Biography

I was born in Buffalo NY in 1966 from Italian heritage. At the age of 3, I moved to New Orleans LA, with my family. After starting piano lessons at the age of 6, music was to be an ever-present and powerful influence in my life. After living in several states including Colorado, Mississippi, and Florida, I attended Clarkson University in Potsdam NY.  Although my ambitions at the time involved physics and cosmology with such lofty goals as building a time machine, I came down to earth and changed majors in pursuance of a degree in electrical and computer engineering. This was out of practicality and almost ensured a job after graduation. During that time I was active in theatre and got more intimate with the music industry by managing a local music coffeehouse. I also began building my own project studio and started writing music.

In the summer of 1994, I moved to Europe based in Oosterbeek and Arnhem, The Netherlands. After a few years of demo recordings including "A Western Adventure", I scored the soundtrack for an independent feature length film titled "Bright Ideas". In the winter of 1995, I released my first CD of original contemporary instrumental music titled "Gate of Men" which received favorable reviews and radio airplay in the US and Europe.

In 1997 I left engineering and Europe for North America to engage the neglected artistic side of my brain more fully. I moved to Toronto in the summer of 1997 to take some music courses and work on a few music projects. In the fall, I hopped back over the Niagra river to Grand Island NY where I stayed for a few months to create a work for a composing contest sponsored ASCAP (American ASsociated for Composers, Authors and Publishers).

In January 1998 I moved to Seattle to write music for a group, Stone Mosaic, that I co-founded with vocalist Kim Miltimore. To make ends meet, I was working as a retail arts manager in Redmond WA when I realized that what I did for a living wasn't as important as the work environment and the people with whom I worked. I was then in a convoluted adventure with the arts and at the same time knew that the Pacific Northwest near Seattle WA would be my choice for settling permanently.

Following the theme of Antiquus Et Modernus Music (AEM Music), the music recording and publishing label started in 1991, I expanded my business interests to include graphics and multimedia production by forming AEM Arts. In 2003, I became a stay-at-home dad for a few years while my wife Mariah brought home the bread and the bacon. But, in 2006 I had the opportunity to enter the used-book business and we swapped roles. I spawned another company, AEM Books (a.k.a. AEM Libris.) and with a passion for philosophy and comparative religion studies, I planned to create a unique bookshop that wouldl focus on esoteric and antiquarian books on the subjects of metaphysics, religion, occult, and philosophy. But, as we all know, plans change. Or, as John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

In the throes of liquidating a bookstore inventory and selling books online, I created The Art Parlour where 'art is life' and 'life is art'. Its physical manifestation, my office/studio was short lived in Olympia. But, it will appear again in he coming years focusing on creative living, sustainability and finding beauty in everything.

I've taken to writing now, non-fiction, both prose and poetry.

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed towards ennobling a man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual toward freedom." ~ Albert Einstein