POP CO-OP

Photo © Rick Mendoza, used by permission.

I started playing guitar at age 12. I joined my first band in Grand Junction, Colorado, when I connected with some like-minded folks who were attending the local college and DJ’ing at the college radio station. (It was this station and these folks who introduced me to the Spongetones’ music, by the way). We formed our own new-wave band, the now-legendary obscurities the Bush Pilots, a collective songwriting-recording endeavor, where good taste but no particular musical credentials were required.

Stacy was also part of this extended crowd, but somehow we never crossed paths personally. We did, however work together in the sense that we both contributed our acting and musical talents to the local TV children’s special, “Kevin and Joe in Dimension G,” which was written and produced by our friends Arn McConnell and Todd Rutt.

I worked with Todd and Arn again a few years later, contributing the soundtrack to their loving lo-fi homage to horror/suspense/sci-fi B-movies, “Shock! Shock! Shock!,” which was released by Rhino Video in 1987. (It’s also the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it film debut of James Gandolfini, believe it or don’t!).

After moving to L.A., I co-founded a four piece band called the Cyphers, who burned briefly and brightly. After that, I home-recorded two solo albums under the persona, Mr. Encrypto (“Hero and Villain” and “Secret Identity Crisis”) .

During this time, I finally met Stacy on Facebook through our mutual Colorado friends, and we talked about the possibility of writing songs together. When the day came that Steve asked me if I’d like to come up with some lyrics to a piece of music he’d written, I flashed back to the fun of my Bush Pilots days – and then a lightbulb went on in my head. I said, “Say, I have this friend…”

My music influences include Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, "Folk Scare" music of the 1960s, Kinks, Doors, CCR, CSNY/Neil Young, Casey Kasem, Steeleye Span, XTC, and Stereolab. I live in Los Angeles, CA.