Everything You Need to Know About Me
(and then some...)
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The Elevator Pitch
As a composer, the most valuable asset I bring to the table is a rich lifetime of experiences that inform every creative decision I make. I've got over 35 years working in the music industry as a session player, recording engineer and music producer. I've also done business and tour management for bands, and I've been the director of a music festival for 10 years, so I've got plenty of experience working for and with other creative professionals to accomplish goals on a deadline. As an artist, I've composed, arranged, performed and recorded in many different genres: rock, jazz, soul, folk, blues, electronic, and world fusion just to name a few. I am excited and inspired to channel all of this life experience into the scores that I write, and help to bring just the right energy into each story. |
Education
1986-1990: University of CA, Santa Cruz. BA in Theater Arts with an emphasis in sound design for live theater.
1995: Musicians Institute, Hollywood, CA. Studied bass guitar technique and session recording practices.
1997: Los Angeles Recording Workshop, Burbank, CA. Studied recording studio techniques to become a professional engineer.
2001-2003: University of CA, San Diego. MFA in Visual Arts with an emphasis in abstract painting.
2021-2022: Film Score Seminar, Nashville, TN. Studied composition for film, television and digital media with Michael Whittaker.
1986-1990: University of CA, Santa Cruz. BA in Theater Arts with an emphasis in sound design for live theater.
1995: Musicians Institute, Hollywood, CA. Studied bass guitar technique and session recording practices.
1997: Los Angeles Recording Workshop, Burbank, CA. Studied recording studio techniques to become a professional engineer.
2001-2003: University of CA, San Diego. MFA in Visual Arts with an emphasis in abstract painting.
2021-2022: Film Score Seminar, Nashville, TN. Studied composition for film, television and digital media with Michael Whittaker.
Relevant Work Experience:
1988-Present: Professional Musician on bass guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion, etc., with The Spirit Messengers, Cosmic Sound Mandala, Blue Spirit Wheel, Bhakti Messenger, Brave the Day, The Beat Monks, The Hellbenders, Gliss, 13, Hindu Casual Wear. Extensive live performance and session recording experience.
1998-1999: Recording Engineer internship and assistant position at Skyline Studio in Topanga Canyon, CA.
1999-Present: Independent Recording Engineer and Music Producer in Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and Atlanta, GA. Worked with a variety of artists to complete full album productions (arranging, recording, mixing and mastering) using Pro Tools and Logic in my home studio, and in collaboration with Rob Kuhlman at Root Cellar Music in Monroe, GA.
2009-2019: Business and Tour Manager for Blue Spirit Wheel and Bhakti Messenger. Countless gigs booked in the greater Atlanta area. Tours booked around the US and Canada.
2010-2020: Director for the ChantLanta Sacred Music Festival, an annual 3 day charity event with national recognition in the yoga and world music community.
2011-Present: Mantra Meditation Teacher, with regular classes, weekend workshops, and guest appearances at yoga teacher trainings. In Atlanta, GA, and various cities around the US.
1988-Present: Professional Musician on bass guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion, etc., with The Spirit Messengers, Cosmic Sound Mandala, Blue Spirit Wheel, Bhakti Messenger, Brave the Day, The Beat Monks, The Hellbenders, Gliss, 13, Hindu Casual Wear. Extensive live performance and session recording experience.
1998-1999: Recording Engineer internship and assistant position at Skyline Studio in Topanga Canyon, CA.
1999-Present: Independent Recording Engineer and Music Producer in Los Angeles, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and Atlanta, GA. Worked with a variety of artists to complete full album productions (arranging, recording, mixing and mastering) using Pro Tools and Logic in my home studio, and in collaboration with Rob Kuhlman at Root Cellar Music in Monroe, GA.
2009-2019: Business and Tour Manager for Blue Spirit Wheel and Bhakti Messenger. Countless gigs booked in the greater Atlanta area. Tours booked around the US and Canada.
2010-2020: Director for the ChantLanta Sacred Music Festival, an annual 3 day charity event with national recognition in the yoga and world music community.
2011-Present: Mantra Meditation Teacher, with regular classes, weekend workshops, and guest appearances at yoga teacher trainings. In Atlanta, GA, and various cities around the US.
The Three Things I Am Most Influenced By:
1. The Bass Guitar
I started playing bass when I was 18 (in other words, a LONG time ago). It was the first instrument I really became proficient with and would go on to master after years of practice. Although I've learned to play many other instruments over the decades, the bass guitar remains the heart of my musical soul and informs pretty much everything that I do. Playing bass in a variety of different bands I learned the importance of building a solid foundation for a song, in both rhythm and harmony, and the even greater importance of having an attitude of serving the song, rather than using the song as a platform to show off my chops. Over time I learned how to stretch out and explore on the bass, but I never lost that crucial sense of the underlying pulse of the music, and no matter how far out I got, I could always return right back to the fundamental groove of the song in an instant. When I approach the score for a picture, I bring this same understanding that the music is in service to the story, and that every story has a pulse at it's core that needs to be discovered. Finding the rhythm of the story, in harmony with the cinematography and the editing, is the space where things get really exciting for me.
I started playing bass when I was 18 (in other words, a LONG time ago). It was the first instrument I really became proficient with and would go on to master after years of practice. Although I've learned to play many other instruments over the decades, the bass guitar remains the heart of my musical soul and informs pretty much everything that I do. Playing bass in a variety of different bands I learned the importance of building a solid foundation for a song, in both rhythm and harmony, and the even greater importance of having an attitude of serving the song, rather than using the song as a platform to show off my chops. Over time I learned how to stretch out and explore on the bass, but I never lost that crucial sense of the underlying pulse of the music, and no matter how far out I got, I could always return right back to the fundamental groove of the song in an instant. When I approach the score for a picture, I bring this same understanding that the music is in service to the story, and that every story has a pulse at it's core that needs to be discovered. Finding the rhythm of the story, in harmony with the cinematography and the editing, is the space where things get really exciting for me.
