Biography

I was born and raised in Rye Brook, New York with my older brother & sister and our Irish immigrant parents. I am the only American-born member of my family and have dual citizenship. My musical journey began in earnest in the 4th grade, when I joined the school band and began learning to play the alto saxophone. I received my first guitar for Christmas at age 8 and immediately fell in love with the instrument. I spent a few years teaching myself the basics and even got to occasionally swap my saxophone for an electric guitar as a member of my school’s jazz ensemble.

As my passion for music grew, my parents recognized that I would benefit from formal guitar lessons and signed me up at a local music store in Port Chester, NY. Soon after I began formally studying the instrument I started a garage rock band with several classmates, which would eventually become None of the Above (or NOTA for short). We played together for over 8 years with weekly practices, several studio sessions, and any live performances we could book. During this time, I met my second formal guitar instructor, Paul Madison, who would prove to be incredibly influential in my personal musical development and the band’s. Paul produced our first EP at SUNY Purchase College and served as an informal advisor for us going forward. During these musically formative years, I wrote and performed acoustic solo material and led the short-lived punk band It Wouldn’t Fly. I played my first solo gig (not opening for None of the Above) at the historic 169 Bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2006.

As my interest in writing and performing grew, I developed a keen interest in audio recording. I started small with the Tascam MF-P01 Analog 4-Track cassette recorder and gradually converted my sister’s bedroom into my own little experimental studio. I entered the world of digital audio a short while later with the purchase of my first Fostex MR-8 Digital multitrack recorder. Soon we were recording band practices and demo sessions with two MR-8 units that I jerry-rigged together to enhance our multitrack capabilities.

I minored in music at Trinity College in Hartford, CT and continued to study guitar in one-on-one lessons with fingerstyle/jazz instructor Dave Giardina. I continued to dabble in live performance during this time with the cover band Sooty Bwet but became increasingly focused on the art and science of recorded sound. I started working with MIDI to create simple backing tracks for improvised guitar recordings, which introduced me to the creative potential of digital audio. The more into the world of music production I got, the further I wanted to go.

After graduating from Trinity College with a major in political philosophy and a minor in music, I began a career in finance & accounting at a top-tier law firm in Manhattan. I continued playing, writing, and recording music in my spare time and became increasingly focused on these efforts to combat the boredom and monotony of my workdays. Over time it became abundantly clear that I had gone down the wrong path professionally and with the encouragement of my family and my (now) wife, I decided to do something about it. I spent 10 months writing, recording, and mixing a portfolio of instrumental music while working full-time in finance and applied to the Music Technology graduate program at New York University. Once accepted, I left finance & accounting behind to pursue my passion for music.

In addition to the technical aspects of recorded sound, I focused on music psychology and cognition at NYU. I had always had an interest in how sound influences perception, attitude, and behavior so my academic research naturally turned in that direction. I spent 18 months researching, writing, and editing my graduate thesis on sonic branding and was able to secure an internship at the legendary sonic branding agency Audiobrain to further my studies.

After completing and successfully defending my thesis, I joined Audiobrain full-time as a producer and sonic branding strategist. I worked with some of the biggest brands in the world and led a wide variety of audio branding projects from voiceover narration to product sonification and comprehensive audio identity development. I had the privilege of introducing new clients to the concept of sonic branding & its benefits, developing creative parameters based on their specific brand attributes, guiding their audio identity development & implementation across brand touchpoints, analyzing their progress in real time, and growing as a well-rounded audio professional. While working at Audiobrain I continued to write, record, and produce music on my own and with other artists, including successful collaborations with Stephen James The Artist, Sophia Dean, Zoe Berg, and Marisa Brown. I am currently consulting on sonic branding operations for the Canadian record label & audio house Cult Nation.