About Me
I was born december 31st, 1973 in Covina, California. My parents are of Irish, German, and Scandinavian descent. My Grandfather was a Stock Car Race Driver, way before NASCAR. An interest in fast cars started at an early age. I was exposed to alot of Glitter Rock, Garage Rock, and Rock and Roll from the day i plopped out of my mother's womb. My favorite artist in my earliest childhood was David Bowie. I went to public school and got into alot of trouble, eventually getting kicked out, and my channel was the raw energy of bands like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Heartbreakers that i heard at the skateparks that i used to hang out in as a teenager. It gave me a rush like driving in a fast car. With no musical background that i knew of at the time, i forged my birth certificate to get a job at 15 years old to buy a stolen Peavey amp, and a $100 Fender Stratocaster. No lessons, I listened to the Ramones 1st LP, as well as Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols, and learned them verbatum. From there i started writing my own compositions influenced by my degenerate heroes. I had a couple of bands in high school that never recorded or played live, most of the other punk rock musicians around me at the time were more into hardcore, thrash metal and other music i really could not stand, so i went on an ill- fated attempt at becoming an archaeologist, another interest of mine as a teenager, but rock n roll was burning in my soul. I quit school and started a band with other degenerates, most notably Duane Peters, who was a great drummer in the vein of a Paul Cook or Topper Headon. We called ourselves the 151'ers, a nod to Joe Strummer's pre- Clash band the 101'ers. That band never recorded or played live, but a couple of the other players were in a band called The Authority, and american Oi! sort of band. They asked me to join as a second guitarist, and i obliged, and we recorded our 1st LP,"Who Knows?" in October and November of 1995 at Sound Arena in Anaheim, California. I used my $100 Fender Strat out of 1975 Sunn bass amp for my tracks. It sat at Ted Turner Studios in Atlanta for 1 year before being released on GMM records out of Atlanta, Georgia in November, 1996. A bonus track was recorded during these sessions that was a cover of The Cockney Rejects "Headbanger", and was released on the compilation "We are the firm" on 1234 records out of Kent, England, as well as the Cockney Rejects tribute 45 on DSS records Austria/Longshot records Canada. There was a cover of the Blitz classic "Someone's Gonna Die" also recorded but never released from these sessions, and i don't even own a copy! There was a lineup change in January 1997 that brought in Alex Gomez and Steve Reynolds from the US Bombs that netted a session at UC Irvine in January 1997 as a live radio broadcast that was never released as well as 2 live films, one in a sound studio in Huntington Beach, and one at a live show at the infamous Foothill in Signal Hill with us against the Dropkick Murphy's from February 1997 that i have never seen. Around this time we were playing with a band called The Neurotones that i really liked, and befriended a few of their members. These guys were alot like the Cramps. I got a phone call from their singer, Mr. Paul Michael Kelly asking if i was interested in joining. Due to increased violence at our shows i quit The Authority and joined The Neurotones and switched to bass guitar. They already recorded a single, but right away we went in and did 6 tracks at Simon's Ghost in Los Angeles on March 1st and 2nd, 1997. This was the Radio's Dead/ Bad Connections single on Do Yourself In Records(our own label). This session also was were "Bop Yeah" was recorded and ended up on the infamous "Heads Will Roll" compilation on Sonic Tone records. It was hangin out and playing with these guys that i learned alot about American Roots music. Rockabilly, Blues, Bluegrass, Country, R&B, Jazz, and took an extreme liking to this historical form of music in America. The Neurotones were a Rock n Roll band with these influences as well as the music i grew up listening to- Glitter, Garage, 70's Punk. This is where i really honed my craft of writing and arranging songs, because i had the freedom to write whatever i wanted, and had excellent players to help arrange songs. In January of 1998 The Neurotones were contacted by