Multi-instrumentalist, engineer, and mixer born in Portland (OR, USA) at the 9th of April 1970, he's now living in Chicage (IL, USA). His first instrument was the drums. He did a percussion major at Oberlin College (OH, USA) in 1987 and later Technology in Music and Related Arts at the same school. In 1988 he joined his first band My Dad Is Dead but left in 1989 to join Bastro. In 1991 he relocated to Chicago (IL, USA) together with David Grubbs, another core member of Bastro, were they renamed the band to Gastr Del Sol after some changes in the line-up of the band. After the debut of Gastr Del Sol the band became more a collaboration of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. He than more concentrated to his band Mosquito (founded in 1989) which was renamed to Tortoise in 1993. In 1998 Gastr Del Sol demised. In 1993 he also founded Sea And Cake, The. From the mid 90ties he started to do more engineering work and worked with bands like Stereolab, Eleventh Dream Day and Trans Am (2) and he build his own studio Soma Electronic Music Studios (Chicage, IL, USA). In 1999 he also started to compose film music.