Born in 1960 in Edmonton, Canada and raised on 60’s pop and rock; largely provided by my brother eight years my senior. I still remember him putting on Sgt. Pepper's on a warm summer night in 1967 – he started with Lovely Rita and that was that – I knew what I wanted to do.
By 2010, I found I was no longer bound to a specific style or genre and felt no need to ‘compete’ or prove anything. It was wonderfully liberating. After almost four decades of ‘professional’ efforts I finally gave way to letting anything and everything flow irrespective of genre and popularity. It was only then when my music finally took on a life of its own and became art.
These days I play all the instruments both real and synthesized and mix and produce.
I realize it's a cliché to say it but if I had to summarize my life’s journey and learning it would be this: Let go.
Describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence..
70s fusion, prog, art and ambient music getting together at the Holiday Inn for open mic night.
What inspires you to make music?
What inspires you to make music?
The need to escape to an imaginary and abstract universe where some of the usual laws do not apply.
What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
I love having technology which enables me to experiment with and distill ideas using tools and technologies unimagined thirty years ago.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a musician?
My challenges are self-imposed – can I do better as a musician?
What's one of your all-time favorite recordings?
Terje Rypdal ‘Waves’
Name three people who have influenced your music, and tell us why- Living or dead.
Bill Evans –Preternatural ability to improvise patterns as well as melodies, gorgeous touch and technique, peerless.
John Abercrombie -Original, sensual and atmospheric player – integrates deeply into the ensemble and soars above it when called upon without pretense.
Keith Emerson –Rock meets next-level technique. Defined rock keyboards for a decade and introduced synths to a generation.
Do you have any recent or upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? Tell us about it.
My work is ongoing and happens when it happens. I stall out and get back into a groove. I do not set schedules as my process fails when I try to meet specific goals. After forty years of trying to fight with creative control it I have given over to embracing the moments when inspiration comes.
What is your ideal or target audience?
What is your ideal or target audience?
The world is so big and tastes so broad that I believe the idea of ‘target audience’ belongs to a different era. Music flows over everyone and, at some level, influences feelings for better or worse.
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process.
I compose my own tracks which can take from a day to never. For every song that makes it to the finish line there are five or six which are abandoned due to any number of factors ranging from no groove or vibe to no story development. I have no specific process aside from setting up my studio to record and improvising. Most of the time nothing interesting happens but occasionally a groove or idea will emerge that is worth working on. If the track is lyrical then words and ideas may start to percolate and converge. If not, I think about the track in terms of synths and guitars carrying melodies.
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
I like that there is forum which permits me to actually reach listeners who share my tastes and aesthetic where my music will not sink below the signal to noise ratio.