Hello, all.  Well I've been on Kompoz for quite a while now, and this must be about the coolest website I've ever seen.  I play the guitar more as a hobby, and thus far have used Kompoz more for an online riff repository for my ideas than for online music collaboration.  You guys are all stellar musicians out there, and I look forward to collaborating and continuing to listen to awesome and inspriring riffs and music.  As for influential bands, they impact how I play in different ways, depending on how I feel.  Some of the bands that have had an influence on the way that I play include Metallica, Minor Threat, Paw, NOFX, Knapsack, Jimmy Eat World, and Sunny Day Real Estate to name a few, although I've been listening to a lot of Slayer lately (wish I could play like that).  As far as gear goes, I don't have any. I'm quite limited--a couple of Gibson epiphones, a little Roland Microcube I practice on occasionally, an incredibly useful Stealthplug, Tracktion software, and a piece of shit HP computer.  Happy music making.