Me mum, (pictured with me here on the left), has always been my closest ally in life and tried her best to accommodate my inquisitiveness.
I was also an inspired lad and found comfort and ambition in the beautiful lakes, trees, and skies of Minnesota, where I was born and raised. I'm pictured here in 1978 with my little brother, Step, who's a redundant partner of mine in live musical projects.
The constant true love of my life has been the music I make, for it allows me the true freedom a human desires. I started by playing the drums, and when my junior-high band mates would leave their guitars at my house, I'd try to make them sound like what I heard Ace play on the KISS records I'd acquired with my lawn mowing money.
After discovering what my own chord changes and melodies could sound like together by recording drums, bass, guitar, and vocals, then stacking each back and forth between cassette decks, I realized the intoxicating excitement of multi-tracking, not to mention I'd probably be the only band mate I could really get along with.
My high school had some four track reel-to-reel decks and some ARP Odysseys. I brought my drums in after school and started laying tracks, now including synthesizers to the mix. A few years later, four track cassette decks became available, and I was laying tracks in my bedroom.
During my torrid love affair with music I dealt with the reality of life in our society the best I could with the limited enlightenment I had achieved throughout each era I was a part of.
In the early 80s I took the road to the hills, (referenced in the song above), and left my first mortal love, (my wise and hot girlfriend), and my band mates for a short lived stay in the lonely town of Burns Oregon as a country DJ.
That was the first job one took in radio broadcasting. So 19 to 35 year old rock fans were country DJs, and 35 to 60 year old country fans finally got to become rock DJs. Many rumors spread in the small town about the new wave freak that was on the radio. It was the only radio station that could be received through the airwaves in the remote location up in the "high desert" of Oregon.
I moved back to Minnesota, had a day job as a country DJ and started a new synthesizer/heavy makeup driven band.
That was short lived because of the "most guys in bands are think-they-know-it-all-but-really-don't-assholes" syndrome, and I hit the road with another band. And then another...and another. I was the keyboardist in one, the guitarist in another, the drummer in some other...whatever. I acquired many great experiences and encounters. But the frustration of constantly playing with no time to write new stuff lead me to start a new eclectic project.
This project came to a head when trying to "get signed" got the best of it, and I again resigned to doing solo experimental, almost purposely annoying music. Of course this gained some critical acclaim. But again it was the polar opposite of a "music industry" success.
Resigned to the possibility that I may be purposefully avoiding music industry success, I proceeded to attempt the filling in of neglected corners of my life with the happiness I felt so far away from.
Filling the day with a mundane job in a cubical I had faked my way into provided the detached freedom of evening free time. I started writing music for the right reasons again, and attracted new band mates. An enjoyable stint of one original band, and one tongue in cheek 80s cover band/comedy act closed the century with pleasure for me.
These new and unexpected entities lead to the best experiences in music I'd encountered to date. The 80s cover band gained acclaim because of the authentic-ness of our sound fueled by my vintage synthesizers and my brother's and my collective experience and knowledge of the material. We opened for many of the artists we were covering in a new age of retro music popularity, partially energized by the same mundane,
dull-headache-ness of the music industry that had brought me to re-creating this old stuff.
I had also began working with
Emmaline Muchmore. I consider our collaboration the best musical work I've had the pleasure to be a part of. With her I've produced two records, a
music video, contributed a little song writing, and co-orchestrated live bands, one of which toured England.
I produced a
bedtime story book about my lovely daughter, enjoy the sacred lake Minnetonka with her and Emmaline, and now hold a
patent in the U.S. and am making a nice living contributing my
invention to an international industry. I'm developing more contraptions, and music. This is a small taste. I hope to make more available to the outside world soon.
It's funny how home turns out to be. You never know it 'til you find it. And still its illusiveness is one of its finest qualities.