a film company, Brittani Productions, and made a video for the "Bad Connections" single. It was used as a promo-only video, and got us alot of exposure and some great opening shows with the likes of Dick Dale, The Specials, and many more. It was at this time The Neurotones were contacted by Liberation Records in Newport Beach, California, and signed a 2 record deal. In January 1999 the Neurotones started recorded 11 basic tracks. I used my 1972 Fender P-Bass with an Ampeg SVT. It took 4 months and $6000 to make and were very unhappy with the final mix. After making a contact with Jon St Jon(producer of Berlin), he agreed to mix the LP in June 1999. "My Baby Howls" was released on December 24th, 1999 and is one of the only things i have recorded still in print(ITunes and Wal-Mart.com). In June of 2000 i quit the Neurotones, but not before recording 4 last songs at Radio Beat Studios in Bellflower in August 2000. 1 track "Perception" is on the compilation "Turn the Dial", on Radio Beat records. At this time i focused more on my career as a delivery driver and archaeology student, getting a job at UCLA at the Fowler Museum setting up archaeology exhibits. I worked with some other musicians and got invited to play in a Controllers reunion in December of 2001, and accepted. I ended up doing about 25 shows with them and recording 4 songs which are on the release "Another Sunny day' on Artifix Records of Moreno Valley , California. I play my trusted 1972 Fender P-Bass with the Ampeg SVT. I also did guitar overdubs on "Nuke Beach" on this as well, with my 1981 Gibson ES-335 out of a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. At this time i did a string of shows playing bass with The Gears, The Vaccine, and moved to Pomona, California. I also recorded an all-covers album in 1 day with some friends and called it "Murder". It will be released sometime in late 2008. On August 15th, 2002, while attending a show with The Stitches and The Skulls, I ran into future songwriting collaborator Mitch Cartwright, formerly of The Humpers. He was looking for a guitarist, and i took the job. He also got me interested in a new day job as a land surveyor, because of my good math skills. The band was The Hitchhikers, and we started rehearsing September 2002, and our 1st gig was at The Garage, in Silver Lake, California on November 28th, 2002. The Hitchhikers recorded a 3 song demo in March 2003 that ended up one of my favorite sessions. We decided to put out our own album, and spent 2004 recording and mixing it and put out the self-titled CD in a DVD case(with the original demos!) and gave them away for free at our shows, with a sticker and button. This was re-released on June 1st, 2006 as "Passing Side ....Suicide" on Dr.Acula records of Whittier, California with 5 additional new tracks recorded in July of 2005. One of these songs "I Got Mine", was played on LA radio staple KROQ for a promotion of a new locals-only show in September 2006, and got us not only air-time, but an offer from the biggest record company in the world, Universal. The deal stunk. we declined. We recorded 6 songs in November 2006 that yielded lineup changes and will probably never see the light of day because we were unhappy with the drum performance. In 2007 we signed with Zodiac Killer Records of Cheyenne, Wyoming to re-re-release the 1st LP as a split with Fullerton greats Disguster. In December 2007 the 2nd Hitchhikers LP "Intellectual Properties" was started and the basic tracks are finished and will be released in late 2008.DiscographyThe Authority-Who Knows?-1996 LP
The Authority-We Are the Firm-1997 Compilation
The Authority-Greatest Tribute-1997 Compilation
The Neurotones-Radio's Dead/Bad Connections-1998 45
The Neurotones-Heads Will Roll-1998 Compilation
The Neurotones-4 track demos unreleased-1998(bootleg)
The Neurotones-Live At Bar Deluxe-1998(bootleg)
The Neurotones-My Baby Howls-1999-LP
The Neurotones-Live on KSPC unreleased-1999(bootleg)
The Neurotones-Last Session-2000(bootleg)
The Neurotones-Turn the Dial-2001 Compilation
The Hitchhikers-3 song Demo-2003 CD single
The Hitchhikers-S/T-2004 LP
The Hitchhikers-Passing Side....Suicide-2006 LP
The Hitchhikers-Dr. Acula sampler-2006 Compilation
The Controllers-Another Sunny Day-2007 LP
The Hitchhikers-Disguster Split-2008 LP(To Be Released)
The Hitchhikers- Intellectual Properties-2008 LP
Murder-S/T-2008 LP
