My musical tastes have undergone numerous changes over the time since birth. As a youth, I spent considerable time listening to the music of my parent's era's. Growing up in a predominantly "elder" area of Chicagoland, as an only child, my parents were the sources of many inspiration(s) in my life. I chose to follow through example, and soon began listening to Country and Oldies much as my parents had and continue to do so.

As I reached my teen years, the twang and thrum of country and oldies gave way to the hard rock and heavy metal of the 80's era. My fanaticism for bands such as Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and other "Hair bands" transcended further into the harder tones of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth.

The college years of my life brought forth the rise of Alternative, and the renewed inner-development of my musical tastes through the music classes I took to enrich myself with at Morton College in Cicero, Illinois. From Classical, to Metal, Classic Rock, Electronica, on further to Industrial et al.; my musical tastes have grown and expanded over time.

Post-collegiate activity, and armed with the friendship's he's made, have pushed me into finding new sources, new arena's of knowledge to find bands that big commercial radio has all but failed to play. My good friend Tony Volpe, former bassist of the Chicago-area Doom band "Avernus" brought forth numerous sources of underground talent, getting me hooked on bands like "Milk Plow" and showing me the rope's of area talent. Even my sole experience as a rhoady for the band "Le Querida de Cortez" at "The House of Blues" in Chicago, Illinois was an experience I cherish, and a form of music that I am still to this day enamored by. While I do not speak Spanish, hearing the vocalist whail, and hearing the band's thrashing eruption of sound on their own cover of Richie Valen's "La Bamba" is something quite extraordinary.

As much of an online hack as I am, it came as a surprise when I ran into someone in the heyday of Hotline who I know only as AR2jr. Our mutual fascination for Industrial music, fueled me to new horizon's and helped me find out more information on a form of music that first and foremost probably remains my most devoted. From bands like KMFDM and MDFMK, to Front 242, Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, and My Life with the Thrillkill Cult, I became enamored by the unique sounds from the minute I saw KMFDM's ADRUGAGAINSTWAR video on MTV back in the day. AR2jr, who I've not spoken with in some time, brought a lot of influence as he knew bits of the missing puzzle that Chicago radio, in all of it's frustrating and disgusting pop ambivelance, fails to keep me knowledgeable on. Without him I'd know nothing of KMFDM's revival, nor the paths of Gunther and En Esch as they left KMFDM for Slick Idiot and their own record label. For those elements and many more I've forgotten over time, I am dearly thankful for and hope that he's doing well.

Along the way I encountered a co-worker at Columbia College, who quickly became a friend that though I've not spoken to in recent years, I cannot begin to mention the contribution his time made. Brent Gutzeit, my former boss in the model shop at Columbia brought forth a side of music I'd never much seen. Not since my time at Morton College picking up on John Cage's work had I heard anything so wildly different and unique in musical creation, that it borders on the lack of control in creating music that Cage himself endeared. Whenever I think of Brent, I think of his "Well Hung Man" instrument he created while in his native homeland of Michigan, in attending college and getting his. B.A.. What was, of course, most intriguing was that this instrument, so inventive, so creative, was made out of common instrument parts to produce "sound". Brent's music wasn't so much melodies, wasn't so much chord's, wasn't even so much predictable. It was in fact the opposite, radical, shrieking, sometimes tonal in the same sonic wizardry that a PC beeps on launch. Dissonant, yet unique. You knew it was somewhat planned, even if the planned delivery sounded as random as the occasional television static produced via a cut line.

His instruments varied from a custom-made welded iron bass to the mere altering of a computer hard disk to shutter or reverberate in a manner to make sound. His perceptions, much like Cage, is that with each CD he produces, the sound emitted is different because not all players, not all speakers, not all room's acoustics are identical. With such uncontrollability, comes forth a similar ideal to what Cage produced. It is in this way, that Brent's works were pure genius. When I also think of Brent, and his record label "Boxmedia", I think of another facet. His incredible sense of humor and unique attitude. From going down to pick up an order at the Thai restaurant across the street under a name unbeknownst to me on the order (and Brent for the life of himself couldn't explain why he ordered under that name), to Brent's creativity in a "sound" show where him and his cohorts destroyed instruments to the utter amazement of the crowd, leaving us chuckling in amusement after-hours while we sat and watched flying keyboard shrapnel, broken phonograph platen ands arms, and a heavily smashed DAT drive via Brent's beaten to death guitar from his punk rock days; it was chaos, it was hysterical, and it was puuuuuure genius. Through his incredible genius by producing the perfect counter-pop sound that no major label would ever be able to bastardize, he also brought forth an incredible wit that eludes his modest living.

Then there's Ernie Morrison (the Illinois Pitbull), who came about through our mutual fascination with racing. After continual discussions online after the huge meeting at Brownstown, Indiana in 1998; Ernie and I have become pretty good friends and made the treks to numerous concerts together. It is through Ernie that bands such as Mudvayne, Slipknot, Mushroomhead, Coal Chamber, Ill NiNO, Flaw, Stereomud, Nonpoint, and ultimately Sevendust (which we've seen in concert around what seems like... 7 times together) became part of my musical vocabulary and a prime part of my personal roster of music.

If music is the way to free the soul, then the gift of music overall has left me with another arena of expression to who exactly I am. For that I am thankful, and only wish that the constraining confine that is the RIAA would pack it's bags and go the way of Napster, and leave humanity to making it's own choices. Some of us, believe it or not, don't give a rat's ass about your concerns for money making, as somewhere in the midst, the creative element, the sincerity, the passion is gone. Without that... where's the music?

Give us back our music you bastards!