A Rock Bassist, An Orchestral Bassist, a Beatles Collector and a Yoga Instructor… And They’re All Your Colleagues! Check Out These Hidden Talents!

Welcome to the latest edition of Frontline VNSNY’s ongoing “Hidden Talents” series—featuring profiles of your colleagues with special skills you may not have known about!

Do you have a hidden talent that you’d like to share in Frontline, or do you know someone else at VNSNY who does? We’d love to hear about it. Please email us with your hidden talent!

Rocking Out with Dan Wallis

After developing an ear for music through piano lessons as a child, Dan Wallis, Vice President of Contact Center Shared Services (CCSS), has spent much of his life as a serious rock musician, playing bass in a number of groups based out of Orange County, California, where he grew up. “I originally wanted to be a drummer, but I had friends that needed a bass player for a band,” says Dan. “So I borrowed one when I was 14 or 15, played at a party with them, and haven’t really regretted that decision because it turned out to be a lot of fun.”

Just a few months after that party, Dan was recruited to play bass with a hardcore punk rock group called Don’t No. “It was already a fairly established band, and within a couple weeks I was playing my first show at a dive bar in Los Angeles. I wasn’t even old enough to get into the bar, but that didn’t matter! We put out a couple of albums and did a national tour which was real rag-tag. Four guys in the band, plus a roadie, in a 1973 Chevy van pulling a trailer full of all of our equipment. You could probably make some good movies about that experience.”

Dan, second from left, on stage with Gherkin Raucous

After Don’t No disbanded, Dan co-founded Gherkin Raucous, a funk-rock group which played on the bill alongside other So-Cal rock contemporaries such as Jane’s Addiction, No Doubt and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While the band saw acclaim in California and managed to record a demo tape with Sony Music, Gherkin Raucous ended up parting ways after a few years together. After playing with a few other bands, Dan packed away his instruments for about 15 years, moving around the West Coast to pursue other job opportunities… until a friend reached out.

“I was living in San Diego in 2010, when a friend from back in the day called and said ‘Hey Wallis, who you playing with? I said ‘No one,’ and she said ‘Well, that ends.’” The duo got together and formed the indie-rock group Mostly Sunny, playing bars and casual shows for close to a decade. “A little bit of this, a little bit of that, never a real big success, but such a great outlet—a great joy for the creation process and having fun with it.”

Now on the East Coast, Dan still finds time to jam out, but his passion will always lie with creating music with others. “My piano teacher would not be surprised, but practice has always been my downfall,” says Dan. “I want to get together in a room with other musicians and create.”

Check out Dan with Mostly Sunny below!

Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga Instructor Ashleigh Bello

“When I moved to New York City, I had been looking for something like a gym to join, anything that would keep my interest so I could stay active,” says Marketing Department Manager Ashleigh Bello. “My friend invited me to her yoga and Pilates studio—YO BK in Brooklyn—and I just fell in love with it.”

After a few years of practice, Ashleigh developed a special interest in a type of yoga known as Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga, and went from attending classes to instructing them!

Ashley practicing in Brooklyn

“I never really had an interest in being a teacher, but with everything going on during the pandemic, I left my previous job looking for a change,” says Ashleigh. “In between that time and finding VNSNY, my yoga studio was doing a virtual instructor training—I figured I might as well try it out.”

Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga is a style of “hot yoga” characterized by seamless movement between postures, or Asanas, using breath—all taking place within a studio intentionally heated to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. After 200 hours of training, Ashleigh received her certification to instruct Baptiste Power Yoga and now hosts 2 to 3 classes a week during evenings and on weekends outside of her role with VNSNY’s Marketing team. “It’s been really great to do in-person classes now, with everything opening back up again,” says Ashleigh. “People are craving connection, and bringing a yoga class together is a healthy way to offer that to my community in Williamsburg.”

Yoga has provided her with a number of valuable lessons, both as an instructor and a practitioner. “From a teaching standpoint, it’s given me a ton of confidence that has translated throughout my entire life. I stand in front of a packed room and motivate students of all ages and backgrounds to challenge themselves in their practice; it takes a lot to be able to own and control that kind of environment for an entire hour and to have people trust you. In terms of the actual practice, yoga just does so much for your body and mind. It’s all about a wholesome well-being. I can really tell when I haven’t practiced in a while and when I need to get back on my yoga mat. It helps clear your head, you feel healthier and kinder, and you make better choices.”

