Ocho

Members section
Hi, people. I'm Ocho. I'm a human being. I make it a personal goal to love all living creatures.
That includes you...
I grew up in Pierre, SD, USA, a small government island on an ocean of dry grass that Lewis and Clark called the Great American Desert.
At age 16, I started writing and performing music with a political grindcore band called Diseased (myspace.com/diseasedband). For a while we were the only band in town. In 1995, we and some other groovy kids started a successful underground music scene in that town (myspace.com/pierrerockshows). The band and the scene still thrive. 12 years and three cities later, I love that place and those people more than ever.
It was back there that music really became meaningful to me. Some seem to act as if it's about knowing the right people or making money or getting wasted...Those things are good as far as they go, but I've found that putting my energy into that is distracting from more important things.
Here's a secret: Music changes people--one by one and in large groups. I grew up out in the sticks with no record stores and no internet (It wasn't even invented yet...). My exposure to music was really limited, and I was always looking for the most obscure and/or rebellious music I could find. My friends and I had to drive to a town three hours away to find anything that resembled underground music. I remember the first time I heard Rage Against the Machine, the Dead Kennedys & And Justice for All (Metallica). Someone would get a cassette and pass it around. The message in that music taught me that I don't have to accept the world as it is. I can make up my own mind. I can DO something about it. This message was so powerful to the kids out there that we looked for it even when it could scarcely be found.
In 1998, I moved to Minneapolis for college. I started trading mix tapes with my friend Josh Garrett-Davis (myspace.com/joshallages), who fronted the OTHER band in Pierre. One day he sent me a tape of some acoustic songs he'd written. It blew me away. He also introduced me to more folk musicians like Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Plus I found some on my own, like Cat Stevens, Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. It's a different medium than the punk and metal I was used to, of course, but the messages are similar: I am an independent person capable of making social change. I can ALSO change mySELF, my own life, my relationships, and my inner being for the better. I have the power. And what else am I doing with my time, really?
So I started writing songs on the acoustic guitar and moved to Mankato, MN in 2001. I hosted open mics for a couple of years, met some more beautiful people and started my own variety show with other folks in the area. I released 2 CDs, "How to Make Everything Perfect" (2004) and "Chicken Soup for the Chicken" (2003), and toured the midwest a few times. I studied Psychology at Minnesota State, and got my bachelor's in psych in 2004.
Then I moved to Ashland, OR. I lived there for two years. I hosted an open mic and a poetry slam, toured the west coast, met a whole bunch more beautiful people, and got my master's degree in mental health counseling. I also recorded my third CD, "Gorillabuddha!" In August of 2006, I left to go on my first extended U.S. tour. I make a living playing music, providing mental health coaching services, and counseling families.
I encourage anyone who wants to improve their life to Email me for a free coaching session. I work with people in identifying and overcoming obstacles to having the lives they want. Some common stuff that we talk about are relationships, work, money, dreams and aspirations.
Even if we never talk, know this: This is happening right now. Sometimes it's thrilling, sometimes it's dreadful. But it all is. This. Right now. Thanks for reading!