Bio
I started drumming in the fifth grade band and never looked back. I got my first drum kit in the eighth grade, soon playing along to classic Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Cheap Trick records. Coming from a small town in Upstate New York, cover bands were far and few between. My playing was mostly limited to home with headphones on accompanying my favorite albums.
After graduating from high school in the Catskills and moving to New York City, I found myself as a guitar and drum tech for the Ramones in 1987. For a brief second there was talk of me auditioning for the band after the third drummer Richie left unexpectedly in the summer of ‘87. Second drummer Marky ended up making his return but being considered at all made me realize that I wanted to play (and more importantly that I could play) at a level that surpassed my own reservations.
Two years after leaving the Ramones gig, I would be sitting behind the drums playing with legendary Cream bassist Jack Bruce. In 1988 I started my first band, the noise rock inclined the Warmjets, with my two brothers Robby and Brian. After recording some demos, mainly to get gigs in and around New York City, Maxwell’s owner Steve Fallon asked us if we wanted to put out a 7” single. As it turned out, this became the first single on Bob Moulds SOL, “Singles Only Label.”
By the end of 1989 Epic Records showed interest in signing the Warmjets but the band had run our course and were imploding (C'mon, three brothers in one band? That never works).
As luck would have it, in November of that year I got a call from Epic to do a few rehearsals with Jack Bruce after Ginger Baker’s appendix burst on the flight to New York. I did the rehearsals and went on my way. After the first night of theor tour, I got a call from Jack asking me to split the drumming duties with Ginger! My set would include Jack’s solo material and a few Cream classics followed by a strictly Cream set with Ginger on drums.
Following the Bruce/Baker tour that went through the end of 89' into 90', I did some recording and touring with Richard Barone of The Bongos. While still working for Barone in 1991, I started another band with my younger brother Brian, Dripping Goss. We put out a couple of indie records on our own BTG label (Flake and The Shifter), which lead to a one off record with Profile records. After that record, Blowtorch Consequence, it was time for me to move on again. Side note, Brian got some amazing drummers to take my place. First up was Frank Ferrer, now drumming for GnR for the last 15 years. Second was Tobias Ralph.
Through the 90’s and early 2000’s I toured and recorded with a variety of artists out of New York (See discography page). Afterwards I moved back to the Catskills to raise my kids, open a studio and record and tour with local artists, most notably Conehead Buddha and songwriter/producer/poet Simone Felice.
I now split my time between New York and Nashville. It’s time for me to get back to what I love to do the most…it’s time to DRUM!!