I was destined to become a composer and songwriter. I grew up surrounded by music. My mom was an opera singer, choir director and voice teacher. I learned operatic arias by hearing them in my room while my mom sang in the room below. At the age of 4 I insisted on taking voice and piano lessons from my mother's teacher. As soon as I could read, I was devouring books about famous composers. I absolutely loved Looney Tunes cartoons. I would crank up the tv and listen intently to Carl Stalling's twisted music. I had a hard time connecting what he was doing with what I had heard in the orchestra. That use of music as sound design would figure later in my music productions.

I love science and science fiction. If I had not become a musician, I would have become some kind of research scientist. My interest in science and technology manifested itself in my interest in recording, computers and programming music. In my project studio, I have my own musical laboratory where I perform sound experiments that eventually make it onto CD's, film and game scores. My musical heroes are people like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Todd Rundgren and others who carve out their own niches and march to their own drummers.

see all 202 friends here »