Musical Involvement: 

Lawrence of Oblivia  (21st Century Waltz [.mp3])

> Wonderland Studio:

• Sound - Carvin Amps, Mackie Mixers, Steinberg Cubase SL 2.0, Propellerhead Reason 2.5, Zoom Digital, VST instruments
  
• Instruments - Carvin, Fender & Rickenbacker Basses; Fernandes, Rickenbacker & Fender Guitars; MidiMan & Korg keyboards, PinTech Vdrums /w Alesis DMPro

> CD Project currently in progress: "The Soundtrack to the End of the World" by Lawrence of Oblivia

After the usual string of bands, I finally connected with some pretty good musicians and formed a 3 piece band called "Wave".  This was all original rock material in the spirit of Hendrix, Trower, Rush.  We cut a 16 track tape at a commercial studio in Cleveland in 1978.

At the age of 18 I suffered a near fatal auto-crash where I broke all my ribs, tore my throat out and had to have a lung removed.  I eventually got back with Wave and we did a pretty good tour of the Cleveland, OH area.  The Midwest economic slump hit pretty hard, so I figured I better go to college or something.  So I hung up the bass and worked hard to get through school, earning a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.  In the years that followed I earned 3 US Patents on some of my technical innovations in the area of heterogeneous catalytic surface science, and computer automation.

Up until about a year ago, I was still not doing much with music, just looking for good things to listen to. In trying different CDs that I found at various websites, I discovered Hands, and the Underground Railroad and thought they both were outstanding.  I had no idea that they were both located in the DFW area. So I began hunting for connections and started up friendships with Michael Clay (Hands) and Bill Pohl (UR).  I helped Fred Trafton put the Cattle Prog show together in late 2002, and kept in contact with Michael and Bill, who are really great guys, and generous with their time and talent. Both of these guys are pretty much responsible for helping me get up the courage to try to get back into music.  Last year (2003) at this time I put together my first tune - The 21st Century Waltz.  Michael and Bill were encouraging and provided some very useful critical review.  (Note: I'm currently doing a total re-make of the 21st Century Waltz, since I've learned a lot in the last year about recording and would like to produce a more dynamic version of the song).

I only started getting into the Visuals thing back in September/October 2003 as a helpful gesture to Bill Pohl, who had was really looking for someone to help put a visual element into the UR gigs.  I've learned a few tricks and it's been fun.  I've enjoyed the response I've gotten from people at the shows who like the imagery that I've been doing.  I'm really sensitive to what I put up on the screen - it needs to work with the music and underscore it.  The music is the primary thing and I want to make sure that the visuals don't detract in any way with the performance.

Bela Bartok, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, JSBach, Stravinsky, Fripp/Crimson, Mahavishnu, Debussy, The Ventures, California Guitar Trio, Steve Hackett, ELP, Yes, Arturo Respighi, Chopin

Tools of the Trade:  Software - Arkaos VJ 3 Visualization Software, GeForce, Pinnacle 8 Studio, Quicktime, Cross "Custom Digital Design Tools"; Hardware - DLP Projection, PC Laptop/Desktop, Sony Digital 8 Video…..and the internet.

   (Click on thumbnails for full pics)

Larry Cross hard at work before doing visuals for us at the Curtain Club (08.29.04)  See some of his incredible work here: Video Clip (.mov) COMING SOON!