At some point when I was relatively young, before I knew what the term even meant, I became painfully aware of the concept of ideology. One of the most complicated aspects of life is navigating through a sea of different ideologies. A multitude of worldviews and agendas is at once what makes the world so interesting, but also so frustrating. I was born in upstate New York and lived in the mountains of Massachusetts until I was 13, when my family moved to a rural part of Arizona near the Mexican border. As an adult, I’ve mostly lived in larger cities – San Francisco, Tucson, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Eugene. I’ve also traveled and worked internationally. One of the great pleasures in my life has been knowing and working with a vast array of different humans. One of the great complexities has been trying to fathom the often perplexing and contradictory belief systems that people hold. This is especially complicated considering that I personally avoid pre-ordained world views. I think this long running curiosity about ideology is why the life of an artist suits me.
After starting my first band at age 16, it didn’t take much time for music to become the glue holding all of the various aspects of my work and personal life together. I’ve worked as an audio engineer, musician, visual designer, tech developer, and in tech support. Out of those disciplines, music has been the least financially viable, but most of the opportunities I’ve had have been available to me because of the connections I’ve made playing music. I’ve found that even when I’m doing work completely unrelated to music, like UX/UI design for a biotech startup, I am able to draw from the thought processes I’ve developed as a music creator. Increasingly, in my personal creative routine, my frustration with ideology has become one of the primary recurring topics of my work. The more I try to express abstract aspects of human life through sound or visuals, the more I am driven to learn and apply new techniques and technologies to push my work further. I’m motivated by a curiosity to discover the new ways I’ll be able to combine my interests in an attempt to paint my picture of the world.
Audio, visuals, and technological creativity. These things compliment each other, but at times it has felt like I’ve had two or three different careers running simultaneously. I began my career life focused on audio engineering at Hyde Street Studios, but it didn’t take me long to realize that I had a stronger desire to create music than to record it. Being a music creator required supplementary income to survive. It took some time and some education, but I made visual design my main source of income. This sustained me for years after stumbling into work as a UX/UI designer for tech startups.
Working in tech sparked an interest in coding which I saw as a skill that I could use to integrate my audio and visual practices. I got a taste of the possibilities for integrating visual design, audio, and coding while I was part of the core development team for an emerging artist-friendly music streaming platform called Resonate. A lifetime of music making, interesting music tech freelance and personal projects, audio engineering, and the music-tech-centric environment at Resonate has solidified my path into intermedia music technology.
Because I am always looking for new ways to integrate my interests, I try not to limit myself or get too stuck on any one way of thinking, but I’m not afraid to spend a chunk of time chasing an specific idea when that seems like the thing to do. My modus operandi is to constantly stay productive in my creative practice. In short, I like to make shit.
Being a small cog in a large wheel isn’t my style and, as a result, I have rarely been strictly focused on one discipline. Much of the noteworthy work I’ve done has been on a freelance or informal basis. Here are some highlights that I consider to be noteworthy:
- I engineered in-house at the legendary San Francisco recording studio Hyde Street Studios and worked as a live sound engineer at Club Congress in Tucson’s Congress Hotel. The artists I’ve worked with have included George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, Hieroglyphics, Zigaboo Modeliste, and Sage Francis.
- Having founded or joined over a dozen underground bands, I’ve played concerts with a lot of different artists, including some acts I really like: Suicidal Tendencies, Qui (with David Yow on vocals), Dwarves (with Nick Oliveri on bass), Author and Punisher, Year of the Cobra, Mammoth Grinder, and Electric Hawk.
- I’ve Studied music with tabla guru Aloke Dutta, drumset master Dave Elitch, guitar expert Patrick Worley, and music coach extraordinaire Trey Gunn.
- I won a contest hosted by Indaba Music for remixing an Intronaut song.
- Former AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artists) member and contributor.
- I spent years as part of a team designing technical equipment at a biotech startup called Sofie Biosciences.
- I used my design and tech skills to help set the wheels in motion for the artist-friendly music streaming alternative Resonate.
- I collaborated with an engineer friend to create the Kinetic Beats air drumming iPhone app.
- I was hired to build websites for some musicians I admire Dave Elitch, Trevor Dunn, Dunable Guitars, and Aloke Dutta.
