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1. Where are you from?
I was born in Illinois just outside Chicago and raised mostly in Wisconsin. When I graduated high school in 1997 I relocated with my band Sunday Flood to The Twin Cities in Minnesota to pursue a music career. A couple of years later in early 2002 I started putting together ideas for a solo record, bought myself a crappy little digital 4-track and recorded my first solo album ‘Cirrhotic’ which was released in 2003 on a local label called Sun Sea Sky Productions. I lived in Alaska for the last 3 years. Just wanted to start fresh in a totally new environment. It was cool for awhile but it became pretty apparent after only a short while that there wasn’t much of a future for me there. I recently relocated to Des Moines, Iowa.
2. What do you like about living in Iowa?
I’m a midwesterner at heart. Born and raised. I just feel at home here. I’ve got family and really close friends here, some of which I’ve been friends with since grade school. And a majority of those friends are folks I grew up playing music with. I’ve wanted to put a live band together for my solo stuff for a long time and doing that here in Iowa where so many of my musician friends are located will be so much easier than anywhere else in the country.
3. Tell me about your latest project.
My latest completed project is an EP called ‘Parallels’. It taps into topics of addiction, depression and loss. Like the three albums that came before it, I just tried to stay as honest as possible while trying to push the envelope of my own creativity and what I was comfortable with. Getting out of one’s comfort zone is where a lot of really cool stuff happens in my opinion. As long as I continue to do that I’ll like I’ve succeeded to some degree. The project I’m currently working on is an EP called ‘Grieve’, again touching on topics such as loss, grief and addiction. It’s shaping up to be the most grueling writing/recording process of my entire life. Lyrical content has become a bit darker than previous efforts. A bit more personal as well.
4. What makes me different than other musicians?
I don’t flatter myself. I don’t think I’d necessarily stand out in a crowd, so to speak. I draw influence from a number of different bands and they’re usually quite obvious if you know anything about me. I suppose one thing that might make me different is that I’ll continue writing and recording music whether I’m dirt poor or filthy rich. Fame and wealth don’t enter the equation for me and I think that’s where a lot of people get hung up. They end up creating art for all the wrong reasons. For me it’s a deeply personal and emotional experience, one which I’d continue partake in even if no one was listening.
5. East Coast or West Coast?
Ha! Well seeing as I’ve never actually been to the East Coast, I guess I’m gonna have to go with West Coast.
6. What’s next for you?
I’m currently devoting most of my time to finishing up my upcoming EP ‘Grieve’.
7. What inspires your writing style?
For as long as I can remember I’ve had a tendency to draw inspiration from the darker sides of life. I experienced some trauma in my teen years which was followed up by a long battle with addiction and music was really the only way I felt I could accurately portray what was going on inside my head. Writing and recording has essentially become my therapy so it’s not always pretty. In fact, it rarely ever is. I draw inspiration from dissecting these topics and spilling my guts lyrically. It can be a grueling process but one that’s equally as rewarding in the end.
8. Name your top 5 favorite bands.
That’s a tough one but if I had to choose just 5 they’d probably be Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin, The Cure and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin…in no particular order.
9. What are you currently listening to?
I listen to all sorts of weird stuff but at the end of the day I’m sort of a metal head. Been listening to a lot of Slayer, Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan lately. That stuff cranks me right up.
10. What’s the next concert you plan on attending?
I’ve been way out of the loop (along with everybody else) when it comes to checking out live music for a long time thanks to COVID. I know Deftones and Tool both have some dates lined up in 2022. I’d geek out if I could go to one or both of those shows.
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