Biography

My journey begins when as a high school senior in 2008, I was invited to a Burning Man regional event at an airplane hanger in deep Brooklyn.

At the time I was an indie rocker, and along with a clique of other young artists, we emulated popular acts like the Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse.

After years of this, Chelsea art galleries, and the many museums of New York City, being dropped into the colorful and rich world of a Burner party was, and still is, the single biggest cultural event of my life.

A whole world opened up that I was determined to be a part of, I just wasn’t sure how.

From here I managed to attend Burning Man 2009 along with my reluctant family members before spending two years studying sculpture and performance art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This experience left me educated in art history, but also jaded enough to leave and try my hand at film production.

I worked my way up New York City music video art departments for close to a year before taking a production design position on an ambitious Sarasota, FL short film in 2013.

After this I refocused on producing music, and then decided to become a scholar, pursuing a long-standing interest in mysticism. This took me into the CUNY system and ended with a graduate degree in journalism that turned me towards video storytelling.

No longer an art school dropout, I worked as a video producer for a large yoga and meditation retreat center before launching a small design business in 2018.

Attempting to link together a broad range of creative threads proved a challenge that finally found resolution when I teamed up with a local Hudson Valley event producer in 2019 and began to both DJ and VJ frequently.

This same year I rented a grungy warehouse to throw parties, and organized my first major event, a magical gathering in the woods at a local herb farm.

Momentum was just beginning to build when the pandemic put a stop to everything. I remember doing a DJ and VJ set for a packed warehouse days before everything came to a halt and a large event I had started pre-production for was “postponed.”

COVID led me to focus on motion design and 3D skills for over two years, and when live events became possible again, I took another step towards event production with my brand UPSTATE TECHNO.

After some amazing successes, I chose to relocate to California to bring everything to the next level and eventually settled in Los Angeles in early 2022.

While my initial intent was to find work as a motion designer while pursuing my musical and artistic goals, my lack of true enthusiasm forced me to contend with my genuine interests and creative talents.

After over a year of challenging and inspiring personal growth, in 2023 I realized that experience design provides a holistic framework that empowers my core desire to deliver art and music experiences while also utilizing my full range of skills.

I’m currently working with a rave promoter to throw amazing parties in Los Angeles and beyond.