“Floating out to wonderland”
My music career started in Cincinnati where I learned classical piano at an early age. I studied at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Around 12 years old, when performing became fluid, I thought, ‘this is what I’d do for the rest of my life.’
In high school, I played tenor saxophone and piano in the jazz band. I hit the scene early, playing guitar in my first rock band and performing on a bar stage by the age of 15. Prior, I had spent a lot of time creating music alone until I met a friend who was interested in what I was doing. One day I saw him and another friend skateboarding with guitars around their back, and they told me they were going to jam. That was the day we started a band. We were a punk grunge band called STICH. When I was 16, we went into a studio for the first time at John Curley’s Ultrasuede original studio in Northside. I loved everything about it and thought, ‘the studio is my home.’
After those sessions I bought a Tascam 4-Track recorder and a broken mic. I spent endless hours, days and nights, recording tape after tape, trying to make sounds. I didn’t know much yet, although I just experimented by turning knobs until I heard what I wanted. STICH toured for a couple of years, but we were young, crazy, and it all imploded in ’97. I went back to school at Belmont University in Nashville. They had just expanded a beautiful analogue studio in their school of music business. My goal was to get to Los Angeles, and Nashville got me ½ way there. I booked out the school’s untapped new Pro Tools room every night for over a year and a half to figure stuff out. This is where I got my hours – and that really fuelled me big time.
“You only see ’em drivin’ cars out on the street”
I took several recording studio internships while in Nashville. Eventually I landed one at Swing House Recording Studio, a renowned, full-service music rehearsal, recording, and production facility in Los Angeles. Within a week I was assistant audio engineer to CJ Buscaglia, working on sessions for The Breeders, John Frusciante and Danny Sage (I had the opportunity to record piano on a few his songs with all-star drummers Clem Burke and DJ Bonebrake for his album). The key was the studio had just purchased their first Pro Tools rig and I was the only one who knew how to run it. I jumped at this opportunity.
I got to work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for over four months, recording every idea they played and wrote for more than 8 hours each day. I’d get to hang out with John Frusciante while he played solo for a couple hours until the other guys got there. Working there with amazing artists including Iggy Pop, Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, George Thorogood, and Audioslave are highlights in my career.
“Without giving up the dream”
I left after a year and a half, wanting to strike out on my own. I bought some gear, got some microphones and rented a space. When I wasn’t making enough money, I took extra (film) work in Los Angeles and started to make new connections. Without giving up the dream of performing in LA with a few other bands, I became an originating member at Riptide Music as the company was forming. We specialized in music synchronization, publishing, and composing for the world of television, film, trailers, advertising, and video games. With my recording experience, I was in charge of running the studio and began an early career in composing. I was among the first to A&R independent artists into boutique sync deals, back when the model was still in its infancy. I quickly made partner at Riptide, rose to VP, and spent nearly 20 years there.
Performing in a few different bands helped me find my way musically. During that time I also scored a few films independently, produced records in my own studio, and at times worked remotely while on tour with my band. Gaining additional credits on studio projects with the likes of Seal & Jeff Beck, Xzibit, Billy Bragg, Muddy Waters and others brought my path to new heights.
With a love for live music, I co-founded and curated the music lineups for Southwest Invasion, taking place on the rooftop of the flagship Whole Foods store in downtown Austin during SXSW. Our event activated socially responsible products with performances by emerging and legacy musicians. I booked acts such as The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, Capital Cities, Pentatonix, X Ambassadors, G Love, Matisyahu, The Zombies, and more.
“Show me where to look, tell me, what will I find?”
I am a guy who is in to storytelling and taste making. I wanted to be back on the ground level creating music directly with artists. After retiring Riptide, I launched Victory Road Studio, a private recording studio with full tracking, producing, mixing, pre-production, writing, remixing, live sessions, and more. It started in the Valley and when I moved to the Lake Elsinore area, Victory became a three-room state of the art studio. While living in the desert, I dug into my roots, producing and engineering at Rancho De La Luna and Fireside recording studios with Chris Goss, David Catching and Christopher Thorn. I still bring projects to my favorite Joshua Tree studios when producing new artist albums, including my own.
I am now on the East Coast continuing my musical mission and recording career. Last year, I launched an abstract photography and immersive animation exhibit in Frederick, MD that was successful. While in the infancy of a new festival brewing, I am excited to influence the scene and bring tasty music to the area.
“Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be”
In the 30+ years I’ve been working in music, there have been many big changes: I watched analogue go to digital. I watched the MP3s change everything. I witnessed sync become the main conversation and an artist’s main economy. I’ve seen physical product disappear and turn in to streaming. But you know what? All of these changes have also given way to unbelievable opportunity. Of course, there are negatives – there’s little to no artist development, streaming money is low, label deals aren’t great. On the plus side, I was part of inventing the model of licensing music rights to help artists gain value for their work with sync. That’s something that is available to anyone who makes music.
I believe artists should understand they’re creating their own business around what they do. They need to create an economy for themselves to keep their art alive. If you don’t have the right team around you, it won’t help to sign with a label. Even if you have a million streams and they have a million promises.
“You just told me what you want to do, so do it”
As a mentor at this year’s SXSW, I advised several to stay focused on what they truly want to be doing. Someone said what they wanted to do “BUT’…and I stopped them there and said, you just told me what you want to do, so do it. Don’t jump on trends, they come and go. Surround yourself with great people. Take a look at other’s careers you are excited by and see what they’re doing. Find out what path they took to make their music sound amazing. Who do they work with? How do they release their music? Follow their process.
Always remember, there are so many mediums and ways to success. You can create value by showing your expertise, not by giving it away solely on social media. Developing an exclusive model for your fans is something I like recommending. I loved the whole NFT concept, but it seems to have disappeared so fast. Having fans invest in a % of your music is an incredible idea. It’s all about authenticity for me.
Do you want to get your music in to the ears of industry tastemakers like Chris? Sign up for Caster and get your music out there.