Didn't get to choose. Talk to my dad. Mom wanted Michael Christopher.

I like playing live and in the studio equally.

Not sure.

"A modern-day warrior - his name's TOM SAWYER!
He's floatin' down the river on a raft with a black guy!"

Uh...yeah. Thank you, Mr. Cartman.

Born to unsuspecting parents in Johnson City, NY in 1973, I displayed an unhealthy attraction to rock music and older women at the ripe old age of 4. Mother-dearest would take me on errands in her Pontiac Catalina, noticing me trying to lip sync to various Carol King, James Taylor, Barry Manilow, and Peter Frampton tunes.

After moving to Mauldin, SC in 1979, I received my first drum set for my 7th birthday - a matching textured blue 12" tom and 20" kick (both without bottom heads...sooooo 70's), 14" snare, 13" Camber brass hi hats, and some generic 16" garbage can lid. Mom went back to Phil's Music to get the 13" tom and 16" floor tom, only to find that someone had sold them(?!). So, she got the next best thing - a 13" gold CB-700 tom, and a 16" blue sparkle Slingerland floor tom (again, no bottom heads).

In 1984, I finally acquired (okay, my mom acquired) an 18" Paiste 505 Crash/Ride. Then a friend of mine "borrowed" it, and returned it with a huge tear in it...a tear that he tried to fix with a blowtorch! Oh, well.

In 1989, I received a totally heavy-effin'-metal teal Fender HM-Strat (think Steve Howe). Then we had to move to an apartment. Bye-bye, drums! So for the next 5 years, I was a guitarist in several local bands around the Upstate area: Point Blank, Joyal, Dark Ages, Dog Tooth Violet, Broken Stick People, and Eristic Illusion. Never really satisfied with guitar, though, I spent most of my days air-drumming, discovering a hidden passion for progressive rock.

Well, maybe not too hidden. Mom unleashed the whole cable package when we moved to Dallas, TX in 1982 - EM-TEE-VEE!!! Saw bands like Triumph, Rush, Saga, Yes, Zebra, and vaguely recall drooling in time to the music. Later, got hooked on Headbanger's Ball and semi-proggy stuff like Faith No More, Megadeth, Scatterbrain (remember them?!). Other than that, the '90's were pretty much my own dark ages, both personally and musically.

At long last, after moving to Napa, CA to be with my sweetie, Sherry, I FINALLYacquired my very first real drum kit in 2002 - a 6-pc. fusion-style Pearl SMX in Marine Blue Fade and Saluda Cymbals!

Landing the gig with local Sonoma rockers Astral Kitchen in 2003 was quite the wake-up call. Being in my first truly professional band showed me just how much I didn't know about music and the music industry. I was a rigid, quantized, over-thinking robot who was shown (just on paper, thankfully) how much in the hole a band can get if they're not careful.

(Note to self: local/junior colleges should have a "Music Law" course as a prerequisite to "Music Appreciation"!)

Currently, I'm... Well, I'm on here writing my life story to anyone who'll read it. I'm also an autodidactic graphic designer for my fiancee's business. You may check out my work here. Now I know why everyone raves about Photoshop and Illustrator. Keeps me out of trouble, too. :)

Join us again next time, when we may hear our esteemed hero say...

"Hey, those aren't raisins!"

I love prog rock and art rock, both classic 70's stuff and the new "Neo-prog". Always felt influenced by the pop side of Genesis, a lot of the harder rocking stuff on early MTV. Always been a rocker. Whenever a hard groove comes on the radio, I can't help but air guitar to it. Did it when I was a toddler, too, according to my mom.

I have a Pearl Session Custom kit. It's a 6-piece fusion-style kit in Marine Blue Fade. They stopped making the Session Customs a few years ago. I also use Saluda Custom Cymbals, Pro Mark sticks, Evans drum heads, and Roc-N-Soc thrones. I have a Fender Standard Strat, a Rogue 5-string bass, Behringer mixer, and other stuff.