If I could say only one thing about Ricky Ric AKA Jimmy Fassler without reservation it would simply be,"What doesn't he do?" With a long association Ricky such as mine it becomes obvious that he has dance music written into his DNA. In fact, according to Ricky, from his earliest childhood memories he has always been drawn to the energy of that music genre and all it’s forms. Like many of us however he started in a totally different place beginning with formal drum and piano lessons at age 10. From that point on Ricky has managed to spend most of his life in the music industry. As he puts it, "I guess you'd have to call me a music for lifer because I could never be happier doing anything else". While mainly playing drums in countless bands through the early years, his experience included everything from school orchestras to jazz, rock and pretty much everything in-between. This was a journey which inevitably led him naturally, (and often out of shear necessity), into writing, production, sound engineering and staging as well. Along side of his musicianship, he was always fascinated by the technical art of recording and music production. He soon found himself working as an intern with "Sound Recording Company", a classic well established recording studio in Spokane Washington. Here he was introduced to the art of editing, media restoration and radio commercial production. Next came his association with "Road West Mobile Studios" in Salt Lake City Utah. The mobile facility often recorded live bands, studio tracks and produced radio commercials at "New Faces Roadhouse" which, in it's day, was the Intermountain West's largest live music / concert club. Ricky was also a main partner and the entertainment director for the club as well. Ricky's main love of playing and live performance landed him various road gigs touring and organizing shows with acts such as "The Heartbeats", "David LaFlamme", and Phoenix AZ based rock band "Kanadia" just to mention a few. Eventually, Ricky found himself in Seattle Washington during the pre grunge and pre Starbucks national franchise period. He worked and played with a variety of local groups "around the sound" for several years until he was offered an opportunity that would later prove to alter the coarse of his career... "Perfect Tommy" was a young, high-energy alternative road group touring Alaska when they found themselves going through some major personnel changes. Through a mutual friend and manager Ricky was asked to join the band as their drummer which he enthusiastically excepted. Upon his arrival he took the stage with them and from that point began an eleven year partnership with the group. "Perfect Tommy" played endless dates in the USA and around the world in countries like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Greece just to name a few. He was a co-producer on Perfect Tommy’s first dance album "Everything Has To Be Big" which was produced and recorded in Vienna Austria with Austrian Producer Jack Fronczek at Hit Point Studios. The album was later released in Europe by Rams Horn Records (Holland), Dance Factory Records (Germany) and PT109 Records in the US. On the heals of Perfect Tommy's first CD, Ricky Ric became the group's main producer. Soon the albums "Feel This", (which included the high energy dance club anthem "Throw It On The Dance Floor" ) and the album "Lose Yourself" , (featuring the slammin’ club tracks "No Hable Espanol" and "I Will Follow Him" ), were released. Upon Perfect Tommy's retirement from the road, Ricky Ric became the resident DJ and entertainment director of the infamous Honolulu Hawaii dance and live music club "Gussie L’Amour’s". He was well known there for his hot non-stop, high-energy Latin dance sets as well as his dance remixes, club lighting shows and other live music productions. After two years in Hawaii and the birth of his son, Ricky then moved to Norman Oklahoma, home of the infamous Oklahoma University. There he constructed "DiscoToy Studios", his first "stationary" recording facility in many years. With the studio and his production company “Blue Music Productions” (BMP), he has produced countless dance tracks for a variety of artists in all genres and has worked with many indie record labels. Along side of the dance music productions he has also composed and arranged music for SB Dance's "Revenge of Yoga The Musical", which took him into a whole other musical world for a brief period. Most recently you will find Ricky bouncing between Phoenix AZ. and Las Vegas NV. He is working closly with "Thunder Quest Records" and for the outrageous and often controversial rock / dance band "Cutting Edge". Ricky has enjoyed a long and on going association with the band begging with his first dance remix for group in 2001 of "Love Police". Some of his latest production work can be found on Cutting Edge's recent release, "Cutting Edge Goes Back To College" as well as music videos such as "Your Love Is My Oxygen (Munroe Remix)", "Venomous Love Affair" and "If The Walls Could Talk" just to name a few.... Ricky Ric has also produced many remix compilations and solo projects including the non-stop dance CD, "Sleepless". This collection of work contains mostly all original, high-energy trance and vocal trance tracks. The CD also features the ambient, haunting vocals of "Vicki St. Ives" from "Perfect Tommy" and has been released on "Blue Music Records". It remains a fascination of mine to watch the on going arc of Ricky's career through the years. I honestly believe there is so much more to come from this talented artist including some of his best works yet… -HR | 
