Well, being a child of the internet at the age of 13 or so.. I was always on IRC in chat rooms. As everyone who has been into the internet culture involving forms of IRC or game clans knows, you generally make a nickname for yourself that people start to know you by. Mine happened to be "Sliptide", based on the word 'riptide'. Back then I chose it cause i thought it sounded cool, however now it means something much more to me. I've always been in love with the Pacific Ocean as it gives me a feeling like none other place in the world. Since I lived in Reno, NV for almost 12 years I rarely saw the left coast. The feeling is something that carries me away.. call it a state of euphoria if you will.. however I slip away into a calm state of perfection (if that makes any sense.. *laughing*)

I played sets at a crappy hole-in-the-wall sports bar for a summer. I didn't like it so much since I couldn't play a lot of electronic music unless there were enough people there dancing and enjoying it.. It was still alright though since I dug playing the music people wanted to hear and saw them having a good time and stuff. I have a few gigs lined up this year though that will be more up my alley, and i'm SURE i will love it. There's nothing like the high of making the masses move.

Mp3s have had a drastic effect on the music industry. On the one hand, you have all of this awesome exposure for unheard-of artists and bands that want to put their name in the ring. It provides a vast matrix of music to be heard..
On the other hand, it promotes the lack of record purchases for the casual listeners. While some people argue that they can 'try before they buy', there's a lot of people out there that won't buy. I admit i pirate some music.. however if I listen to the album enough I will pick up the original, since i love having the cover art, original cd.. all of which someone worked VERY hard on to make. The stingy bastards that just pirate tons of music and make no contributions.. they're the ones that ruin the potential for mp3 and other compression techonologies. Haha, okay.. I'm off my soap box now *grins*

It depends on which label it is, how they approach me, and what they can offer me as a member of the music community. I'm fine with a major label as long as they see eye to eye.. I'm not going to name names, but there's certian domestic labels I would never sign with. *cough* Maverick *cough*

Oh god.. that's an insane question to ask me. I listen, and have listened, to so much music it's hard to really pick just a few artists to name as "my influences". I'm a rocker no doubt.. I love rock music. But I'm also deep into techno and it's sub-forms. I suppose.. If i had to name the first few influences that came to mind first? Jimi Hendrix, Dave Navarro, Pearl Jam, Stabbing Westward, Filter, Crystal Method, Way Out West, Jimi Buffet, Led Zeppelin... the list goes on. Nearly every artist has influences on me. They all are gravitational.

Seattle! Ever since I was 10 I wanted to come here.. I love it.. and I'm happy to call it home!

Hmm.. let's see here.. I've been big into software, since I can't afford the thousands of dollars in hardware (computers eat my cash)
(list taken directly from www.sliptide.com )
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Laptop PC Running Windows 2000 Professional
Propellerhead's Reason, ReBirth, ReCycle
Sonic Foundry Acid 3.0, Sound Forge 4.5, and XFX packs
Fruity Loops 3.0 Pro
Soundblaster Live!
Cambridge Soundworks DeskTop Theater 5.1 (DTT2500 Digital)
M-Audio Delta 44
M-Audio Midisport 2x2 USB
Kaysound 61 key MIDI keyboard
Wave Idea Bitstream PRO
Tascam CD-302
Korg KM-2 Kaoss Mixer
Sony A/V Control Center
JBL Model L100 speakers (x2)

Everyone should be involved with music.. either listening or creating. It's a highly important part of everyone's life.