thoughts

Crushing Krisis is not primarily a home to my music but music has been one of the predominate topics of CK for nearly 30 years.

I have been writing original music since 1997. When I first started to play guitar I took a handful of guitar lessons, but I quit when my teacher wouldn’t show me how to play the B-minor in “Ziggy Stardust.” Other than those lessons, I am a self-taught musician, though I later received my minor Drexel’s Music Industry program, which expanded my knowledge of songwriting and production.

I have a category that is comprised entirely of music related posts. A major subcategory of that is my podcast Trio, which featured over ten hours of original audio over the course of this blog. You can also find dozens of streaming and downloadable demos posted during the lifespan of this site. I have a separate page that details my recording setup, including the details of my instruments and equipment.

As a solo artist my songwriting is largely influenced by the artists I covered the most in my early years of playing, which were Ani DiFranco, David Bowie, and Peter Mulvey. At various points I have also been influenced by Madonna, Tori Amos, Garbage Garrison Starr, Juliana Hatfield, Weezer, The Beatles, Rufus Wainwright, and many others. As a result, my catalog runs the gamut from percussive folk/rock to huge pop hooks to A/C ballads to hard-rockers. I could field entire albums in each genre.

People are still most likely to compare me to Ani DiFranco, partially because I use a many alternate tunings – primarily variations on Open D (DADF#AD) and C/D5 (DADGCE), but also more unusual ones like CGDF#CD and DA#DDAD. However, I sound much more like her former drummer, Andy Stochansky. I have also been compared to Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz, both of which I find flattering. I think I sound more like a solo version of The Honorary Title, or maybe Death Cab for Cutie.

I also perform as part of a duo called Arcati Crisis with my best friend, Gina Martinelli. We have been lucky to play in many of Philly’s best venues, and with an awe-inspiring array of Philly’s local talent. We sometimes sounds like a pop-oriented Indigo Girls, or a boy-girl Sleater-Kinney, or an acoustic Rilo Kiley, or a pianoless Mates of State, or an unplugged Human League. Mostly we just sound like us.

Finally, I am sometimes a guest-member of my wife’s band, Filmstar – typically as their bass player and backing vocalist.

Finally, I am the Director of Communications for Lyndzapalooza, a Philly-based, non-profit music promoter that has been producing yearly festivals since 2003. In 2008 we expanded our schedule to include seasonal mixers and weekly open mics, both of which have introduced me to some of the best musicians in Philadelphia.

My name throughout the internet has been “Krisis” since 1997 and I have been the sole author of Crushing Krisis for the entirety of it’s run.

Over more than two decades of writing CK I’ve gone from overachieving college sophomore and frequent actor, to account management professional and performing songwriter, to stay-at-home-parent and cover-band leader, to American immigrant in New Zealand and international internet comic book expert, with many other iterations in between.

As a result, my blog traces the major milestones of my life – moving into my first apartment, going through my first breakup, recording my first studio album, meeting my future wife, and becoming a band – amongst many other experiences.

You can read about all of that and more throughout the blog, but before you delve into that 4000+ posts of unadulterated me, here are a few introductory tidbits to help you get a sense of who I am (or, perhaps help you figure out where you know me from):

• Growing up. I was born and raised in Philadelphia – originally in Southwest Philly. I grew up in the 80s bathed in the glow of the television screen, where I stayed up late every night to watch Johnny Carson. I also listened to a lot of music – Madonna and other 80s pop on my own, classic rock like David Bowie and the Beatles with my mother, and doo-wop and Motown with my dad.

• Logging on. After much needling of my mother I first logged on to the internet in the winter of 1996 – a relatively late start! I almost immediately began to design my first website on the then-ubiquitous Geocities – it hosted a Final Fantasy 2 fanfic writing group. I’ve actively maintained a web presence ever since, though starting in 1998 it turned to focus on my music.

• Writing songs. I received my first guitar in spring of 1997, and started to write songs just a few months later. By the summer of 1999 I began to consider myself a “singer-songwriter,” but it would be several years before I acquired the performance chops to match my title. You can hear my original music throughout CK or on my YouTube channel.

• Surviving high school. I attended Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School (JR Masterman, for short) from seventh grade through high school graduation. Masterman was and continues to be the best public high school in the state of Pennsylvania. I haven’t stayed in touch with too many high school friends beyond social networks (though I’m always happy to hear from them!). I play in a (currently on international hiatus) band with my best friend from Masterman, Gina. We’re called Arcati Crisis.

• Attending college. I attended Drexel University from September of 1999 through June of 2004, when I graduated from their 5-year co-op program magna cum laude with my BA in Journalism. I was extremely active in the theatre and music programs at Drexel, and I hold a minor in both disciplines. I strongly recommend Drexel to any ambitious career-oriented student!

• Acting on-stage. I performed in and teched for various theatrical productions from 1997 through 2005, which encompasses high school, college, and amateur professional theatre. I’ve been a character actor, a romantic lead, a prop master, and a stage manager. With music as the thing that keeps me on stage these days, my current theatre exposure comes mostly through the amazing performances of my brother-in-law, who is a decade younger than me but already vastly more talented.

• Playing (and producing) music. I have been an arranger for and member of contemporary a cappella groups starting in 2001, as well as a recording engineer and produce of  LPs and concerts around Philadelphia. Even before I knew what a cappella music was, I was fascinated by the concept of arranging rock music for singers rather than guitars. In 2002 I arranged my first a cappella song – Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” – in guitar tab on the back of a cocktail napkin. Since then I have had over a dozen of of my arrangements performed by a number of groups on the East Coast. A number of my arrangements were recorded by The Drexel Treblemakers for their 2004 LP Sunglasses at Night. I have also produced five full length LPs for Arcati Crisis, and nearly two EPs for Filmstar.

• Working life. I’ve been happily employed as a project manager, customer success executive, and brand strategist at a string of interesting companies in Philly and in New Zealand. I’ve advertised health care plans, taught people how to set and measure KPIs, and even worked for the NZ government! I love a challenge that combines problem solving, technology, and communication.

• Getting better. I have always been a firm believer in karma – I think if you give good you will always get better.

If you want to know more you’re going to have to read the site. You may want to start with the best of each year of the blog: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5,Year 6, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12, Year 13, Year 14, Year 15, and Year 16.