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.