Invisible Man

'I play for a myriad of artists in a variety of venues," says Brandon "the Sideman" Walters. Walters can be seen all over San

Diego -- and up and down the West Coast -- performing with the likes of Greg Laswell, Erin McCarley, Molly Jenson, Ryan Calhoun, Champion Vinyl, Blackout Party, and the Irvington Band.

He came to San Diego to attend college, and when he went to start a band he discovered that he's best suited to being in the repertory. On his MySpace page Brandon declares, "We sidemen and women rarely garner the attention we imagine we sometimes deserve." No whining, Brandon, please.

BEST GIG?

"My favorite gig was playing the Fillmore in San Francisco. That place boasts an impressive roster. I grew up in the Bay Area, and as a kid I romanticized the idea of playing there. Every band I've ever admired has played the Fillmore: The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and more recently the Smashing Pumpkins. I was touring with San Diego's Greg Laswell, and we were opening up for Sia. After soundcheck, I skipped dinner and paced the halls of that historic citadel with a sort of reverence, as if I were treading on holy ground. It was so surreal. That night I felt like I was playing alongside Jerry Garcia. I know it sounds like pompous bullshit, but playing there was a highlight of my life."

FAVORITE QUOTE?

"In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever in and of itself." -- Chuck Klosterman

FAVORITE BAND?

"My favorite band of all time is the Beatles. It's all there. You can find the saddest sad song, the happiest happy song, and everything in between in the Beatles' catalog. To this day, Revolver is still in heavy rotation on my iPod."

IF YOU COULD HAVE DINNER WITH ANYONE...

"All of my friends -- quality time is important and hard to come by."

IF YOU COULD BE ANY CELEBRITY...

"Marilyn Monroe -- childlike innocence, while being a sex symbol for generations. That's remarkable."

LAST BOOK READ?

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity by Stephen Toulmin

TOP FIVE DESERT-ISLAND BOOKS?

1) The Plague by Albert Camus

2) The Brothers Karamazov by

Fyodor Dostoevsky

3) The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler

4) I'm Not Stiller by Max Stiller

5) Crowds and Power by Elias Canetti

GUILTY PLEASURE?

"In my most masochistic of moments I stay up until 5 a.m. watching Pat Robertson and his white magic, moon-faced cult family hour The 700 Club infomercials."

FAVORITE SAN DIEGO HANGOUT?

"The Ould Sod, the little bar that could. I've cultivated a fantastic, albeit metaphorical, garden inside that bar. I've met more genuine people that have seen me through good times and bad over there than any other place."

BEST THING TO DO WHEN DRUNK...

"Continue drinking until it's early enough to open up a bar. My standing -- more like crawling -- record is 1:30 p.m. the next day. One time I also slept in the bed of my friend's truck, downtown."

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?

"I never believed in love at first sight until I started buying guitars. I become borderline obsessive. I court guitars -- I take them out to dinner, I buy them flowers and a Hallmark card. When I buy a guitar it's because I can't picture life without it."