2. Abstract Painting
I lived in Los Angeles for about 11 years back around the 90s. It was probably one of the worst times to end up in LA trying to make it as a musician, and after a long while I got burned out and couldn't keep going. I didn't feel like I could do music, but I knew that being artistically creative was a survival issue for me. Fortunately, I had a friend who introduced me to the world of oil painting. I took up this new avenue of expression with vigor and dedicated myself to it fully. Almost immediately I came across an important book, "On the Spiritual in Art", by Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian modernist painter from the early 20th century. Kandinsky was an amateur cellist, in addition to being a visionary abstract painter, and his book was all about the relationship between music and painting, between sound and color. It was a revelation to me, that allowed all my years of music experience to instantly translate into painting. I progressed so quickly that only 18 months after I completed my first painting, I applied and was accepted into a graduate level art program at a major university. Eventually, my burnout healed and I returned to music, but I was not the same as I was before. My experiences as a painter have added new dimensions to my understanding of what music is and how it can be created. I think about song arrangements in terms of shapes and colors now, and whether the brushstrokes are rough and expressive, or if they blend smoothly from one color to another. I would not be the composer I am today without this extra layer of artistic experience.
I lived in Los Angeles for about 11 years back around the 90s. It was probably one of the worst times to end up in LA trying to make it as a musician, and after a long while I got burned out and couldn't keep going. I didn't feel like I could do music, but I knew that being artistically creative was a survival issue for me. Fortunately, I had a friend who introduced me to the world of oil painting. I took up this new avenue of expression with vigor and dedicated myself to it fully. Almost immediately I came across an important book, "On the Spiritual in Art", by Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian modernist painter from the early 20th century. Kandinsky was an amateur cellist, in addition to being a visionary abstract painter, and his book was all about the relationship between music and painting, between sound and color. It was a revelation to me, that allowed all my years of music experience to instantly translate into painting. I progressed so quickly that only 18 months after I completed my first painting, I applied and was accepted into a graduate level art program at a major university. Eventually, my burnout healed and I returned to music, but I was not the same as I was before. My experiences as a painter have added new dimensions to my understanding of what music is and how it can be created. I think about song arrangements in terms of shapes and colors now, and whether the brushstrokes are rough and expressive, or if they blend smoothly from one color to another. I would not be the composer I am today without this extra layer of artistic experience.
3. Sanskrit
Back in 2005 I discovered yoga and began to meditate. I was initially doing this for my own health and sanity, but, just like everything else in my life, it quickly became about music. I found a meditation technique called mantra, which involves the repetition of specific phrases in Sanskrit, the ancient, sacred language of India. Mantra meditation is all about the nature of sound vibration and what the effects of certain sounds are on our minds, our bodies, and our relationship to the world around us. As a musician, this was absolutely fascinating to me, and I dove head first into this exploration of sound and music as a way to expand consciousness. In this mystical practice, all of reality is experienced as energy vibrating at all possible frequencies simultaneously. The vibrating energy is consciousness itself, infinite and without limitation, but as humans we are bound into a finite, conditional existence, so we only experience certain levels of consciousness in our normal lives. For example, we live in a 3-dimensional space, and within linear time that has past, present and future, but all those things are just constructs of our limited consciousness. Mantra meditation maintains that sound vibrations, if precisely and intentionally used, have the capability of open up levels of consciousness that we don't normally access, changing the way we interact with everything. The Sanskrit language is designed to allow those transformative sound vibrations to manifest, with the ultimate goal of breaking down all barriers to consciousness. When I create music now, the principles of mantra and consciousness energy are incorporated into it. In a film, for example, the music forms a layer of energy vibration that exists on a different plane from the actors and the sets, like the subtle realms of energy that yoga philosophy explores. I use these principles to create depth and power for the story, affecting the audience on levels they may not even be aware of.
Back in 2005 I discovered yoga and began to meditate. I was initially doing this for my own health and sanity, but, just like everything else in my life, it quickly became about music. I found a meditation technique called mantra, which involves the repetition of specific phrases in Sanskrit, the ancient, sacred language of India. Mantra meditation is all about the nature of sound vibration and what the effects of certain sounds are on our minds, our bodies, and our relationship to the world around us. As a musician, this was absolutely fascinating to me, and I dove head first into this exploration of sound and music as a way to expand consciousness. In this mystical practice, all of reality is experienced as energy vibrating at all possible frequencies simultaneously. The vibrating energy is consciousness itself, infinite and without limitation, but as humans we are bound into a finite, conditional existence, so we only experience certain levels of consciousness in our normal lives. For example, we live in a 3-dimensional space, and within linear time that has past, present and future, but all those things are just constructs of our limited consciousness. Mantra meditation maintains that sound vibrations, if precisely and intentionally used, have the capability of open up levels of consciousness that we don't normally access, changing the way we interact with everything. The Sanskrit language is designed to allow those transformative sound vibrations to manifest, with the ultimate goal of breaking down all barriers to consciousness. When I create music now, the principles of mantra and consciousness energy are incorporated into it. In a film, for example, the music forms a layer of energy vibration that exists on a different plane from the actors and the sets, like the subtle realms of energy that yoga philosophy explores. I use these principles to create depth and power for the story, affecting the audience on levels they may not even be aware of.