Music is a lifelong passion of mine.
I learned to play keyboards as a kid, then later taught myself guitar and bass.
Listening
While I enjoy listening to a wide variety of different music styles, from classical to jazz fusion all the way to extreme death metal, I am particularly passionate about modern progressive rock in its various incarnations.
Some of my favorite artists in that genre include:
- Spock’s Beard - one of the top acts in the genre today, I became a huge fan since I first saw them live. I have also become the official online manager for their keyboardist, Ryo Okumoto, and I help manage his online presence and social accounts.
- Neal Morse was the founding member of Spock’s Beard, and left to pursue a solo career focused on Christian prog. An incredibly prolific artist and definitely one of the founding fathers of Modern Prog.
- Dream Theater, the gold standard for metal-infused musicianship. John Petrucci is one of my favorite guitarists and I play his signature MusicMan guitar.
- Opeth, a Swedish death-metal band that evolved into one of the most innovative prog bands today.
- Steven Wilson, along with Porcupine Tree, is one of the flag-bearers of modern progressive rock.
- The Flower Kings, another very prolific Swedish progressive rock band. Roine Stolt is another pillar of modern prog.
- Pain of Salvation, yet another very eclectic progressive rock/metal band from Sweden. Daniel Gildenlow is a genius.
- Transatlantic, a prog supergroup started by members from Spock’s Beard, Dream Theater, the Flower Kings and Marillion. A big gateway drug for me when I started exploring the genre.
- Mike Keneally, an all-around musical genius and Frank Zappa alumnus who is a fixture of the LA prog scene. I try to catch as many of his live shows as I can.
- Heliopolis, a brilliant new prog band on the LA scene (and cool friends to boot).
- … and so much more.
On the more popular side, these bands are considered foundational to progressive rock and really helped shape my taste in music:
- Queen, my first love with rock music. Bohemian Rhapsody is still my favorite song to this day.
- Pink Floyd, the kings of psychedelic prog.
- Rush, on the harder side of prog.
- Yes, who with Genesis and King Crimson defined the early days of prog in the 70s.
Attending
I go to a lot of live shows, and living in Los Angeles we are very fortunate to have access to regular performances by some of the top musicians in the world. I can honestly say that I go out to see more live concerts than movies in theaters.
I can be spotted very often at gigs of my favorite artists around town, and I am a regular at the Baked Potato club in Studio City. So much great music happening all the time there, this place almost feels like a second home to me.
CalProg is a great organization putting up consistently awesome prog shows in Southern California. I am proud to have been a regular patron since its inception back in 2003.
My first musical instrument was the keyboard, for which I had lessons as a kid after showing an early interest. I even started writing my own music as a child.
These days, my favorite instrument is the electric guitar. I bought my first Ibanez RG at the Guitar Center store in Hollywood in 2001 and am completely self-taught.
I later expanded to other stringed instruments and can be occasionally spotted playing electric bass with the Peninsula Symphonic Winds in Palos Verdes, where my wife also performs on French horn.
I have also started learning to play the drums in the summer of 2017. I have been posting a few videos of my progress on my YouTube channel.
I am otherwise not currently part of any band or studio project, though I have been known to occasionally write and record music in my home studio.
For a recent performance of my guitar playing, here is a video of myself performing the classic “Johnny B. Goode” at my wedding in July 2014.
Online