On top of its health benefits, yoga has also helped Ashleigh settle into life in Brooklyn. “I know so many people in my community,” she says. “I walk around every day and often spot a student waving to me, so it’s been really special in that way, especially as a transplant. Being part of the studio as both a student and a teacher has really solidified my roots here.”

Ultimate Beatles Fan, John Bonanno

For many, Beatlemania ended in the 1960s. But for John Bonanno, Director for Procurement and Supply Chain Management, it’s been a lifelong fascination that has led to a whole room filled with albums, collectables, and other ephemera related to the band.

“I started out collecting a lot of records,” says John. “And while new-wave and punk music was coming out when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I would always go to a store called Roundhouse Records on Queens Boulevard and buy their old dollar albums. Once in a while I’d see a Beatles record and pick it up.” His first purchase was a copy of Beatles ’65, the group’s fifth studio album, which would prove to be the tip of the iceberg.

John’s “Beatles Room” featuring some of his collection

The youngest of four siblings, John’s three older sisters grew up at a time when the Beatles were still together, and always played the band’s music around the house during his early childhood. As they grew older, they ended up passing their own Beatles records, and interest, down to John. Eventually, he decided to put it all on display.

“One day I went to a craft store and saw that they had picture frames, but for albums. I framed a few— Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Crosby, Stills and Nash— and eventually I thought, ‘I have so many Beatles records, what if I just framed all of those?’ I started putting those up, and I would go to garage sales and antiques stores and pick up other Beatles records I didn’t have, so the collection grew a little at a time. I went through the catalog to see what was American, what was British, what was Canadian, and lo and behold I wound up getting every release.”

John’s original set of Beatles Dolls

Aside from records, John also has a number of “fantasy covers”—unofficial, alternative concept art for some studio albums—and his favorite item, one particularly rare set of toys that have stood the test of time. “My sisters’ original set of Beatles dolls. There’s a picture of me, like two years old, in a little baby swimming pool playing with them! And of course, years later, my sister said, ‘Oh my God, you could have ruined those!’”

John has since passed his love for the Beatles on to his own children and continues to enjoy the same feelings their songs brought him as a child. “Music lifts our spirits and makes us feel good,” says John. “I think that’s what the Beatles do for me. Listening to their songs makes me think back to when I was younger, the fun times I had growing up with my sisters, playing the music on the record player and dancing around the house, just smiling and laughing.”

Leader of the Bass Orchestra Section, Roger Herr

“My parents encouraged my siblings and me to learn and be engaged in music and to play an instrument, so I picked the bass in elementary school—I just liked the way it sounded!” says Roger Herr, Vice President of Regional Patient Care Services. “I played all throughout high school and college, even as I trained to become a physical therapist, so I’ve always had a bass in my life, even as my career evolved.”

Originally getting into the instrument through classical music and jazz, Roger had the opportunity to tour Europe as part of an ensemble during the summer after he graduated high school. One of his most memorable musical moments came when he was in college: “We did a very intensive orchestral version of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, which involves a full-on chorus and orchestra,” says Roger. “Taking something on that was so monstrous was amazing!”

After moving to Seattle, Washington in 2004, Roger continued his music studies and discovered a community of bassists that gave him the opportunity to play as part of a group once more. When he moved back to New York a few years ago, he found a new outlet just a few blocks from his apartment at the time—The Queer Urban Orchestra.

“It’s an amazingly diverse group with amazing musical talent. They welcome all levels, so I got involved with them,” says Roger, who has since become the leader of the orchestra’s bass section. “I really love the community. There are some younger students, professional musicians, some that are learning the bass as another instrument in their lives—so I enjoy the bass section.”

Now living in Brooklyn, Roger commutes to Chelsea to rehearse with the group on Wednesday nights, and the Queer Urban Orchestra typically schedules several performances throughout the year. “The music is very intentional—we pick music that is both challenging and embracing of the queer community. For instance, we’re trying some Beethoven pieces this year that are technically challenging, but we also try to include pieces that are from new or emerging conductors, or unknown music, or music by queer or lesser-known composers so that we have a mix for the audience.”

While Roger owns both an electric and upright bass, his greatest joy remains the upright, playing among other musicians. “Understanding each of the instruments’ roles and the way that they come together in an orchestra is interesting. When I hear music now, I automatically start humming to the bass part. I don’t sing the melody of a song or pay attention to lyrics of a song because that’s not where my head goes in the music. The bass is my passion.”