Music

I’m incredibly lucky. Being born in Brooklyn in 1969, I feel like I was put in the right place and time to be influenced by, and experience some, of the most incredible transformations in the history of modern music.

I was also especially fortunate that my parents had rather eclectic tastes in music. They would listen to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Beatles, Alan Parsons Project, David Bowie and more. This was the sound track of my early adolescence.

When I was nine, I was “forced” to take classical piano lessons by my parents. By forced I mean, in retrospect it was an amazing gift they gave me, but what boy wanted to have to tell his buddies he couldn’t play football because he had to practice piano.

My sister and I spent the better part of more than a decade of taking classical piano lessons with the world renown classical piano teacher, Lucy Lunger. Thanks to her I was able to become intimate with pieces by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Hayden, Chopin, Bach, and more.

As I entered late adolescence, my music tastes became more influenced by my peers and the world around me. With the rise prog rock, the maturing of metal and the birth of speed metal/hardcore, I was surrounded by a cornucopia of music choices. I became obsessed with Rush, Judas Priest, Metallica, Journey, Talking Heads, Psychedelic Furs, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, and so many more. This bled into the ascent of New Wave music where I was deeply influenced by The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Morrissey, The Cult, New Order, Tears for Fears, Fiona Apple, Bjork, PJ Harvey, and more.

Another huge cultural shift that occurred in the late 80’s, early 90’s, when I attended NYU for my undergrad degree in Music Engineering was the rise of Hip Hop. I lived in the very same dorm where the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin began their creative juggernaut. This also coincided with the rise of Industrial Music (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails) and Grunge music
(Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, and probably most of all Tool.

Hip Hop and Rap had an enormous impact on shaping my identity. The first time
I heard NWA’s Straight Outta Compton I was stunned. I indulged in the brilliance of Ice Cube, Method Man, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Run DMC, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and more.

I was also lucky to have played all over the NY tristate area with many different bands and many different artists exploring my own vision of music. I started out as a keyboard player and later took up guitar and then bass guitar. The Threads was my last project and it was the longest time I’d spent with any one act. It was also for me, the most fulfilling.