Life – It’s a mighty long road!
I grew up in Cleveland Ohio, in a small town on the shores of Lake Erie. Bay Village was a great place to be a kid in the 60s. Our lives pretty much revolved around the lake; sledding and skating in the winter, and boating and water skiing in the summer. We spent a lot of time outdoors, and I remember my Mom telling me and my friends to “Go Outside and Play” …a lot. I’m sure I developed my love for the outdoors during those years. By the time my family left Cleveland for sunny Charlotte NC (The South), I was focused on two things: making music (playing guitar in a band) and art: drawing, painting or creating something. I Knew what I wanted to do…
My love for music began early, as my dad loved Jazz and we always had music playing on the Hi Fi. We had one of those classical music “collections” on our bookshelf, so I was exposed to different types of music not just what was playing on the radio. But, when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” hit the airwaves, myself, and every other kid across the country said: electric guitars, played loud through amplifiers… “that’s what I want to do!” I started playing guitar around the time “I Want To Hold Your Hand” hit the airwaves, and it was a pretty exciting time to feel like a part of it all – with an electric guitar and an amplifier. I started with a Sears fiberglass guitar and later my mom purchased me my first real electric guitar, an Epiphone and a Fender Princeton reverb amp. From that point on, I was firmly committed to “making music” not just listening to it…
I spent many years playing in bands, (rock and blues) and went through lots of guitars and amps, but when I heard my first synthesizer somewhere around the early 70s I got interested in electronic music and music technology. It was probably Walter Carlos and later Emerson Lake and Palmer (Tarkus) but when I heard that sound, I was hooked. I started out with a little programmable Casio CZ something and a Fostex 4-track recording to cassettes, and later set up a midi/synth studio with a Roland MC-50 and a Korg M-1. I was always a computer gaming fan, so merging technology with my love of music was a natural progression. I loved wiring all the stuff up; turning knobs and recording various electronic devices. It was a lot of fun experimenting!
Today, there are so many ways to create music, and an endless assortment of amazing devices you can use. I record my guitars into Ableton Live on my computer (mac mini) and blend analog audio with digital soft synths to make an electro/rock/alt combination of something or other… Not sure what it is but it’s a lot of fun so who cares? The world of music has changed so much that for me, it’s really about creative exploration, and having fun… That’s what motivates me. What I fell in love with while listening to music as a kid in the 60s still drives me today. You gotta keep Rockin! add another page.
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