It's my last name. In the 80's I played guitar in a band that played a lot of Van Halen cover tunes. Our singer was crazy about Van Halen, so he decided that we should use my name for the band. It was a bit embarassing, but also cool to have your name on the marquee.

I haven't played in front of an audience since the 80's. There were a lot of special moments for me back then -- any time our band played I was making music with my best friends, and occasionally we sounded like rock stars.

I think the technology is fantastic. The best part is that amateur musicians can create high-quality recordings in their home studios and then share that with the world. The old-fashioned record companies should be a little nervous about this change I would think.

If it would put me in a position where I could focus on music writing and performing, yet still support my family, then yes.

I'm primarily a guitar player, but at this time I'm a one man band sitting at my computer. I had a long layoff from music in the 90's when I was focused on working as a computer nerd. A few years ago I came to realize how much I missed just holding a guitar and fiddling around with it. Now I'm playing almost daily, writing my own music, and learning how to record and get my ideas distilled into something that others might want to hear. I also jam with a drummer a few times a month because jamming is just good clean fun.

As a rock guitarist, I really enjoy up-tempo melodic music like that of Joe Satriani, or aggressive finger-picking like that of Leo Kottke. Lately I've been listening to more mainstream material by artists like Sting and Maroon 5 because the writing, production quality, and vocal performances are so good. It is influencing what I play and write, especially on acoustic guitar.

My favorite place on earth is probably Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. Baking in the sun and rock climbing there is wonderful.

My electric guitar is a parts-guitar built in the 80's -- Charvel neck, EMG pickup, Floyd Rose. I use a Diezel Herbert amp through a Bogner 4x12 cabinet, plus some other equipment. I'm still working out my live sound as I would like to get out and play live again. My acoustic guitars are by Taylor and Yairi.

My workstation is a Sony VAIO computer running Tracktion for sequencing/recording. I record electric guitar over USB from Line 6 POD XT and now a TonePort that my wife bought me for Christmas. For drums/bass I use plug-ins: Drumkit From Hell Superior and Quantum Leap Hardcore Bass.

I'm interested in performing with a band again and I'm open to playing a number of styles. Stepping into an existing act in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago would be ideal.