Explore art, seek pro-active entertainment and be creative
INSPIRATION, MOVE ME BRIGHTLY
My initial musical path was inspired and defined by Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and Phish, but my youth was all about 80's synth pop.
In 1988, I was walking around at a Grateful Dead show at Laguna Seca Raceway in CA, and found this group of around 10 guys, some with 6 string guitars, one with a 12 string, one with a mandolin, and the rest in circle, swaying and singing. The song they were playing was 'Fearless' by Pink Floyd, which was a favorite song of mine, so I joined the circle, watched and sang along. While watching the guitarists eyes and hands, it became clear that most of these guys were following one guitarist, and that they didn't really know how to play the song. I didn't know that such a thing was possible, that music was so accessible once you got some basics down. I also realized that these guys were more or less my age, and not very different from myself - yet they could sit here, watch some guy's hands, and play one of my favorite songs. At that moment, I decided that I could do this and that I was going to get a guitar and become a musician.
My original songs were all done on a Tascam 4 track with an Alesis SR-16 drum machine, a Fender Stratocaster, a Korg Poly 800 synthesiser, and a friend's bass. They were mostly quirky songs, but it was a lot of fun, and it helped me develop music production skills. At this point, I'm in college and start playing in bands, including: Cottonmouth (1990 - covers), and Cool Beans (1992 - originals).
The desire to record and compose more music continued, and in 1994, I begin sequencing music with MIDI. The first tracks I sequenced and produced with keyboards used an Alesis Quadrasynth and Studio Vison on the Mac. They were very synth pop sounding in general, they had some interesting ideas, but overall, they were not mixed well and sounded cheesy. But, the experience was amazing, highly inspiring and addictive! Then in 1995, using a rare DAW on Windows, I first explored sampling and cutting up samples. The idea of turning any sound into an instrument, or layering in non-musical sounds or any sort became a primary goal of mine. I needed to do this.
In 1996, I started a rock band called 'Something Else' with some friends which lasted a year then came to a sudden halt. Instead of trying to build a new band, I decided to focus on my studio and began to experiment. Based on some new recordings, an online friend described my new music as 'sonic wallpaper' and within days, I selected this as my artist name.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS AND INFLUENCES
The following is a timeline of events and influences on my music. Any artist or band that I really liked over time, is listed as an influence based on the year I started listening to them.| Year | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Event | First concert: Oingo Boingo in Santa Clara, CA |
| Influence | Thomas Dolby | |
| Influence | Talking Heads | |
| 1984 | Influence | Depeche Mode |
| Influence | Art of Noise | |
| 1985 | Influence | Pink Floyd |
| Influence | Red Hot Chili Peppers | |
| 1986 | Influence | Led Zeppelin |
| 1987 | Event | First of 60 Grateful Dead Concerts |
| Influence | Grateful Dead | |
| Influence | Kitaro | |
| Influence | Igor Stravinski | |
| Influence | Michael Hedges | |
| Influence | Mahavishnu Orchestra | |
| 1988 | Event | Initial musical inspiration - seeing people playing Fearless by Pink Floyd |
| Event | First guitar - Ovation 6 string acoustic | |
| 1989 | Event | First electric guitar - modified Fender Stratocaster |
| Event | First drum machine - Alesis SR16 | |
| Event | First recording device - Tascam 4 track | |
| Influence | John Coltrane | |
| Influence | Miles Davis | |
| 1990 | Event | First Band: Cottonmouth - rhythm guitar/vocals |
| Event | First keyboard - Korg Poly 800 | |
| 1991 | Influence | Phish |
| 1992 | Event | Second Band: Cool Beans - rhythm guitar/vocals |
| 1993 | Event | Second electric guitar - Fender American Standard Stratocaster |
| 1993 | Influence | Peter Gabriel |
| 1994 | Event | First sequencer - Vision on a Mac |
| Event | Second keyboard - Alesis Quadrasynth | |
| Influence | Herbie Hancock | |
| 1995 | Influence | Steely Dan |
| Influence | MC 900ft Jesus | |
| Influence | Ambient music | |
| 1996 | Event | Third Band: Something Else - rhythm guitar/vocals |
| Event | Third keyboard - Korg Prophecy | |
| Influence | Loop Guru | |
| Influence | Acid Jazz music | |
| 1997 | Event | Took on the artist name: Sonic Wallpaper |
| Influence | Higher Intelligence Agency | |
| Influence | Drum 'N' Bass Music | |
| Influence | Trip Hop Music | |
| Influence | Spacetime Continuum | |
| 1998 | Event | First Sampler - Akai S2000 |
| Event | New DAW: Sonic Foundry Acid 1.0 | |
| Event | First time sharing my music on mp3.com | |
| Influence | Goldie | |
| Influence | DJ Shadow | |
| Influence | DJ Spooky | |
| Influence | Roni Size/Repreznat | |
| Influence | Squarepusher | |
| 1999 | Event | First CDr album as Sonic Wallpaper - Imaginarium |
| Event | First live performance as Sonic Wallpaper | |
| Event | Hardware Sequencer: Yamaha RM1x | |
| Influence | Wagon Christ | |
| Influence | ORB | |
| 2000 | Influence | Future Sound of London |
| Influence | DJ Food | |
| Influence | Boards of Canada | |
| 2001 | Event | Launched ElectronicScene.com |
| Influence | Dub Music | |
| Influence | Amon Tobin | |
| 2002 | Event | Currently the last live performance as Sonic Wallpaper |
| Influence | Flanger | |
| 2003 | Event | ElectronicScene.com becomes ArtistServer.com |
| Influence | Pole | |
| 2004 | Influence | Bill Laswell |
| 2005 | Influence | Kruder & Dorfmeister |
| 2006 | Influence | Shpongle |
| 2007 | Influence | OTT |
| 2008 | Influence | Funkadelic / Parliament |
| 2009 | Influence | Fela |
| 2010 | Influence | Tipper |
| 2011 | Influence | Tycho |
| 2012 | Influence | Jaga Jazzist |
| 2013 | Influence | Opiuo |
| 2014 | Event | Closed ArtistServer.com |
| Influence | Koan Sound | |
| 2015 | Event | Changed DAW from Sony Acid to Ableton Live |
| 2016 | Event | 10 albums released covering complete catalog |
| Event | 11th Album - Traverse the Multiverse | |
| 2020 | Event | 12th Album - Threshold Manifold |
| 2022 | Event | 13th Album - Gradient |
| 2024 | Event | 14th Album - The Rise and Fall of Semi Quasi and Faux Pseudo |