Ive been playing music since I got my first guitar in 4th grade. By the time 8th grade rolled around I was writing and recording songs about girls. In high school I played in a band called Magnum Opus with my childhood friend Steve Hosack (Plastic). Shortly after high school I played bass in a band called Ash Candles (89-90) we practiced alot and played out very little. We had alot of fun, kind of a cross between the Doors and the Cure. After a short stint in a cover band I started singing for TroubleShooter (90-91) in this band were my friends Scott Snyder, Pat Ryan (Mesh), and Rich Criebaum (Modern Day Zero). Wanting to be in a band that focused more on my songwriting, I started Placid (91-92) w/Scott Snyder, Scott Kanne (JTS Sound) and Tom Lorenz (JTS). We broke into the Kennedy's scene and played a lot of really fun shows and developed life-long friendships! Kennedy's.... god I loved that place! Meeting one of my best friends Jimmy Parker we started a band called Compost Jim and the BrownStranger (92-96) we wrote a lot of songs... and had a lot of fun! Unfortunately we couldn't seem to keep drummers and bass players long enough to gain any momentum. We started a short-lived band Shangri La w/ Bryan Hoskins and Adam Thacker of L.O.V.E. along with Patrick Skinner. In 96 we joined forces with Mark Quinn, Brian Hilgert, and Jason Miller of Villanova Junction. We called this Fur Trappers of America (96-98) Jason left the band shortly thereafter to move to Austin to work for Sony, so i became the default bassist. We became real tight playing out often, recorded a demo with Dave Probst (Pale Divine) gained some radio play in France and were getting great reviews in the local zines. Radio celeb Smash took a liking to us and got Hits Magazine to help shop us to labels. Unfortunately nothing ever materialized. In 98 i started writing with Bryan Hoskins again this time it all clicked. We set off on an adventure with many friends sharing the music over four years. originally the band was called Salvation Army Band, that was quickly changed once the actual SAB started calling and threatening us : ) we became Instar which had to be changed since a band in Bosten owned the rights. Ultimately we became TripStar with a linchpen lineup myself, Bryan (the Incurables) Todd Smith (My Other Side), and my cousin Mark Oyarzabal (Honeytribe). We opened for numerous national acts including Dishwalla, Night Ranger, and Unified Theory. We released a record "At the Instar Motel" in 2001 and won RFT best pop band. Also nominated for same award in 2002 and recorded a 2nd record "Guardian's Soap" that was never released. We've done some reunion shows since and recorded some tunes with Chris Hughes that we should finish eventually. After TripStar i worked on a recording project with Ted Bruner (Colony) called TED. He wrote a killer record and it was a pleasure being a small part of it. Also played some shows with EERO Derek Bayer's brainchild! At this point I was on my own again, I started Donny and the Feelgoods with my friends Scott Lampley , Jon Parsons and Scott McGreer (West of Sky). Originally, Billy Wheeler was the drummer (EERO) Joining forces was Jim Parker and Dave Stallman at bands end. We recorded and released "An American Pop Record" in 2006. In 2007 I started writing new material for a new project which would become My Other Side featuring myself, long time friends Jimmy Parker, Adam Thacker, and Todd Smith. So far we've been together for about a year and are putting the finishing touches on our debut record "Let's Go!" Recorded with Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studios! Hopefully the future will shine bright for us. Stay tuned!
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