Born at the tender age of zero, I was destined to grow up and become a human. The process is ongoing…
Though my initial abilities put me on a trajectory towards pioneering the techniques of oceanic land development, I quickly became disillusioned by the wishy-washy results of that pursuit. I may have been ahead of my time in that field, but I was also ready for a change. Following the encouragement of my Mother and Father, I opted to fall back into the safety net of music by the seasoned age of four.
Twelve years of intensive, traditionally structured piano study of the classics, jazz and standards honed my interpretive voice, making me the pianist I no longer am.
Along the way, I learned the importance of the ever illusive (Little League banned) knuckle-curve. Seeing how much devastation my illegally utilized pitch was generating, I was compelled to hear the plea of my conscience, and forego an imminent Hall of Fame run in Major League Baseball.
I shifted gears at sixteen. Playing the repertoire of my predecessors was never going to keep my interest, plus I had a hard time sitting still on the piano bench. Realizing that, I began the process of compositional self discovery through writing, arranging, singing, recording and gigging (and yes, buying lots of gear with colorful blinking lights). I was quickly on a path to becoming Peter Gabriel, but sadly learned he already existed.
Had it not been for a good friend of mine (Adrian “Ace” Cook of Third Wave Recording) I probably would not have considered scoring for picture. He passed along an industrial promo job to me that opened my eyes to that craft and changed my focus forever.
I subsequently landed at the University of Southern California School of Music where I earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Film Scoring. While attending USC my bike was stolen. Beyond that, I was awarded the BMI Film Music Composition Scholarship, the ASCAP Film Music Honor and second place finalist in the 1993 Mixed On A Mackie National Songwriting Competition. Feels like yesterday. I loved that bike.
Post graduation, I hit the ground running. I was doing my best to gobble up my own films while cutting my teeth in the TV world. The television opportunity came by way of Richard Gibbs. At the time, Richard was the music director for MUPPETS TONIGHT and brought me in as one of his music coordinators. I quickly transitioned into writing many of the underscore cues for that series, and it taught me quite a bit about working very quickly under pressure. Somehow, Richard and I would find pockets of time to power up his full size air hockey table and blow off steam.
Shortly thereafter, I was called in to start programming synthesizers and build mock-ups for the venerable film composer, Basil Poledouris. He was a great man with a kind soul; a mentor, a brother and a true friend. We worked our ears off, but had a blast in the process. Lots of laughter and too much coffee. I’m eternally grateful to Basil.
As a versatile composer working in the entertainment industry, I bring a broad range of compositional knowledge and creative production to the table. And speaking of tables, I do barbecue a mean Tri-Tip (it’s all in the charcoal and mesquite chips). If the need is fully orchestral, in-your-face rock trio, a wall of electronica or a hybrid of it all, I’m always in my element. A powerfully stylized scoring approach with a strong dramatic sense has cultivated many successful collaborations with a diverse collection of film makers. I love being the fourth character in the film.
I’ve scored several projects with esteemed director Simon Wincer. A few of the titles include Warner Bros. / IMAX NASCAR 3D: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, TNT’s MONTE WALSH and CROSSFIRE TRAIL, both starring Tom Selleck. Those TNT westerns posted record breaking television ratings, rivaling the numbers seen only by the major networks at that time. We were all pretty proud of that.
Mattel Entertainment kept me quite busy, scoring many of their animated films. I eventually earned an EMMY nomination for my score to MAGIC OF THE RAINBOW, the third installment from the four film FAIRYTOPIA saga. Mattel’s claymation series, LITTLE PEOPLE, was another project from a variety of titles I scored for them.
Additional credits include Comedy Central's CON, First Look/Overseas, BARK!, which was in dramatic competition at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, The Wonderful World of Disney’s LIFE-SIZE, starring Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks, and MODEL BEHAVIOR starring Maggie Lawson and Justin Timberlake.
Feel free visit my CREDITS page or IMDb for a current and more detailed list.
Score excerpts can be found on my MUSIC page.
