Who/what inspires your music? 

I first got into music and specifically guitar as a kid when I first heard Jimi Hendrix. He really spoke to me in ways music never really did before, and I started listening to other classic rock and progressive bands from around that time like Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and King Crimson. I was also really into John Williams and John Carpenter's movie scores and video game music growing up. As a teenager I got really big into heavy metal and new wave music and then from there I got into house and electronic music. The whole Pat & Mac gimmick I guess is directly influenced by bands like Ween or Gwar who have kind of a loose mythos around their projects and have a bit of theatrics.

 

How would you describe your sound? 

I would like to think of it as a combination of face melting guitar riffs over a bed of synthesizers. It's the sound of processing living in a world where art and humanity are overshadowed by profits and image.

 

If you could open for any musician/band, who would it be? 

Ween or Umphrey's McGee

 

What does making music mean to you? 

What got you into it/keeps you continuing? Music's everything. It makes the days and the nightmarish social landscape we live in easier to stomach. Even when I get frustrated over a lack of success on social media or having to surf the algorithm, I remember being that angsty, misfit teenager that found peace in playing music and all the adventures I've been on since that are a direct result of being a musician.

 

How do you keep yourself motivated and inspired - how do you deal with creative blocks? 

Man, it can be a struggle as I get older. I work a day job and sometimes it really is a drag balancing those two worlds. Since quarantine I've had a lot more time to practice and have broken a lot of bad habits. I've been following along with a lot of youtube instruction videos with guys like Ben Eller, Allen Van Wert and Troy Grady and I feel like every day I learn something new. Like Eddie Van Halen said, "Keep playing man!" I've come to accept that I'm a lifer, and regardless of the level of success that I get, I can't see myself ever not having music be a big part of my life.

 

Which song of yours was the most fun to write & make? 

Overture off of my second record, Disconnect, wasso fun. At that point I was beyond the novice status of production but still sharpening my skills and learning, and I wanted to do something combining synthesizers and metal guitars with more traditional orchestral sounds. It's an ominous sounding piece that made for a great opening track to set the stage for the record.

 

What is your creative process like? Is it more organized & session based or more sporadic and fleeting?

 I've heard both David Lynch and J. Mascis discuss the creative process like fishing, and I tend to agree. I can sit for days with the guitar or computer in front of me and come up with parts and riffs, but sometimes an entire song just materializes, almost out of nowhere. I also sometimes will have a riff that's been in storage for years and I'll all of a sudden have the rest of the song out of nowhere. It's frustrating and I want to give up sometimes, but then when that completed project is in front of me, I'm reminded that this is what I love to do.

 

What is your current big goal? 

What does the future hold/what are you working towards right now? The video for my song Flesheater has been doing well on the Film Festival circuit. I've been working with a partner Sean Bayles of BaylesDSGN based out of Australia on a few claymation videos for songs of mine and I'd love to do an EP or even a full concept album of several songs that get tied together visually with a long form animated video. Other than that I would love to get back into touring, open for some bigger acts and just keep putting out better music. I don't need to be rich doing this but turning it into my full time job (putting out albums, recording other artists, making beats, teaching etc...) would be ideal.