I started on drums officially when I was 11 though I was banging on books and things from much earlier. Took band all through school and my first guitar lessons at 13.

My very very first one was The Bay City Rollers when I was 6. My sister took me. I just remember all the lights the sound and the incredible energy being generated by the crowd being focused on those guys way over there on the stage. I was thinking: " I want to be THAT guy!" My first heavy show was Ozzy and Motley Crue. Bark at The Moon / Shout at The Devil with my bro Geno at 13. My Mom took us and sat through the whole thing!

I have: ESP/LTD Red-Flame Neck-Through M-302 / ESP/LTD Satin-Finish Bubinga and Mahogany M252BB / Jackson '92 Kelly Standard / Jackson Warrior WRMG / Jackson 2008 Dinky MG Piano-Black with a GFS in the Bridge position. / Ovation Celebrity Roundback Acoustic Electirc Moonburst / GTX - 33 Black & Hot Pink Desert Crackle By Kamen w/ Original Floyd, (Retired) Signed by Tony MacAlpine

My very first corruption was by Kiss and I had every record up through Creatures of the Night, (Geno did too.) Then I discovered Motley Crue, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Priest and so forth. When I made the complete switch to guitar I was blown away by the 80's wave of shredders. Tony MacAlpine, George Lynch, Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, Vinnie Moore and later Jeff Loomis. (What up Bro!)

The story begins. I played drums in my earliest outings. Most notable was with Joel Lambert, Luke Hodges, Chris Massey and Michael Dudash. We started out Crossfire and later changed the name to MAI TAI. It was a glam project and our first shows on the road happened here, (Seattle and South Bend). After that my first duty on guitar came in a cover band called Mirror Image. It was top 40 and we did fairs, wedding receptions etc. Then I helped hatch a very heavy project in Kelso called Klingon 4-play with Byran Edmisson, buddy Samuel Woodard, Alex Harris and our insane drummer Tommy. Think Anthrax meets Pantera meets White Zombie. We played up and down I-5,Portland and Seattle gigs. After that ended I did a short lived project with my life-long buddy Geno joining me on guitar called Evilove. A friend Joe sang, Ben Weist handled Bass, and Kelso's Scott Schwingdorf handled drums. Didn't do too many shows. The go fourth celebration in Longview and a gig at the Boardwalk stood out. Then came the move ('96) to Seattle. Jammed with a few people and settled into a poorly run thrash band ('99). Unremarkable, except that is where I met Scott Estes one of the singularly most talented individuals I have ever met. After the subpar thash thing ended, he suggested we join forces in an endeavor. We jammed with a couple people one of which was Robert Hansen. (more on him later) it didn't quite come together at that point but something did just after. Got a call a few weeks later after the initial stuff petered out from Scott. He had formed a Punk band called Subjekt 2 Change and they were sorely in need of someone to handle guitar duties. Saw them play one show at the Ballard Firehouse, (a place that both Crossfire/MAI TAI and the bad Thrash band had played,) and that was it. I was sold. I did tell him that I wasn't REAL familiar with punk but I was with lots of forms of metal. He told me to play what I felt. So I did. S2C was born! (2001) We went through drummers faster than Spinal tap. Let's see if I can remember them all: Ben from The Greedies filled in for a bit while Oliver sang and Scott beat the bass. Ben left to focus on The Greedies, Scott went to singing AND playing bass, and we began our search for a righteous skin beater. First came Jon 'Caba' Jacobus. He had one leg but you wouldn't know it from the way he played drums. Next was the amazing Morgan Smith. 18 yr. old phenom. Kid had a gift! He came up to us brashly at Caba's last show and said "I heard you guys are looking for a drummer. I'm 18 I'm Good, and I want you guys to give me a shot." He wasn't wrong. He was with us until 2004 with at that point had seen us release two ep's and full length and west coast tour. (A triumphant cd release at the then Graceland with Zeke, and The Accused with our buddies Jackmove from Kelso opening the show.) After Morgan left Geoffrey from Umberhulk handled drum duties for a Mini tour down to L.A. for a showcase. Geoffrey moved out of state and handed off drum duties to Metal/Prog drummer John Hernandez who had a huge kit and could use it. Priorities forced an amicable parting with John but in came Jason Northover who has the loudest snare hand in the state of Washington and possibly the western seaboard. (2006) At this point we added longtime guitarist friend and drinking buddy Mike Milsom on guitar as well. Things really began happening at this point. We completed Another Mini Tour, opened for several nationals and played for the largest crowd of our lives at Hempfest. Scott was ready for a break in '09 So it was decided that we would release our final full length at a well publicized farewell show at El Corazon. (thanks KISW!) We sent S2C off after almost 10 years with a roar. After The Fallout of S2C ending, (*grin*) Jason, Mike and I tried some ideas. Mike decided to step back for a while, (Now he can be caught with CATATONE check him out!) And Kenny Bender came in on Bass in the early writing phases but ducked out into Deathmocracy shortly thereafter. (He's still tearing it up with them.) Then a funny thing happened. After deciding to look for another guitarist to write with, I called up Robert Hansen, who Scott and I had written and jammed with 10 years earlier. He was interested. He had been in a band called Moral Sacrifice who I had actually caught one show at S7. But they weren't doing much. He came in and the writing began to flow. Soon after we began auditioning vocalists. (One of which was Henry Bale, (Guitarist in Funeral Age) didn't get the gig but check them out anyway. Then another interesting thing happened. Robert's friends and former band mates in Moral Sacrifice came aboard in 'After The Fallout', The name of the new unit. Daren Weaser on Bass and Shannon Higgason on brutal vocals. Things began to proceed with a rapid pace! Our first official show was opening for Nevermore, Warbringer, Hatesphere and Blackguard on their tour kick off in Seattle almost one year to the day of S2C ending. That lined up an amazing procession of Nationals to follow with our Ep dropping not far after. Produced by Ace Engineer and friend Brian Valentino who had recorded The final S2C full length 'Second Chances'. Some of the bands we played with were: Conducting From The Grave, Arsis, Protest The Hero, Tesseract, Powerglove, Sanctuary, Solace in Black, Bury Your Dead, MurderDeathKill, Firewind, White Wizzard. and Nightrage. My last show with ATF was Oct 24th at The Firewind/Arsis/Nighrage show. At that point I needed a break, after countless shows and tendonitis becoming unbearable. I still consider all of the guys I played with in S2C and ATF my brothers and extended family. I put down my guitar for 3 months to give my arm a real chance to heal. I recently picked it back up and am glad to report I am now playing pain free. :)

My heroes and influence listed before. Why should be obvious.

Smallest would be next to no one. Biggest was Hempest at around 10,000.

Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead world, 2000, it was an epic statement.