musical bio pt. 1

If you're reading this, you probably already know me, but anyway...

I grew up playing guitar in garage bands and school and community big bands. I had occasional run-ins with the bass guitar, then fell in love with the string bass, buying myself one as a 20th birthday present. Having successfully taught myself guitar, I assumed I could do the same on bass, and that worked well enough that I could play in undergrad jazz ensembles and hippie bluegrass bands. I took about 10 years off from the string bass while I was in grad school. After settling in L.A. in 2000, I returned to it, playing free improvisation, mainly with Surrealestate, a band of UCLA music and ethnomusicology students gone wrong. Drummer David Martinelli invited me to play with MESTO, a Middle Eastern orchestra he was in, and it did not take long on that gig before I realized I needed to upgrade my chops to hang in a string section. I started studying with David Young, from the LA Opera & Colburn School (not this guy) and continue to do so.
So, I am not conservatory trained and have not been woodshedding diligently since I was 16. They didn't even have orchestra at my high school - I played French horn in the marching band. I'm probably still working on my 10,000 hours. However, I have gravitated towards types of music where technical requirements are more elastic (i.e. Earle Brown rather than Beethoven) and where my time spent reading philosophy or art history may make me a better candidate than someone who spent that time running scales and excerpts.
I also have a professional day job (which I'll try not to talk about here) which means I do not need to make decisions about music for financial reasons. I know several bassists who would love to play more avant-garde stuff but can't afford to skip a paying gig for a non-paying one.