I am the singer, songwriter and guitarist for Disease Within. I live in Maryland and I have a beautiful wife and two incredible children. I am currently in rehearsals gearing up for our 2009 tour, while writing material for the next record.
In 1991 I was on top of a promising career in music when tragedy struck, an auto accident where my right hand was crushed, wrist crushed, right thumb severed. Staple, stitches, physical therapy...I have a hand but my right thumb never really could flex again and my whole guitar world came crashing down. I spent years in seclusion relearning how to pick and adapt my style to my disability...started back into the scene, still passionate but I lost my fast soloing articulate picking attack...and so it is. I believe though I gained better respect for feel over flash and that's the basis of my style today. My band has been written up by industry giants as a modern day Tool, Nirava, even System of a Down...all very gracious comments. I am very blessed to have a great band, great friends, and an awesome family...maybe the whole hand thing was for a reason. It led me to this point and I am very happy.
I was born to a military family and traveled extensively throughout his childhood. I began playing music at a very early age on my family’s electric organ, and later an acoustic guitar bought at a yard sale. I saved up enough money to buy an electric guitar and amp at twelve and was in my first band by 14. By then my family had settled in Southern California and I was heavily influenced by the California music scene; the L.A. guitar gods of the 80s and 90s, and the Bay area’s punk and heavy thrash.
I moved to Maryland for college and played in a number of local Hard Rock and Metal bands, paying for school while selling guitars at Hot Licks Music Store and later Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center. I appeared as a guitar solo guest on several pop/hip hop/rap music releases, and performances. I taught guitar part-time as well.
I have played guitar, sang both lead and backup vocals and played keyboards for a variety of Washington area bands, before retiring from the public music scene in 1998 with the birth of my beloved son. I continued on to play, teach and write music through 2008.
My style is a mix of Classical and Jazz styles incorporated into heavy driving riffs. I have an odd eclectic mix of guitar influences and it shows in Disease’s songs where the Metal tradition of power chord laden tunes is not present. Instead you’ll find a mix of diminished, suspended and other less common metal chords.
