What was your relationship to synthesizers in your youth, and what influence did it have on your music?
I didn’t know much about synths until I started to listen to progressive rock around the age of 17. Hearing Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, and then Tangerine Dream, Walter Carlos blew my mind and influenced my life greatly. My first real synth was a MiniMoog. I loved it and would play with one hand on the keys and the other always turning knobs. I was attracted to using it as a “space” music machine and used to do late night “Space outs” for college radio stations! Early on after leaving Juilliard I met Sal Gallina one of the innovators of the wind synthesizer and he and his partner built me some custom pedals to take the MiniMoog even further in its modulation capabilities! One of my favorite early synth setups was when I had the MiniMoog, an ARP string machine and the Moog Taurus Bass Pedals. I then added an early Yamaha Electric Piano to the mix. I felt on top of the world and very powerful with this amazing system!!