingerland kit. At fifteen, Alan formed his first band with high school classmates. Not long after, he began gigging with the band “Boys Say No” at various local clubs, including the Country Club in Reseda and the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. By his late teens and early twenties you could find Alan in Hollywood almost every weekend gigging in rock bands (Cactus Groove and Rascal) and watching live music on The Strip. In his early thirties, Alan’s musical career was put on hold to start a family. Unable to commit full time to any one band, he continued to hone his skills and sit-in with bands whenever the opportunity arose. In 2009, he went to hear a friend’s band perform at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. While he loved the sound and original songs, he knew his style of playing was a perfect fit. It didn’t take long to convince the band’s guitarist, Peter Spirer. With Alan behind the kit, they changed their name from MLC to Barnyard Cocks and went on to play bars and clubs in and around Los Angeles for several years. When Peter’s old Country/Rock/Americana band, Sacred Cowboys, reformed in 2018, Alan was recruited to hold down the beat. In July 2021,Sacred Cowboys released their original album, “See Sacred Cowboys” worldwide. With the Cowboys on hiatus since 2020, when the world came to a screeching halt, Alan’s desire to continue playing grew. One summer day in August 2021, Alan met up with lead vocalist, Donna Castro for a friendly party jam and the rest is history!
STUART JACKSON
BASS, HARMONY VOCALS – YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE
Stuart was born in Russell, Kansas. He moved to California at a very early age and spent most of his youth in Whittier, California. Music was a passion from an early age and he spent countless hours listening to his favorites. Aside from a short attempt at learning clarinet in grade school, Stuart did not take up any musical instruments until late in high school at age 17. Inspired by his very first concert attendance to see the band Kiss perform at the Santa Monica Civic Center, he chose the Bass guitar after witnessing Gene Simmons performance from his front row seat. Mostly self taught, he did take a few lessons at a local music store when he first started. Stuart joined his first rock band at age 18 named Heatslinger, a cover band influenced by Judas Priest and Van Halen. Soon after that experience, Stuart Joined the band Rok, which was a hard rock band doing both covers and original music. Rok was influenced by AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Van Halen, and played around the SoCal music scene for many years including clubs in Orange County, Hollywood and San Gabriel Valley. Stuart has tried his hand at many musical genres, but has mostly played in Rock or Blues cover bands. Stuart has used a lot of different Bass gear over the years, he currently uses MarkBass amps and Fender Precision and Jazz basses. Stuart has also played on a number of recording projects, including performing and producing blues projects with the Mark Bramlett Band, one of which featured guitarist Tracy G of the Ronnie James Dio Band fame. Some of his favorite bass players and early influences are John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Geezer Butler and Berry Oakley.
GABRIEL ALBARRAN
LEAD GUITAR, HARMONY VOCALS – YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE
Southern California based – Multi Genre Artist. Accomplished lead guitarist, singer/songwriter, Gabriel was born in Los Angeles, CA and is one of nine siblings. He got his first taste for music at 15 playing drums, but was infatuated with Blues greats BB King and Albert King and fell in love with the modern electric blues players Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn and made the switch to guitar at age 17. Gabriel studied music theory in college, but attributes most of his playing style to a time in his life when he got the opportunity to work with Chicago born blues guitar player, Oscar Jordan. Oscar was the real deal and taught Gabriel about the history and different types of blues, including the progressions and how to add leads. He showed him the ropes, took him under his wing and often would have Gabriel “sit in” when he played local clubs here in Los Angeles. Gabriel’s professional career started in 2013 and includes various festivals, clubs, Bar & Grills and local breweries in and around Southern California. Some of Gabriel’s modern guitar heroes include Pat Travers, Jeff Healey, Neil Geraldo and Mike Campbell. He built his reputation sharing the stage with some of the most talented musicians in Los Angeles. From 2015 to present, Gabriel has played lead guitar with local favorites Phill & the Blanks, Bar Worthington and S.K.O.C. In January 2022, Gabriel was recruited by his close friend, drummer Alan Strommer to play with Your Guilty Pleasure. From one rehearsal there was instant chemistry and Gabriel believes the passion for music the band shares will drive them to perform and entertain crowds here in the US and beyond!