My main instrument is the guitar, but I also include bass, keyboards/piano, and pseudo-drumming in my musical repertoire. My principal mission has always been to record my own music, which I have been doing now for about twenty years. Recording was probably the initial motivating factor for me to learn how to play the guitar, as I always enjoyed the overdubbing process and the ability to make rather a lot of noise by stacking parts one by one. This fascination has led me to the looping, sound-on-sound approach that I have been pursuing more avidly for the last five years.
My primary band projects have been Retardo Al Dante ('91-'97), and Overlight Underdark ('98-'04). Retardo Al Dante was an experimental rock-ish trio, featuring Kay Bonya (Kable)on guitar and vocals and Redo Makeshift, on bass, vocals and assorted, who in addition to their considerable musical talents, also own and operate Deep Dot Studio, which has recorded many different Houston bands and other diverse projects. My role in Retardo was mainly the guitar, but I also played some keyboards, and added some occasional vocals as well. Retardo appeared on the music anthologies, Risk is Just a Part of the Game ('94) as well as Great Big Pile ('92), which also featured Kay Bonya artwork and layout, and both of which were recorded at Deep Dot Studio. Retardo Al Dante was an eclectic project and a powerful live band experience. As a band we were always working toward some type of album release but due to indecision, perfectionism, or one thing or another, in the end one never materialized. However, we were constantly recording, so hopefully in the vaults lurks a potential album or albums that will one day surface.
Overlight Underdark is a progressive rock duo featuring myself and Thomas Ayresol, who was a founding member of the Texas Guiness Lovers. Thomas has been a close friend for decades now and it was on the coattails of his stint with TGL, and my two year break after Retardo, that we got together to form the powerhouse project that is Overlight Underdark. Though we both played a number of different instruments in the band, I primarily played guitars, bass, and keyboards, while also offering up some vocal tunes now and then. O/U released four albums, Kill You Until You Die ('99), Turning into Us ('01), NOW! ('02), and Sweat Wizard ('04), and also performed live throughout 1999-2004. The NOW! album featured bassist Danny McMahon (Fist of Kong), who also joined us in a handful of live shows. There is also a fifth "lost" O/U album that lies dormant for now, but could possibly reawaken at a future date, as the musical tracks within contain many gemstones. After the release of Sweat Wizard, and the preparing of tracks for the fifth album, Thomas and I began to see the need to embark on our own solo musical endeavors, which we continue to pursue at present. Thomas has released three albums, Pilots who Drink Lose All ('97), One Size Fits None ('05), and Transport Wars EP ('07), which well represent his formidable musical capability. Both of us continue to monitor the pulse of O/U and, given the right circumstances, could indeed resurrect the sleeping giant to walk the earth anew.
During the time that that I was involved in Retardo and O/U, I was always recording my own musics on the side, mostly to exorcise demons and preserve my own sanity. The music I was recording just prior to, during, and just slightly after the Retardo experience is now collected in what is my first official album release, The Solitary Sin ('07). My most recent musicking has led me to release Guitarlock ('07), a guitar-heavy exploration that represents my musical efforts in the wake of O/U all the way up to the present. I am currently rehearsing for one-man live guitarvaganza performances that should begin in the summer of '07. I dedicate my current project to the preservation of the rock guitar solo, which I fear may be trampled under the tank treads of the digital age if it is not fortified and evolved in proper manner. I have already begun recording work on my next two album releases, one of which will feature more keyboard/piano songs and acoustic guitar as well as more vocals, and the other leaning more toward the shredrock instrumental vein. I am hoping to release both by the middle of 2008.
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