Check out the Music Buddy podcast I was featured on by clicking the image above. Thanks to Jane Gowan in Toronto!
Music
Music is my life, and I really mean that when I say it!
It went kinda like this:
I began piano at age five, doing that kind of lesson where you learn to sit up straight and curl your fingers properly. I had a few recitals...can't recall at all what I played or felt, I mostly remember trying to impress my teacher that I was sitting up straight....in later years I took up the guitar when I walked right into a long haired musician walking out of my high school (he was older) carrying a guitar case. He opened it up and showed me his brand new Warlock guitar and I wanted to take a guitar lesson from this dude!
I'll never forget my first time, walking up those stairs, and coming into a bedroom with rock and roll posters, a black light (of course) and a list of girls phone numbers (on lined paper) tacked to the wall. As I walked down the stairs after learning "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Ozbourne, I made a decision that this would be what I do with my life. Then it was straight to the basement to jam along to heavy metal records. I bought my younger brother of 13 a drum kit and off we went. After that we graduated to the garage, and I started playing gigs - mostly covers in a few local bars. I was accepted into Fanshawe College in London, Ontario under legendary Producer Jack Richardson (Guess Who, Alice Cooper) in my early twenties, where I met and made music with lots of different musicians and in all styles.
In 2001 I moved out west, landing in Whistler playing gigs anywhere and everywhere. In fact there were only two locals on the Whistler music scene during that time; myself and Vancouver musician Rich Hope. I certainly paid my dues there, playing every night to people more interested in snowboarding and drinking. After that I moved to Vancouver, formed a band (Mazinaw) and made a few CD's, playing locally, doing radio spots, making posters, building websites, touring Western Canada.
In my thirties I relocated to Sechelt, on the Sunshine coast of BC where I currently live and work. Since I moved here I have been the musical director of the Rainforest Circus as part of the annual Synchronicity festival in Gibsons, formed Supercabin with local musicians, held music workshops for kids and teens, and created a 23 song collaborative experimental CD with seniors in a project entitled "Across the Lines."
I also opened my own studio and performance space geared towards working with people in a more collaborative way rather than straight ahead musical instruction. The Sound Space is literally a playground of sound and creative expression and opportunity. I currently hold 30 sessions a week, every week, and some of these individuals have been working with me every week for 10 years. It's like I have a whole bunch of mini bands/projects constantly on the go. It keeps me young, keeps things fresh, and most importantly - I get to play music everyday while realizing my dream a long time ago when I started this journey: to be able to play anything I wanted with lots of different people, and on different instruments at my fingertips.
I improvise music everyday, making up songs about things happening in the moment, relationships with things and people and life in general. I've been doing it for a long time, and still love it. It has become my life.
It went kinda like this:
I began piano at age five, doing that kind of lesson where you learn to sit up straight and curl your fingers properly. I had a few recitals...can't recall at all what I played or felt, I mostly remember trying to impress my teacher that I was sitting up straight....in later years I took up the guitar when I walked right into a long haired musician walking out of my high school (he was older) carrying a guitar case. He opened it up and showed me his brand new Warlock guitar and I wanted to take a guitar lesson from this dude!
I'll never forget my first time, walking up those stairs, and coming into a bedroom with rock and roll posters, a black light (of course) and a list of girls phone numbers (on lined paper) tacked to the wall. As I walked down the stairs after learning "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Ozbourne, I made a decision that this would be what I do with my life. Then it was straight to the basement to jam along to heavy metal records. I bought my younger brother of 13 a drum kit and off we went. After that we graduated to the garage, and I started playing gigs - mostly covers in a few local bars. I was accepted into Fanshawe College in London, Ontario under legendary Producer Jack Richardson (Guess Who, Alice Cooper) in my early twenties, where I met and made music with lots of different musicians and in all styles.
In 2001 I moved out west, landing in Whistler playing gigs anywhere and everywhere. In fact there were only two locals on the Whistler music scene during that time; myself and Vancouver musician Rich Hope. I certainly paid my dues there, playing every night to people more interested in snowboarding and drinking. After that I moved to Vancouver, formed a band (Mazinaw) and made a few CD's, playing locally, doing radio spots, making posters, building websites, touring Western Canada.
In my thirties I relocated to Sechelt, on the Sunshine coast of BC where I currently live and work. Since I moved here I have been the musical director of the Rainforest Circus as part of the annual Synchronicity festival in Gibsons, formed Supercabin with local musicians, held music workshops for kids and teens, and created a 23 song collaborative experimental CD with seniors in a project entitled "Across the Lines."
I also opened my own studio and performance space geared towards working with people in a more collaborative way rather than straight ahead musical instruction. The Sound Space is literally a playground of sound and creative expression and opportunity. I currently hold 30 sessions a week, every week, and some of these individuals have been working with me every week for 10 years. It's like I have a whole bunch of mini bands/projects constantly on the go. It keeps me young, keeps things fresh, and most importantly - I get to play music everyday while realizing my dream a long time ago when I started this journey: to be able to play anything I wanted with lots of different people, and on different instruments at my fingertips.
I improvise music everyday, making up songs about things happening in the moment, relationships with things and people and life in general. I've been doing it for a long time, and still love it. It has become my life.
