I started banging out music on my mother's piano as soon as I could walk over and climb up on the bench. I am self taught, and it shows! I am not an expert, not a professional. I have a family to support, so my dreams were put on hold. But I was composing music as a child and never quit. I continue to compose, and record, and hope that others enjoy what I write. I never write for radio, or for fame, or popularity. I write what I like to hear, and hope that other people with similar taste find my music appealing. I love to teach and share and help. If you have a song you think has potential and would like some help, give me a shout out.
Music is my oxygen! I have tried to quit many times and always felt like I was suffering slow suffocation.
I would love to get some of my music placed in a TV show, or film.
I wish we people had a lighter footprint on the Earth. I also wish I could live in closer contact to nature and not have to live in cities to make a living. But that is life these days.
"the Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel, or perhaps "When the Rain Comes" by the Beatles
Rock influences such as The Beatles, Counting Crows, Rush, The Police, The Fixx, Stray Cats, The Smiths, Pink Floyd, King Huron, Jack White. Brazilian influences include Djavan, Jorge Ben, Marisa Montes, Gilberto Gil, bossa nova greats (Carlos Jobim) etc. Irish music, including Irish rock such as The Pogues, The Tossers, Dropkick Murphys. Some Goth influences, like The Cocteau Twins, David Sylvian, Peter Murphy, Dead Can Dance, and Love and Rockets. There is a Goth vein somewhere in my heart.
I love to hear an idea take shape...and then to bring in other artists whose talents compliment mine, and let them breathe new life into my idea.
Love and Death are intertwined in a perpetual dance of creation and destruction. This is the terribly seductive energy that grips artists by the throats and threatens to crush them. If they learn the dance, the grip loosens, and becomes a caress. If they resist it, the grip tightens, and threatens to destroy us.
I get energized when I share my music, but I haven't done it in 20 years.
Today's musical world is just crazy. On the one hand, as a composer, and arranger, and producer, it has never been better. I can own my own studio and control my sound. I don't have to compromise my sound or my style to please anyone else. And I don't have to deal with drunk drummers choking on vomit (and not even their own). (What??? Watch Spinal Tap) On the other hand...this may be the worst time as an artist to make a living off music.
I LOVE the idea that musicians can form a community and share their music, and help each other, or that music lovers can find unsigned artists. Let's face it: some of the BEST music is being written by unsigned indie groups. The commercial music scene sucks.
The inability to get my music heard.
I used to LOVE to go watch live music. Unfortunately, my wife hates loud music, so she won't go with me, and would not like for me to go to concerts alone. So I don't see local music anymore. that sucks.
You tell me. Clearly I have no fricking idea.
Mella, whom I have hired as a vocalist, is fantastic. I hired one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever heard, Matheus Canteri, and a bassist Alex Rocha. I also hired one of the most amazing fiddle players in the USA, Michael Cleveland. If you look them up you'll discover some amazing artists you can hire from airgigs.