1. If you were not a musician what would you want to be when you grow up?
Taller.
On a real though: in my Clark Kent life I do graphic and web design as well as photography when I’m not playing or teaching music. So I’ve got 3 or 4 different careers already. But if I could go back, I’d likely study engineering.
2. What is your favorite color?
Red. I used to say Blue, but chumps say Blue.
3. At what age did you become interested in being a musician and what/when was your first professional gig?
I was always an attention hog as a kid, and I realized that kids who played music got more attention than others. I eventually started practicing cello with gusto and my father gave me a spot in his ragtime orchestra to replace their recently deceased cellist. My first gig with that group was in 1999.
4. What is your favorite movie of all time… (your all time that is)?
I really love Dr. Strangelove as a single movie, but I’ve got an encyclopedic knowledge of the Back to the Future series.
5. How many different bands have you played in?
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I’ve only played in 4 or 5. But New Orleans is a musically incestuous place, so it’s hard to tell where one band starts and another begins.
6. What is your hobby?
I love mediocre sci-fi and comic books. Ask me about Superman sometime.
7. At what age do you plan to hang up your instrument (if any) and what is your retirement plan?
I’m going to hang them up when my fingers stop working. How I make money is one thing, but my identity is that of a musician.
8. What are 3 of your favorite albums from childhood? Let’s say the time until you graduated high school.
Green Day – Dookie
The first album I ever bought. For an 11-year-old it was the most defiant, angry, and scandalous music I’d ever heard. There was so much power and strength in its delivery that was completely new to me. It made a huge impression and I’ll still listen to it every now and then.
Jeff Buckley – Grace
The first album to make me cry. Everything about this album. The songs, the singing, the guitar tones, the production, everything. If this isn’t on your top 20 albums list, then the two of us will never agree on anything.
Oasis – What’s the Story Morning Glory?
My introduction to Britpop. It’s compressed as hell, but that just makes the songs sound mind-numbingly huge if you crank your boombox. They weren’t popular at my school or with my friends before Sam introduced it to me. So I felt like it was in a secret little club that were the only ones who got to listen to amazing music from across the pond.
9. How and why did you start playing music?
I picked up the cello in the 4th grade when a strings teacher named Mary Kellis started an orchestra. She and a band teacher came into my class to ask if anybody wanted to play an instrument. That weekend I had seen some bad movie with a guy who had put the end of a mop on top of his upright bass and was dancing around with it. I thought this guy was the pinnacle of cool. So my hand shot up to be their next bass player. When it came time to try one out at the music store, they looked at all three feet of me and told me that it would be 2 or more years before I was big enough to play bass. So they gave me a cello and told me I could switch when I got big enough.
My family never forced us to practice, but they never let us quit. (They met in the Tulane Band, so they were convinced that music would help me meet girls.) So every instrument that Sam or I wanted to learn (guitar, piano, bass, recorder) we had to add to our repertoire rather than replace another. So now we have a lot to lug on tour, but it makes for a full-sounding band.
10. 3 things you love about New Orleans?
a) I love the relaxed nature of people here. New Orleanians don’t want to ruin the vibe, so we’re nice to each other. I’ve had some bad experiences with people being dicks on the road, but in New Orleans you’re always welcome. Except with Howie Kaplan.
b) The rain here don’t mess around. I’m a big fan of rain; it’s the only thing that’ll make a July afternoon tolerable.
c) There’s good music every night of the week. Sure, it’s not art music. But it’s drinking music, and that’s what we know best.
