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Born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1952, Pete liked to sing ever since he was a little boy. While living in an apartment over his dad's electronics shop in Paterson, his mom gave him a portable record player. His first record, he recalls was Franks Sinatra's Love and Marriage. "I get a kick out of watching reruns of Married: With Children," Pete says. "It always brings back memories of the old house. In 1955, the Bremys moved to Wayne, NJ where his mother befriended opera singer Yolanda "Lupe'" Landin. Landin overheard an unsuspecting Pete singing along with his records one day, and she recommended to his mother that she send Pete for singing lessons. Unfortunately, his mother didn't follow up, but Pete was destined for a musical career anyway. He took drum lessons in the fourth grade and switched to trumpet in the fifth grade but soon lost interest. The next year, 1964, The Beatles invaded America and Pete received a copy of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" 45 single as joke gift from his parents. This was no joke however, it was actually the seed planted that launched his true interest in a musical career. As with so many other musicians of today, Ringo Starr inspired him to pick up his sticks again, where he proceeded to ruin the upholstery on his mother's furniture using it as a kit! He continued on so diligently that his parents decided he should have a drum set, and piece by piece, put one together for him adding drums as presents on holidays. So, by age 11, he had pretty much a full kit. This was a worthwhile investment as it really paid for itself in rescued furniture!
So, Pete took up the bass and found himself in a band six months later at age 14. In 1967, he and Jeff along with rhythm guitar player Ed Walker, answered an ad placed by organist Dave Boggess his brother, and drummer Larry Boggess. They all formed a popular local cover band in Northern New Jersey called Heaven's Sundae. In high school, Pete joined the school band. He also learned a great deal of music theory. "For a high school, they had a great music program. I'll always thank my Music Major teacher, Steve Kupka for all he taught me. It's stayed with me all these years." Pete's biggest influences on bass were Tim Bogert and Paul McCartney, and was and is a huge fan of Vanilla Fudge, and The Beatles. Heaven's Sundae was known for its Vanilla Fudge covers, and also for doing its own Fudgelike versions of other songs such as The Beatles' Day Tripper, and The Yardbyrds' For Your Love. Heaven's Sundae would blow adolescent minds performing the Fudge arrangement of You Keep Me Hanging On. It was Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge that inspired Pete to learn keyboards, or more specifically, the Hammond B3. There's a mint B3 sitting in his basement to this day. Little did he know when he bought it, that one day, Vince Martell, lead guitarist of Vanilla Fudge would jam with him right along side that B3 at a party many years later. After graduating high school, Pete attended William Paterson University as a business major at the urging of his parents. While his parents always encouraged him in his music, they wanted him to have something to fall back on. However, music was his dream, and he just couldn't concentrate on the "business". So, afer two years, he took some time off. Thinking further, he returned to WPU as a Music Major. There he continued to develop his knowledge in Music Theory and learned many new instruments, as well as receiving some vocal training.
Finally in 1997, Pete was backing into his driveway when a panicked next door neighbor, also a bassist came running up to his car. He's taken a Classic Rock gig, and being younger, didn't know a lot of the old Rock Classics. He begged Pete to come out and sit in on a set to help out as there was only 3 days until the gig. "I don't know... it's been 20 years," Pete said, but he gave in and did the gig. Getting the "bug", he started frequenting blues jams at local pubs to regain his chops. Soon after, he hooked up once again with Jeff Guenther, who had stayed with the biz all these years. Jeff invited him to play bass for his band at the time, LTM. A big thrill for Pete came about in 1998 when, because of the Internet, he was able to get to know his musical inspirations, the members of Vanilla Fudge. On bass, Tim Bogert was Pete's biggest hero and strongest influence. Pete was working as a programmer and started to develop small web sites. He noticed there was no site for Tim Bogert, so he created one without Tim's knowledge, on a friend's server, who had a few months earlier created a site for Vanilla Fudge. Some month's later Tim discovered the site Pete created and made it his official site. "I remember we received an email from Tim's girlfriend. She said they were in the process of moving and they would contact us in about a month. Well, she never said whether Tim actually liked the site or not. So, I didn't know whether to be ecstatic... [laughs] or to call my lawyer!" Three years later, Pete is still maintaining the site and he and Tim have become friends. After all these years, Pete says he's finally developed his own bass style since he converted to the six string bass, a switch inspired once again by Tim Bogert. Some time ago LTM became Jeff Guenther's Retrofitz, and Pete is still playing with Jeff. During his jamming time in the late 90's Pete became friends with singer/guitarist Dave Kraemer and bassist Ken Clark, both formerly of Dan Kidney and the Pulsations, who had a rock duo called Pulse DK. In February 1999, Ken left the duo when his wife had a baby and Dave asked Pete to take over. So he was now working with two bands.
Pete
has continually lived in his native New Jersey, although he moved
farther out into the hills. He says, "I love it here. Where else
in the world can you drive an hour in one direction and be in God's
country, and drive an hour in the other direction and be at Madison
Square Garden! This is where it's happening." In 2002, he fulfilled a dream that he thought would never happen. Bassist Tim Bogert became ill the day prior to the start of a short tour with Vanilla Fudge. Vince Martell recommended Pete as a fill in, and in a heartbeat he was off to Asbury Park, New Jersey for the first show of the tour at the famous Stone Pony. As Bogert was ill for an extended period, Pete toured with the Fudge for eight months across the USA winding up with a tour of Sweden and Denmark. In 2004, Pete was asked to join singer/songwriter Essra Mohawk's 40th Anniversary Homecoming Tour, and again in 2005 for her E-Turn CD Release Tour. Also in 2005, Pete recorded tracks for Jeff Guenther's CD, Adopted Son, to be released hopefully late in the year.
Pete continued to sub for Tim Bogert on and off until 2011 when Bogert retired from touring and Pete has been touring with them since. In 2011, Cactus, featuring Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice and original lead guitarist Jim McCarty, reunited and Pete was once again asked to take Tim Bogert's place. Cactus was the band that Appice and Bogert formed after the initial breakup of Vanilla Fudge back in 1970. In 2012 Cactus recorded a live CD while touring Japan which was released in 2013. Vanilla Fudge recorded a concert at BB King in New York City in 2013 which will be released as a live album in 2014. Vanilla Fudge and Cactus are still touring....
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In
2000, Pete was asked to join the band of another of his biggest
heros, guitarist Vince Martell of Vanilla Fudge who he also had met
through the Internet and had become friends with. This was a kid's
dream come true. The band is Vince Martell's Endless High. They've
been performing in the New York area since September of 2000.
