Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I’m a musician, author, and professional engineer. I’ve released two albums of original music and a string of singles. I’ve also written five business novels and a book of poems.
My producer, David Logan, and I made a record together a long time ago, when we were young and foolish. The record went nowhere and David & I went off separately to seek their respective fortunes. I launched a management consulting company, raised a family and traveled the world helping companies improve. David went to California and became a big-time music producer in film and TV. But we never forgot our work together or our friendship.
I kept writing songs and poems, usually in hotels and bars around the world, late at night, as a way of recording my experience for my family. Music and song writing were my passion and avocation. I never expected my songs would be produced.
During the 2020 pandemic, I began to write new songs and to polish my older songs. What began as a trickle, turned into a torrent of music. Encouraged by the quality of the songs, I decided to look up my old friend, who was now living in Rome and teaching composition at Santa Cecilia Music Academy.
After twenty-five years, David & I began to work together again. We put together a band comprising the best young players in Rome. Our goal was to create the kind of music we love, and to record my experience for my children and their children. As the Crazy Angels album evolved, we realized it might have broader appeal. We’ve now released two albums, Crazy Angels and Nicaragua Moon, and a string of singles, available on all the on-line stores.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I was self-taught then realized I needed more colors in my palette. So I got formal training in piano and composition, which has allowed me to write in the styles I love: bossa nova, classic country, jazz, R & B and pop.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: My biggest contemporary influences are Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney and Ron Sexsmith. I also love the great jazz & bossa nova composers like Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and Antonio Carlos Jobim
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Tricky Dick Forever’. Is there a story behind it?
A: It’s a droll political commentary in a classic country style. We want to make people laugh and hopefully, be a little kinder to one another. The narrator is having a relationship with a woman who adores the notorious Tricky Dick Nixon. Trying to understand her point of view, he admits that, “I guess I harken for a gentler kind of slime…”
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Our next album, Shame on the Sun, will be released in April 2023, and three more albums are in pipeline. I feel blessed to be working with the Crazy Angels band – the best young musicians in Rome. We’ve made a pact that we’re going to keep making the music we love ‘until we drop dead…’
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I write what I love: classic country, R & B, bossa nova, big band jazz, and pop. The Crazy Angels band can play all these genres, while making them their own. I can bring in a new song and say, “Look, this is a bossa nova which I’d to record in a late 1950’s style.” The band will absorb the core elements of the style – and reinterpret them in a fresh way. And so, I feel we’re creating something new out of something old.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Our music and band are driven by love. Love of the art, instruments, camaraderie, genres and traditions we’re a part of, and the great artists whose shoulders we stand on. I want the Crazy Angels band, and our producer, David Logan, to get the recognition they deserve. But beyond that, commercial interests are secondary. I’m at a point in my life where I can make music that I love, music that I hope will last longer than I do. I’m not interested in dumbing things down to get more streams. We’re going to keep making music full on – the way we feel it, and in the styles we love. If we can build an audience of people that appreciate what we do, that’s more than enough.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I usually begin with a snippet – phrase, riff, or melodic hook. The snippet will suggest multiple directions and I’ll explore two or three, settling on the one that’s most emotionally or aesthetically satisfying. Then I’ll sketch out the Who, What, Why, Where & When of the song. In the ‘Who’ and ‘What’, for example, I’ll define the situation, scene or idea I’m trying to express. For example, ‘…the narrator is a cowboy in the canyon country of West Texas. He has lost the love of his life, and has nobody to blame but himself. He is looking out the window at desert rain…” [‘Tumbleweed Hotel’ from Crazy Angels, our first album]. Next, I’ll decide on a style and prepare a sketch or two for the band. For example, if it’s a hurtin’ song, I might sketch out a Tex-Mex ballad. But if I want a droll ‘what are you gonna do?’ feeling, I might sketch out a Texas 2-step. Then, David & I and the band play around until we come upon an approach & arrangement that we like.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Growing up in the poverty and mental illness that afflicted my family. My parents were migrants who were terribly damaged by their experience. Compassionate strangers helped me come to terms with my experience. I have the deepest respect for the healing arts. I learned that laughter & forgetting are the pathway to forgiveness. So I want my music to be true to my experience. I want to express the tragedy & loneliness of life, as well as the comedy and high spirits. In fact, I see music in terms of color – sun and moon colors. In a given album, sun colours may predominate – but moon colours put them in context. Only by grieving deeply can you learn to laugh from the belly.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: With respect to life: I’m most proud of our children – who are happy, strong and compassionate. With respect to music: I’m most proud of the quality of our music. We make no compromises, and we keep getting better. Working with such a talented producer & players motivates me. I want to write songs that are worthy of them. And I feel humbled and deeply grateful to have ended up here – in spite of everything.
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