I'm a musician, and I play in a band called The 88. We're from Los Angeles, California and have been performing live and recording since 2003. When I have free time, I enjoy recording my own music, and sometimes even other artists.

There was a piano in my house growing up, so I started playing when I was very young. Everybody has some kind of talent, it's just a matter of taking those thoughts that you have and then putting them into action.

My parents said that I used to sing along to all the songs that they used to play in the car. My mom used to play 8-track cassette tapes of The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Dan Fogelberg, Niel Diamond, etc... The first record I ever owned was Kiss's "Dynasty", which was a gift. When CDs started becoming popular I bought all the Beatles albums, which are still my favorite.

When I'm recording with The 88, we like to record everything live. A lot of the songs are created when we're all playing together in rehearsals. So when I'm recording my own songs, it's different, because it's usually just me playing everything and it's not with a band.

The fact that I get to play music with Keith Slettedahl, Anthony Zimmitti, and Todd O'Keefe is my greatest success. I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be in a band with those guys. Everything else that happens is just an added bonus.

I came up with the melody and the chords when The 88 was asked to write a song for a television show. Keith actually wrote part of the words in the first verse, and I wrote the rest. One of my favorite things about music is when lyrics take on different meanings, and it is up to the listener to figure it out. I think that works with this song in particular.

It was a fun experience performing on "How I Met Your Mother" and getting to meet the cast and crew. The best part about that day was when we got to perform an actual set during the lunch break.

I enjoy playing and recording music so much that it takes up most of my time. I also engineer and produce music, so when I'm not working on my own things, I'm helping out other people. When I'm not doing music related activities, I enjoy movies, traveling, and photography.

The 88 is starting to record a new album in just a few weeks, which we are all very excited about. We'll be posting pictures and videos of the process. You can find us on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/the88), and our YouTube page (www.youtube.com/ilovethe88).

Listen to your heart!