Well, it all started in a building nestled in the rolling hills of Baltimore county. The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts was a great way to get started in this industry. After graduating in 2005 I worked around Baltimore at local venues and events trying to master sound engineering but I was very far from that. I knew I needed as much experience as possible. I would keep in touch with SIRA letting them know what I was doing and always seeing if they had any leads on Audio Engineering positions. My persistence finally paid off. Meg from SIRA said “We just got an offer for an audio position for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey”. I applied and after going through the interview process, I was hired!

Then I started my career as a touring sound engineer. I was flown out to Syracuse to get started on the tour. I met with another SIRA graduate named Elliot. He was the head sound engineer for Ringling Bros. I learned a lot from him and the other sound engineer Lloyd who was my neighbor in our 4 room trailers. Finally, after 9 months of the most interesting tour I have ever been on still to this day, I knew I wanted something a little more. Sitting in my 8x8 room “literally”, I always enjoyed playing and listing to reggae music. It was a true passion of mine ever since I was young and it helped me get through the lonely times in life. I decided to pick up and leave the Circus. I took a 12-hour bus ride back to Baltimore where I stayed with a friend until spring came.

  After trying the city life and being a sound guy for little clubs again, I still wanted more. I decided to pick up and move to Ocean City, MD. I started working as a front desk clerk making nothing and doing a job that was pretty lame. It was still cool because life is always better by the beach. Finally after turning 21, I was introduced to the club scene and came across a place I had only heard of from friends… “Seacrets Jamaica USA”. Still one of the nicest and coolest places I have ever been to! I was so amazed, so I asked right away who was in charge of production. I told Brian the manager I was a sound engineer just getting off tour with Ringling Bros and I needed to work here. Sure enough I stared that Friday and still do work for them today. Ocean City is seasonal, so there is really only work in the summertime. I needed to find work in the winter and I wanted to stick with my passion. After two seasons at Seacrets, I learned a lot with monitors, Front of House, lights, camera work and stage-managing from the reggae stage at Seacrets. I felt confident enough to ask the bands that have played the stage if they needed Front of House Engineers for touring. So I emailed all my favorite bands that I was friends with on social networking sites, telling them a little about my experience and letting them know if they need a sound engineer, I’m willing to do it for whatever they could pay me!

My persistence paid off again when a band from Shreveport LA, named “Outlaw Nation” emailed me back and said they just got signed to Slightly Stoopid’s record label “Stoopid Records” and were going to hit the road soon to tour with Slightly Stoopid. That band was one of my favorite bands growing up so I was very excited and anxious to start! I flew to Shreveport, LA and met Simion, the lead singer and guitarist of Outlaw Nation. I stayed with him for a few months with minimal shows so I was broke, but we made the best of it until the tour started. The time came and we were off to the west coast to meet Stoopid in Portland, Oregon with a half way working van and no back seats or windows except for in the front and back surrounded by plywood! It was a bumpy ride over the mountains but we made it to Oregon. Coming down from the mountains heading into the biggest valley in the country, Lagrand Oregon, our drive shaft broke in half and we drifted in to town! We were stuck there for a week abandoning the old van and had to rent a new van still with no back seats. This all lead to missing the first week of the tour! Finally, after meeting up with the “Stoopid” tour we had a month of good times and I learned a lot about being in a touring band and working together.

So on the last day of the tour I was going to fly home but then the tour’s opening band “The B foundation” said, “Come with us to California and do sound for us”.  I said sure and jumped into the van to California. Then started my adventure with the ”B” where I had one of the best touring experiences ever! Living west coast style and doing sound at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood was so rad! Then it was time for the “B’ to make a new album which I didn’t have a lot of experience in because I focused more on live sound. I went back to Baltimore to visit until the next tour started. In Baltimore, I needed some positive activities to do while I waited for the next tour to start. I started playing at open mic nights and eventually started a band within a month. I only did sound on the weekends after that with a local band called “Ballyhoo!” that I had met in California working for the “B”. The band I started fell apart due to differences. So now I’ve been with Ballyhoo! full time doing Front of House Engineering for 2 years and the adventures continue! With Ballyhoo! on the rise, it has been a great way to learn and grow with a touring band. Just getting done Warped Tour 2012 this past summer and the 311 cruise earlier in the year where I did sound on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and partied on a private island. It has been just what I expected it to be when I graduated! 

Most Recently (FOH at “House of Blues, Myrtle Beach”