The Record Rescuer

I've always been blessed to have parents with incredible taste in music, and lives that are passionate about music. My childhood is filled with memories of dancing to albums with my mom, going to band practices with my father, and learning how to play music myself. I recently had the opportunity to capture some of that passion on camera as I followed my mom around and watched as she listened to music and restored damaged albums into usable items. She's had a hobby for quite some time now where she finds albums that are damaged beyond repair, and then re-purposes them into bowls, ornaments, coasters, and more. She creates these cool items and them sells them at art shows. I caught her in the act of crafting some new bowls, and then sat down with her for a brief interview about the inspiration behind her work. I am proud to present the result of that time, The Record Rescuer. To learn more about my mom and her work, you can check out her website at Rock-N-Bowl.com. Enjoy!

Escaping to the Sky with Starscape Photography

These past couple of months have been absolutely crazy for me. I've been teaching full time during the day, going to grad school full time at night, working on articles for Modern Drummer Magazine, and trying to spend time with my amazing wife and kids. Thankfully, this schedule is about to slow down a little. But in the midst of that craziness, in the wee hours of the night I would have to find a way to escape. Often times it was to the stars. I'd be up late working on one thing or another. I'd look up to the sky and see the vast expanse of darkness with little lights shining though proudly. It was peaceful, and it was quiet. I began wanting to capture that peace, and found that even the act of trying to capture it helped me escape the craziness of life. Chasing the stars gave me an incredible time of reflection, and a wonderful chance to unplug from the world. In the middle of the night I'd grab my gear and sneak off to my back yard, or a baseball field. Sometimes it would be so dark that I could barely see my hand in front of my face, but the stars still shined bright. Below are just a few shots from my little Starscape photography escapades. I hope you all enjoy. 

Drum Daze 2014 - Greg Hutchinson, Mike Johnston, Ray Luzier, Russ Miller, John Riley

On March 30, 2014, Columbus Pro Percussion and Modern Drummer Magazine hosted Drum Daze 2014, an incredible drumming event that featured some of the most respected names in the drum industry today. Greg Hutchinson, Mike Johnston, Ray Luzier, Russ Miller, and John Riley all graced the stage with their expertise by providing industry stories, insights, and best of all.... incredible drumming performances. My role was to capture the magic that took place and to create videos that Modern Drummer Magazine could share with the world so that everyone could enjoy the performances. Below is a selection of the videos that I created for Modern Drummer. A huge thanks goes out to my right hand man for the video shoot, Philip Turner! For the complete selection of videos visit the playlist here. I hope you all enjoy!

Introducing Dixon Artist, Gregg Bissonette!

Freelance videography is one of my favorite things to do in the entire world. I recently told a friend of mine that my own personal philosophy as a videographer is that I am usually trying capture a moment, or create a moment. Sometimes I get to do a little bit of both, and that was certainly the case with my latest video project. Dixon Drums and Hardware just welcomed drum legend, Gregg Bissonette to their artist roster. It was a momentous occasion for both parties and we wanted to have some fun with the announcement. Dixon Brand Manager, Jim Uding and myself went to L.A. for a few days of video and photo shoots with Gregg. The result was a three step plan to announce Gregg's big news. First we launched a "Guess who has discovered Dixon" video and image. The video captured Gregg playing drums from multiple angles... but never showed his face. That teaser video was followed up by the announcement video that showed the same playing demonstrations, but with text that announced the big news and angles in the video that finally showed his face. The third and final video was a combination of playing footage and interview footage for people all over the world to get to know Gregg all over again as a player, and as a person. Gregg is such a dynamic player and personality, and it was such a blast getting to know him. Below is the introduction video with playing and interview footage. I hope you all enjoy! 

A Dream Come True: Writing the Cover Story for the World's Greatest Drum Magazine

I have spent countless nights working my butt of to get where I am. For the past few years now I've been going to school full time, teaching drumset and percussion for the Community Music Program at the University of Louisville, writing for  Modern Drummer, building my own educational website, and doing freelance videography on the side, all to pursue my dreams. But the simple fact is that all of my hard work was made possible by the sacrifices of others. My wife has been the most supportive and loving person a guy could ever ask for. She has devoted herself completely to loving me and our three beautiful boys, all while working night shift every single weekend as a pediatric nurse. There is probably a special place in Heaven for people like her. To my beautiful Southern Indiana Princess, thank you so much for your love and support. In addition to my amazing wife, is my amazing mother and mother in-law. Raising children and pursuing your dreams often times don't work well together. The balance sometimes is simply too difficult to obtain. But with the tremendous support of my mom and Kathy, my mother in-law, we have been able to get closer and closer to that balance. Especially since I have been in school full time, their help and support has been one of the biggest blessings that I have received. We will all be celebrating in May when I finally graduate!

I would also like to thank all of the amazing people at Modern Drummer for believing in me and giving me opportunities to provide what I hope is some of the best drumming content around! To my brother from another mother, Mike, you have been a dear friend and mentor. Thanks man. It's been such an honor to be a part of such a beautiful community of people, and I look forward to many more years of working together. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my father. Papi, you have been such an inspiration. If I even had half of your passion for drums and life, I would literally be glowing as the joy coursed through my veins. After meeting some of the world's greatest drummers, I still haven't met anyone as dedicated and passionate about it as you! Just being around you helps me to fall in love with drumming all over again. It's awesome to take a step back and realize that I could keep writing about all of the people that have supported me over the years. I am truly blessed. The reason that I chose to make this such a public statement is that I hope to encourage you all to keep pursuing your dreams too. It's never too late to start over. It's never too late to dream big. And sometimes, when you can't dream big enough, life has a way of doing it for you. Dream big friends, Miguel