 His father regularly took him to see jazz bands at the Lambertville Music Circus and after he saw The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, Uosikkinen realized that music and being in a band was what he wanted to pursue with his life.He eventually turned to the drums when a neighbor let him play on his new set.He graduated from Woodrow Wilson (now Harry S. Truman) High School in 1974, where he participated in gymnastics.