Full Name: Arpan Shah, but almost everyone knows me as Bob. Yeah that's kind of a long story.
Age: 21
Birthday: October 17th, 1980
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Hair/Eye Color: I am usually bald so I really have no hair color but if I did it would be black. My eyes are black.
Shoe Size: 11 I think.

How old were you when you started playing guitar and writing songs?
I was a sophomore in high school, so I guess I was 14 or 15.

When did you first realize that you wanted to sing and get your music out there?
I have been singing since I was a little kid. Singing has been one of those things that helped me to express myself.

Do you think that there is anything that separates you from the other artists of today? If so what?
When I listen to mainstream radio nowadays, it seems that all of the music is too processed with packaged emotion. It just seems that many of today's band don't show raw emotion.

Who are your influences musically and personally?
I definitely have a lot of influences, but my music doesn't reflect most of them. I grew up listening to a lot of Depeche Mode and Erasure. I think if I had a keyboard growing up instead of a guitar my music would be totally different. I also listened to Ice Cube and Public Enemy. In fact, when I bought my first guitar, I was really close to getting some turntables instead. I then got into punk like Face to Face, NOFX, and Lagwagon. For the last few years, I've been really into indie/emo like Jimmy Eat World, the Get Up Kids, Death Cab For Cutie, Further Seems Forever. I'm also really into melodic trance like Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyke, Ferry Corsten, and Mauro Picotto.

I would have to say that most people would compare me to Dashboard Confessional or John Mayer, but I would say we are totally different with the exception that we play acoustic music. My music has been lumped into the acoustic emo genre even though I have been writing music even before I knew what emo was.

When you write your songs, is there anything special that you do? Like get away from everyone or light candles or something? Do your songs just come naturally to you?
I usually sit at my guitar and kind of come up with the music first. Many times the music comes from a riff I randomly play in my head. I will hum it all day and try to recreate it on the guitar the first chance I get. It sometimes takes as long as a year though before I finish the music and then add the lyrics. When I feel really inspired, I will sit down and write lyrics to all the music I had in one sweep. I absolutely cannot have anyone in the same room as me when writing music. I need that solitude to truly express my feelings. I don't schedule time to write music though; just when it comes to me.

How does it make you feel when people tell you that your music has touched them in one way or another?
It really is something that makes me feel glad to be writing music in the first place. Abreaction is a psychological term that means "the release or purging of emotions." For me that's exactly what my music is. When I get mail from people saying they related to it, it kind of makes it all worth it.

Is there a goal that you are trying to reach with your music?
There really is no goal. I'm just trying to channel my emotions through the guitar and singing. Its really as simple as that. Primarily I am writing the music for myself. Music I guess would be like writing a diary and to me the goal of writing a diary would just to have a means or way of writing
down your true thoughts.

Are most of the things you write based on personal experience?
Definitely. Music is like my diary.

What are your favorite things in life?
My guitar, writing music, my family, Going out with my friends, girls in general, e-mail, gangster movies, food, the summer, humor, and love.

Describe what your idea of a perfect day would be like.
To spend a day doing ordinary things like Cruising along some serene highway with a scenic landscape with the girl of my dreams. I guess another perfect day would be to live my rock star fantasy and play in some amphitheater in front of 30000 people.

If you were to change the world in one what would you do and why?
I would want the world in a way where people were not afraid to express themselves and instead follow their real passions in life. I think everyone would be a tad bit happier.

What inspired you to write in the first place?
It actually just happened by chance. Me and my best friends in high school decided one day to just form a band. I ended up writing a few songs for the band, but it was pretty clear that our musical tastes were different. I was getting into punk rock while my other friends were into classic rock or heavy metal. We kind of parted ways and I began writing with my electric until it broke. Pretty much ever since I have been writing on my acoustic guitar.

Where can your albums be purchased at?
This has to be the most frequently asked question. Right now because of time and cost issues I have no way to distribute any of my CDs. Its also really hard to distribute CDs since I am independent and I don't have the help of a label. So I usually tell people go to http://www.mp3.com/abreaction and get songs from there or just burn them off file sharing programs like Kazaa or Winmx. I am planning on recording a third CD which I hope to distribute to the world though.

Any last words?
Yeah I'm working on a new website since I really don't have one. Also anyone could e-mail me at abreaction@abreaction.net about anything. I try and get back to everyone.