mixtape songs /

First off, tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, where you’ve been,
and where your going.
I grew up in the Northern suburbs of Boston. I started playing drums
when I was 12, and I picked up more instruments as the years went by.
I put a couple solo records out between 1999-2002. I stayed in Boston
until I was 28, at which point I moved to Seattle to join a band.
That didn’t work out, so I came back here when I was 32.

Could you tell us a bit about your latest album The Soft Drugs?
Actually, it’s an EP by my band The Soft Drugs - the record is called
The Soft Drugs In Moderation. It was originally going to be a
full-length album, but my life got hectic and I wanted to finish the
project, so I shortened it.

Why Creative Commons?
I didn’t have the time or resources to properly promote the CD, so I
had the idea that releasing it for free might be a good PR move, and I
was right. A lot more people got turned on to it.

Who all played on the album with you?
Mostly it was me, a bass player named Ken Maiuri, and a drummer named
Frank Lenz. A couple other friends made contributions. Most notably
Casey Foubert and James McAlister.

Where did you record it?
It was recorded in a few different locations - all of them home
studios. Poulsbo, Edmonds and Bellevue WA, and a couple overdubs were
recorded in Greenfield, MA. I mixed it on my computer in my basement
in Edmonds.

What label was it released under?
I started a “fake” label called Tower of Song, which I named after a
Leonard Cohen song. See http://towerofsong.com

I noticed a abundance of starwars photos on your flickr account. Is
there something we should know?
Right after I set up my Flickr account, I went to a Star Wars exhibit
at the Boston Museum of Science. Then the novelty of Flickr wore off.

If you could play with one musician from any time period, who would it be?
I would like to play drums for Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

Who are you listening to lately?
Thelonious Monk & Willie Nelson.

Your “top 40″ guilty pleasure?
“This Love” by Maroon 5. I love that song.

What are your biggest non musical influences in life? (favourite books etc)
I read a lot of science fiction. My favorite book by a longshot is
DUNE by Frank Herbert. My favorite movies are probably The Big
Lebowski and Stop Making Sense.

If you were casting a movie about your life who would you cast as yourself?
Bizzarely, his has been discussed in detail elsewhere on the web:
Forum post on Pedro the Lion