With freeway sounds and the tapping of rain always in the background of my hometown of Lynnwood, WA, I have surrounded myself with sounds and music. At the age of ten, I picked up the trombone. Soon after, I wrangled up a pair of drum sticks and began banging on everything I could. As a youth, I worked my way through jazz, ska, and rock groups playing trombone and drum set in the Seattle area.
Somewhere in the middle I was given some microphones and recording gear by my father. I then said goodbye to my bank account in order to become a sound engineer. I worked as a live and studio sound technician in various Portland venues, the most notable of which were Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studios and Dr. Digital.
As a graduate of Lewis & Clark College with a degree in environmental studies, I completed field research on the soundscape of Tryon Creek in Southwest Portland. There I also played drums for an alt-rock group called White Bear Polar Tundra who still gigs around Portland, and an indie-rock outfit called Sauvie Island. I also played trombone in JPC, a funk/motown cover outfit that formed at L&C.
In 2013, I finished a year-long teaching gig for Ethos Music Center’s Rural Outreach Program at K-12 public school’s around Oregon. Oregon’s funding for public music programs has been severely lacking in the last decade. In the following years, I taught private lessons at Ethos Headquarters in North Portland and Music Corps classes for the Urban Outreach Program. I currently continue work as a freelance musician and sound engineer. Life couldn’t be better.
