Music
Things Left Unsaid [EP]
I'm incredibly excited about my first solo release! Five instrumental, guitar-driven songs over exactly 15 minutes - each song focusing on a part of my personality. Guitar solos and jazzy bits, funky bass and sweet drum fills, you'll find it all here, folks. This was a one-man, top-down effort from my studio and an excellent snapshot of my current abilities as a producer, song-writer and musician.
"Things Left Unsaid" is available to stream now on all major platforms!
Conjuring Spirits
This was a short YouTube series I made where I tasted a new spirit, usually whiskey, and then gave myself three hours to write and record a piece of music to pair with it. The concept came from an idea my amazing wife had and I tried my best to pull it off! All of the songs from Conjuring Spirits are now available on Spotify, Apple Music and all other major platforms!
Video Game Covers
This is a collection of songs from video games that I think are awesome, so I recorded them in my own style. Most of these songs are from retro game soundtracks, which sound super cool in a rock arrangement, I think. These are excellent practice for ear training, production and are just generally a lot of fun.
Lingo
I started feeling the need to connect with more musicians after a few years of working mostly solo, so I put out a craigslist ad with exactly what I was looking for. The first to respond were Rodney and Keith from Lingo. They were within 10 minutes, were working in their own studio making insanely cool music and I really wanted to be a part of it. This is one of the most exciting projects I've ever been involved with because they are also producing their own music. I don't get very many chances to work in a studio outside of my own, so I'm really enjoying it.
The Dearly Beloved
When I was first starting to learn how to record my own music, I met Tony Allen and we became fast friends. Tony and Donnie Myatt (drums) recorded their self-titled album in my studio, which would be the first full album I produced. Since then, Tony has continued to write and record music both with me in my studio and also in his own studio. Check out "Odds and Endings", the latest release from Dearly Beloved on all streaming platforms!
Dead to Begin With
You ever meet a new co-worker and just hit it off instantly? My buddy Stephen Tongay and I were working together, driving in a box truck when I learned that he played guitar, sang and wrote music. I thought his music was awesome, so I invited him to record with me and turn his acoustic recordings into a full band production. We eventually released a self-titled album, recorded most of a second album, worked on over 20 cover songs, built a full band and played many shows. You at least have to listen to the song about Keanu Reeves!
Disguise the Limit
While playing shows with Dead to Begin With and recording with The Dearly Beloved, I was also the drummer for Disguise the Limit. I honestly told these guys when I rehearsed for them that I felt like I wasn't heavy enough and they could probably find a better drummer for their music, but they weren't having it. We went on to play the best shows I've ever been a part of, including at the massive Pointfest after making it through as runners up in the Battle for Pointfest. We took it to the road playing in Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago. Disguise the Limit has a single released and a full album still in production, though the band is no longer together.
Ezzy
Ezzy was another co-worker that I heard wrote songs and played ukulele, so I approached her to check out her music. I thought her music was refreshing and interesting, so I offered to record her songs. We did most of the work over lunch breaks and Ezzy learned how to record during the process. So, we released the first EP "Just a Crack in the Sidewalk" and now she records and produces her own music!
Laterality
Perhaps the polar opposite of Ezzy, Laterality is some extremely heavy music. The heaviest music that will probably ever be released from my studio. Everything on this album was meticulously arranged by Joe Hosier and it is all turned up to 11 - though there are also nearly disturbingly peaceful moments thoughout. This album was beyond a test of my abilities and took years to complete. If you venture out to listen, be advised that there are a lot of explicit lyrics and guitar work that may fry your brain.
Locrian Manor
This was the most technically proficient band I've ever been in, stemming primarily from the masterminds Jonathan Sterling, who basically wrote most of the music and Donnie Myatt, who wrote most of the lyrics and vocal melodies. It was my first real band playing guitar and I was always just trying to keep up. Not only was it tough learning and playing the music, figuring out how to feel comfortable on stage without having a wall of drums in front of me was also a huge challenge. We never made an official release, but we released a few tracks on a demo and there is a decent amount of live footage from our shows in St. Louis.
Templit
Before Locrian Manor, there was Templit. Templit's music was the brainchild of Jonathan Sterling, Andrew Chapman and Don Noble, I came in on drums after their original drummer moved out of the area. We recorded "Blue Beneath the Grey" in our home studios and was my first real introduction to audio production. I always felt that Templit had a very intersting mixture of heavy rock and a kind of psychedelic folk. This band was a step up in seriousness from my previous high-school bands.
The Early Years
My first band was in junior high and was technically my first guitar band. It was called Wildfire with my friend Garrett Gerdes on drums. We wrote a couple of instrumental songs, just jamming whatever riffs I could come up with on guitar. After that, I started playing drums for Japanese Cat Food, a punk rock band that I joined as a sophomore and played with throughout high school. At the same time, I was playing drums for a rock band originally called Jack of All Trades, but later changed to Avenue. Both of these bands played in St. Louis, including at some venues that closed long ago, like the Creepy Crawl, the Galaxy and Mississippi Nights. It's been a crazy 30+ years of music.
