STORY
My life began immersed in music - my father, a professional drummer in the 60s and 70s, had a phenomenal record collection and something funky and heavy was always playing.
He’d wake me and my sister up for school with Led Zeppelin, play us Tower Of Power on the drive there, and pick us up blasting some Average White Band, Edgar Winter, Herbie Hancock, or some other classic greats. We had no idea how good we had it!
This music became a part of us, and when my father passed away suddenly in 2001, it helped us stay connected to his memory. Life was already challenging for us - my parents married young and were divorced by the time I was 3 years old. After two more failed marriages (one for each parent), things did not get better, they just got worse, and my father eventually took his own life.
I struggled to find meaning in my father’s death and our challenging family dynamic - but, I figured it was up to me to make something out of the experience, good or bad, so I decided I would keep music alive in our family by learning to play drums. I always wanted my dad to teach me, and he had just agreed to right before his suicide, which made things particularly hard - I’ll be honest and say every day during that time was a battle to stay positive, but I bought a drum set, got a teacher, and went to work.
Luckily I was talented, because my practice habits were pretty bad! My teacher encouraged me though, and eventually I found some musicians in my high school who tolerated my beginner-level playing. They were awesome and really helped me grow - we jammed, we practiced, and even performed a few times - this experience was invaluable, and taught me many lessons about listening, supporting the music, and keeping good time. Kind people gave me positive feedback, and the seeds of the future were planted.
Then, it was time to go to college - sadly, a full drum set didn’t quite fit the regulations of public school dormitories, so I stopped playing for a while. I started hanging out with folks who liked to party and I lost my way for a bit - this experience ended up being valuable later but at the time it was a dark period. I did a lot of soul-searching and eventually realized that music is what I felt most connected to - I could challenge myself, I could give to others, and I could keep the good parts of my dad alive in my heart. Maybe, I could turn the pain of his loss into something beautiful.
In a way, the pain and the isolation fueled me - I started practicing more, networking with other musicians, and even had some success. We made a few great bands, but unfortunately none of them lasted for very long. It was a time of life with folks going many directions, and not everyone was committed to the same vision. Eventually I realized that if I wanted to make the music I was hearing in my head, it would be best to strike out on my own.
I bought a guitar, got a teacher, a friend of mine gave me a saxophone, and I started getting into live-looping (using loops to build up a song that sounds like a band but is made by just one person). It turns out that playing the saxophone is an amazing gateway to singing, and I started to build the foundation of what could eventually be an honest expression of my sonic vision.
Self-expression is what drove me - I had so much inside me, so many ideas, so many deep feelings and thoughts, and I felt very compelled to externalize them. This eventually carried me into a chance meeting with Joe Mitzman, who got me into Fantasy Studios for my first real recording session as a solo artist, and helped me create what has now become AEONS.
Someone once told me that in life, pain is mandatory, but suffering is optional. I have come to realize that this is very true. So many of the challenges we experience can be blessings if we learn to ask the right questions and are willing to face the truth and be honest with ourselves. Although my story already has a beginning, it does not yet have an end - I hope that whatever chapter of life you are in, you are ready to write the next chapter on your own terms. I know I am.