Tinkering with things and strumming guitar are about my favorite things. I'm always switching back and forth between analytic and creative activities. I can do both with music.

I was about 13 years when I started getting into music. My dad was always playing the classical guitar, but that style of music didn't really grab me. The music of Kiss did. Even to an untrained ear it was easy to hear the difference in complexity between Paul Stanley's playing and what my dad was up to. Hey, if Paul Stanley can sell a million records why give the guitar a try?

My dad scrounged up an old Harmony acoustic for me to start out on. I quickly upgraded to some cheap Japanese electric. I totally practised and practised on this thing. In the bedroom. It was a couple of years before I started jamming with some buddies. It helped that my buddies had perfect pitch and had dads that were long time pros in the music. But I didn't know any better - I just liked playing!

At the end of high school I was doing plenty of bar gigs with the Sharx from Bellingham. The lineup included the likes of Greg Pitsch, Matt Nims, John Horn, Scott Davis, and Lonnie Knechtel. Wanting to do go in a different musical direction I later hooked up with proto-dirge/grunge-ists DSML. It was about this time that I started to get an interest in the electronics and the amplifiers and all the stuff that was actually making the sounds!

Thus started my academic career. First the electronics coursework at Bellingham Technical College followed by physics and geophysics degrees at the UW. The guitar fell by the wayside for several years while I went to grad school and later worked as a seismologist. But then I got back into it a few years ago. I remade myself into a singer/songwriter instead of just a guitar shredder.

Guitar repair is my new passion. I'm able to apply all my electronics and science skills into finely crafted work in the guitar. As a player I can relate to musicians and what they are looking for in their instruments.

Instruments: Custom Mexi-strat, Ibanez RG-122 Prestige, Seagull S6+ Spruce Dreadnaught, Kentucky mandolin.

Recent Training: Afro-Cuban drumming with Arturo Rodriguez, voice lessons with Maria Lujan de Peralta, computer recording at Mirror Sound Studios.

Current Influences: Molotov, Thalia, Lydia Mendoza, Lila Downs, Zuca 103, Zap Mama, Natalie Merchant, Pete Seeger, DJ Dolores, Los de Abajo, Los Lobos, Ozomatli

What I listen to:

World-Hop

• Natasha Atlas - Mishmoul
• Ojos de Brujo - Bari (SP, 2002)
• Zap Mama - A Ma Zone (Luaka Bop)
• Ozomatli - Street Signs (LA)

Latin Contemporary:

• Rodgrigo y Gabriela (MX)
• Pistolera - Siempre Hay Salida
• Pacha Massive - All Good Things
• Los de Abajo - LDA vs the Lunatics; Cypertropic Chilango Power (MX, Luaka Bop)
• Cabas (CO)
• DJ Dolores and Orchestra Santa Massa - Contraditorio (BR, 2002)
• Lila Downs - Una Sangre (USA/MX)
• LA Carpool (LA)
• Lhasa - La Llorana (CAN/MX)
• Silvia Torres (BR)
• Yerbabuena - Alien President; Island Life (NYC)

Reggaeton:

• Boricua Guerrero - Greatest Hits (2002)
• Chosen Few "El Documental" (CD/DVD, 2004)
• Hip Hop en la Calle Ocho 2004 (2004 Protel/Universal)
• Ivy Queen - Real (2004 Perfect Image/Universal)
• Reggaeton Con El Propheta (2002 Protel/Universal)

Early Hugely Influential Albums:

• Alice in Chains - Facelift
• Jeff Beck - Wired
• Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
• Jimi Hendrix - Crash Landing
• Infectious Grooves - It's the Plague That Makes Your Booty Move, It's Infectious Grooves
• Led Zeppelin - Presence
• Los Lobos - La Pistola y El Corazon
• Rage Against The Machine - Battle For Los Angeles
• Joe Satriani - The Extremist
• Andy Summers and Robert Fripp - I Advanced Masked
• Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand the Weather
• Yes - Fragile