Growing up on a farm in Iowa, I spent my early years imagining I was an alien, super hero, ninja or detective. My earliest inspirations came from L. Frank Baum, James Fennimore Cooper, The Three Investigators and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books, Star Wars, G.I Joe action figures, Marvel Comics, V: The Television Series and The Muppet Show. Wanting to be like Animal, who along with Gonzo was my favorite Muppets character, I began playing the drums in the elementary school band at the age of ten. The first song I wanted to learn the drum part to was the one that came on at the very beginning of Star Wars, which I didn't realize was 20th Century Fox's theme song.

Although I was always drumming, I never really listened to music until my last couple years of high school, when I heard The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Max Roach and Tony Williams. For the first time, I realized music was something powerful and magical. I simultaneously realized I didn't know anything about how to play the drums. By extension, I realized I didn't know anything about myself. Inspired by Kerouac, Thoreau, Salinger, Northern Exposure and Star Trek: The Next Generation, I looked forward to starting my life over upon high school graduation in 1994.

For some reason, I decided to try out for the marching band at the small Iowa university I attended. Although I somehow got into the snare drum line, I was not very good. Inspired by the ridicule and embarrassment inflicted by other drummers in the snare line and the drumline instructor, I began practicing constantly. I had to completely start over, as the first thing I had to do was learn how to hold the sticks using traditional grip. A friend and fellow drummer named Roy Bailey helped and encouraged me, and we listened to every late 40's-70's jazz record we could get ahold of and watched Buddy Rich videos into the wee small hours of the mornings. I found time to watch Monty Python and read Walt Whitman and other poets as well.

I studied diligently in college, falling in love with the ideas of Socrates, De Beauvoir and Sarte, but even after graduating in 1997 with degrees in philosophy and psychology, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I spent my days playing hacky sack and my nights reading The Brothers Karamazov. I started playing in some rock-based bands made up of friends, and also spent a lot of time working on my drumming footwork. Although I had unfortunately become something of a jazz snob in college (with the exceptions of Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin), I now fell in love with Jane's Addiction, and also listened to a lot of bands such as Blind Melon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley and Smashing Pumpkins.

In 1998 I recorded an album with the band JimRobbie. It was a very exciting experience. I began learning about the recording process and buying recording equipment. Inspired by the recordings of John Zorn, I decided I wanted to become an audio engineer, and knew that that was a great excuse to move out of Iowa. In May of 2000 I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.

I quickly got a job at Hyde Street Studios, and began really learning a ton about recording. I began going to a workshop put on by trumpeter Eddie Gale, where I began playing improvisational jazz based music with other bay area musicians. I also began getting deep into artists such as Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Derek Bailey and Captain Beefheart, as well as Native American music. I also watched tons of sci-fi, Bruce Lee and samurai movies and Andy Kaufman sketches.

Although I worked with some interesting projects at Hyde Street, including Boy George and a tribe of African Pygmies, the time came to move on. I realized making a living as an engineer was as difficult as making a living as a drummer, and it was nearly impossible to do both at the same time. And I prefer drumming. I began joining bands and looking for drum students. I had taught some young students in Iowa, and teaching drums is something I love. I also wrote a drum manual intended to inform drummers of the major aspects of drumming, not just how to read music.

In August 2003, an unexpected tragedy occurred when a remarkable composer, brilliant pianist and beautiful friend named Chris Smith died of a drug overdose. He had been clean in the short time I had known him but it only took one relapse for the drugs to win. It's an old story, and one that has been plaguing musicians for generations. I continually hope that someday there will be a wake-up call and people will realize that doing hard drugs, even once, can be devastating or fatal. I still miss Chris and playing in the band Samara. I have recorded a short percussion piece he had written called "Arsonist", available on the CD page. 100% of any sales of "Arsonist" will be donated to A New Leaf substance abuse program.

In 2003, I listened to a lot of european improv. and music from Asia, Africa, and Cuba. In late 2003 I began taking tabla lessons, and am really enjoying learning how to play them. The tabla are a pair of drums from India that are played primarily with fingers.

Click here to see some pictures taken in January and February of 2004.

In 2004 I recorded an album with The CKW Trio, which got a lot of radio airplay.

I have taken a very deconstructionalist approach to playing drums. I have broken my kit down to hi-hat, snare, and various items I can kick around with my right foot. Among the items on the ground is a second snare, from which I can cull sounds through any manner of destruction, including puncturing and tearing the heads with various implements. Speaking of snares, in May I came across and purchased the greatest sounding snare I have ever heard. It is a Ludwig & Ludwig Super-Sensitive nickel coated brass snare from 1929. It has tube lugs, single flanged rims, and two sets of parallel action (meaning the whole snare raises and lowers, not just one side) snares, one under the snare-side (bottom) head as usual, and the other under the batter (top) head. Here's some pictures.

I feel I should note that my current musical approach has been very influenced by sax player Phillip Greenlief and drummer Toshi Makihara. Also, in mid-August 2005, I took a lesson with Gino Robair which helped me realize personal fears, habits and assumptions that were hindering my growth as a musician.

Here's an mp3 (recorded by Matt Ingalls) and pictures (taken by Jim Ryan) of a solo performance that was part of the annual Skronkfest, which took place August 14th, 2005, at 21 Grand in Oakland.

After taking a two week trip there to visit friends, I decided to move to Portland, Oregon in November 2005. It turns out to have a small but serious improv. scene. Musicians and dancers here are very open and receptive to ideas both old and new.

Beginning Monday, Februaury 4, 2008, I will attempt to host an improvisor's workshop at my home. Initial interest seems promising. The goal of this workshop is to encourage the exploration of creative sounds.