About Me

I’m a composer and musician writing music for films, advertising and video games, and I’m currently president of the Seattle Composers Alliance. Films I’ve scored include Walk Right In, Life On Fire, and Modern Views. I have also written music for the shorts Bobby Ellis Is Gonna Kick Your Ass, The Last Virgin, Safe Passage, Scamp, Brains, Facing the Dragon, and the dance short Slip Cadence, among others. I’ve written music for the games Faerie Alchemy, Chimpanzee Catastrophe, Faerie Solitaire and Ramps, and advertising and corporate video clients include Happy Candidates, Bakon Vodka, Outsource Marketing, Createria, MovieMaker Magazine, and the Seattle non-profit PATH.

I studied film scoring with Emmy-award-winning composer Hummie Mann and classical and jazz composition with Tim Huling. I currently bass for Seattle singer/songwriter Tiger Zane as well as guitar, piano, ukulele, trombone, and various percussion instruments and household objects. Other bands I’ve been in include The James Howard Band, What Fell?, the Goat-Footed Senators, the diary of Anne Frank String Quartet, 80 Bones, the Penelopies, and the Fireproof Beauties.

I have several goals when writing to picture. The first is to perfectly capture the emotion of the scene or the piece. Since music so directly and powerfully connects with our emotions, getting the mood right is crucial.

Second, I always strive to come up with a unique sound for every project—something to make it stand out. Whether it’s a specific instrument, an unusual harmonic framework, or an idiosyncratic combination of sounds, I always try to create an appropriate and distinctive texture for each job.

And third, I pride myself on always making my clients happy—giving them what they want when they need it, and going above and beyond to find the perfect solution to each unique challenge. I am truly honored by the kind and generous things my clients have said about me. See my testimonial page for some recommendations.

In 2004 I wrote a set of two ebooks about Apple’s GarageBand program. Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand was about song construction and composition using loops, and Take Control of Recording with GarageBand covered basic recording techniques. They were published by Take Control Books.

I studied studio art in high school and college, and I still paint from time to time. Most recently I did some penguin paintings which were a lot of fun. It’s a nice change of pace from music, and it helps me to keep the audio portion of my mind clear.


Photo by Heather Fassio

 

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