A deeper look into the experiences, education, and milestones that shaped my approach to music.
Foundations
As a child, some of my first memories revolve around sitting next to my grandfather while he played the organ. He played by ear and would figure out any song I threw at him. I started trying that myself, figuring out children’s songs by ear on the family organ and piano, especially Christmas music.
When I was in middle school, I had developed a love for the drums but my band director required all prospective percussionists to learn another instrument first. I chose the French horn. And outside of school, I was starting to take guitar lessons. After a year of hard work, I auditioned for the percussion section and earned a spot. In 8th grade, I changed schools, got into the percussion section and ended up marching snare when the marching band was invited to march around Epcot Center.
When moving on to high school, I decided not to take band. Mostly because I didn’t want to have to go to the football games since all band members were required to march. So, instead I started getting serious about guitar. Partly because my mom wouldn’t buy me a drum set, partly because I wanted to play punk rock!
I talked my best friend into learning bass and he talked me into taking chorus my senior year. The two of us started our first punk band that lasted through my time in Gainesville, FL.
Formal Education
Even though I started going to college for physics, I wasn’t doing very well my Calculus classes. I decided to “start over” with an emphasis on music since I didn’t solve equations in my spare time but I learned entire albums on guitar, bass, and drums.
At Santa Fe College, in Gainesville, FL, I earned the Associate of Arts in Music studying guitar under Jeff Ladenheim, music theory, piano, and voice leading.
After graduating SFC, I auditioned for and was admitted to the University of Florida studying under Dr. Kenneth Broadway and Dr. Larry Crook. I earned the Bachelor of Arts in music with a minor in ethnomusicology. My major was classical percussion performance focusing on orchestral and concert repertoire. My minor was focused on West African drum, dance, and balafon, Brazilian music mainly of the northeast Recife region, and Guatemalan marimba ensembles. The last of which performed at PASIC 30. I also participated in every musical theater production I could: Cabaret, Les Miserables, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, West Side Story. My last year I completed a study abroad at Salzburg College in Salzburg, Austria studying under Andreas Steiner, timpanist for the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. More than any individual performance, my college experience taught me musicality, interpretation, locking in with other musicians playing highly complex repetoire, and simply learning how to learn.
After graduating from UF and taking a year off, I auditioned to The Collective School of Music in New York City, NY. I earned the Certificate of Completion for their two-year program studying under Peter Retzlaf, Pat Petrillo, and Jason Gianni but also under Vince Cherico, Leroy Clouden, and as many of the fantastic faculty I could get a lesson with. My goal was to master the instrument I thought I had the best chance with: drum set. I focused on technique, musicality, stylistic fluidity, and sight reading. All of which I still rely on to this day.
Finding My Voice
In 2009 I moved from Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles, CA. I was feeling drawn west by musical opportunities and a growing sense that it was where I belonged. Who was I to deny that?
A friend of mine, Dan Bynum, from Florida who was on the same record lable as my punk band and owned the studio we recorded at moved here and was working as a studio and live engineer. He set me up with my first gig while I was looking for bands to join and a studio to teach from. This move introduced me to Sejo Navajas and 4th Street Recording.
One of the first groups I joined was The Tahiti Shuttle Experiment. We had a shared love for instrumental surf and Man or Astroman. We played a fair number of shows around LA county and released our self-titled album in 2010. This introduced me to the southern California instrumental surf scene and a ton of its legendary artists.
The group I met though Dan eventually went from a singer-songwriter thing to the band T3mpest and eventually landing on Smoke Season. This introduced me to a bunch of indy artists and bands as we played larger and larger shows and toured more and more. Unfortunately, my involvement with that group ended in 2017. But my work with them led to both a love of electronic and hybrid drum sets. Later, another Gainesville friend, Rob Swenson, saw what I was doing with Smoke Season and suggested me to VNV Nation as their first touring drummer after the original drummer left before the Automatic Empire tour of 2017. I auditioned for Ronan and got on the bus.
After touring with several instrumental surf bands, headlining festivals, and being honored to continue touring with VNV Nation, I was contacted by Pete Mills of The Sweet Kill.
I’ve been playing with The Sweet Kill since 2025 and have, so far, played several shows around Los Angeles and two tours: European Tour 2025 (culminating in a performance at WGT Leipzig 2025) and the 2026 “Slay The Dragon” European tour which included performing at Amphi Festival in Colonge, German. As The Sweet Kill builds momentum, they are proving to be a truely exciting chapter of my career and I look forward to continuing to work with Pete and his fantastic band.
Beyond the Drum Set
Teaching
Since I was a teenager, I have been an educator starting with being a junior instructor at my martial arts school. Developing the potential while also refining my ability has been a core tenet of who I am. There are few things in the world as wonderful as helping someone grasp a concept or technique or ability after working with them and watching them struggle. The unmitigated joy and accomplishment for all involved cannot be understated.
Production
I’ve spent a lot of time learning the technical aspects of music including recording, playback, and electronics because being able to solve technical problems just minutes to downbeat has proven it’s worth more times than I can count.
Stagecraft
After graduating from UF but before moving to New York, I worked at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts as a stagehand, stage tech, and aspiring A2. We worked on all sorts of productions from touring Broadway productions that used the theater as a rehearsal room before going out on the road to concerts and school events. I learned so much and the biggest takeaway was that the people backstage and in the wings are integral to putting on any production, and they are some of the most genuine and hardworking people I’ve ever met.
Since then I’ve functioned as a stagehand and stage manager for several venues around Los Angeles including the Echo and the Echoplex.
Recognition
Telly Award winner for Industry Music in 2021
Director’s Award from the Collecting in 2009
Moving Forward
My career, so far, has had many twists and turns. Its had a good amount of both ups and downs. All of it was educational and most of it was wonderful.
Every gig, tour, recording session, lesson, and collaboration has taught me something: the relationships are where the music begins and ends. It’s the connections that make the air dance, its the connections that enable the harmonies and dissonances. Connection is both the point of music and the end result.
I’m grateful for each and every opportunity that has come my way and for every experience I’ve had, both good and non-ideal. I can’t wait to see where the music takes me next.
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