It took a few years but once I set out on the path to earning a living doing what I loved most at the time (producing music, composing, songwriting, recording/engineering), I was making a profit in our 5th year of declaring Theta Sound Studio open for business.

But the story began 6 years earlier when I graduated high school. I didn’t want to go to college and I didn’t want to spend another summer doing crazy things with my friends that didn’t exactly contribute to an ideal future. My mother suggested I see the Air Force recruiter as my older sister had joined the service and was doing well. So I did that and when my test results were in, the recruiter told me I could pretty much pick my specialty in the electronics field. That was good enough for me so I joined the Air Force!

The day I arrived for Basic Training changed my life. We landed in San Antonio, Texas in the middle of summer. When I got off the plane I was hit with a blast of hot, humid air and the sound of a Drill Sergeant yelling at us new recruits, “Get yer @$% down here on the double!!!” It was at that moment that I decided: “I know what I’m NOT doing the rest of my life, so I’ve got 4 years to figure it out!”

That was the kick-in-the-butt I needed to choosing my ultimate career path. That Air Force experience changed my life, and while in the Air Force, I became a musician, songwriter, composer, recording engineer and record producer, all of the above while doing my Air Force ground radio repair gig during the day, and doing my music thing during the rest of my available time.

By the time I got out of the service, I had a working 4-track recording studio and several musical instruments I’d purchased along the way. I had experience playing and singing in bands, performing solo, and winning several levels of the Air Force Talent Contest (even getting to the worldwide finals in of all places, San Antonio, Texas!)

When I returned to my home town of Los Angeles, I sent out résumés and job requests to 25 recording studios in the area. I figured with thousands of hours of experience, I’d land an audio engineering gig somewhere. But out of all those applications I got only one offer to clean ash trays and sweep the floors of some studio. I thought, “The heck with that” and started my own studio in the living room of my apartment!

That was in August of 1977 and Theta Sound Studio has been in continuous operation ever since. But it took about 5 years from that starting point before I could leave my day job (working for TFA/Electrosound [Pro Lighting and Sound company]) for good.

Once the word was out about the sound we were getting in my fledgling studio and how fun it was to work with me as a producer, clients needed packaging for their music projects. So I re-enabled my graphic design chops acquired in junior high school (drafting and print shop) and applied them on my computer to rave results. Now I had a full-blown graphic design and typesetting business to go along with the recording studio.

It wasn’t long before the internet emerged and I became conversant with web design tools and technology. Soon I was teaching computer-based graphic design, photo editing, web design and 3D animation at seminars and conventions across North America!

And when video editing became possible on desktop computer systems, I jumped into that art form as well.

Looking back on these events, the common thread is that I loved each and every one of these artistic pursuits. I never did them for money (though I eventually did get paid for many of them). People picked up on the passion I had for whatever I was creating and asked if I could help them with whatever they were trying to accomplish. Sometimes it was artistic (music, packaging, books, video), sometimes it was technology (like building computer systems and providing training for the client). I considered each challenge an opportunity to learn more about the art, craft and technology of whatever I was doing.

That attitude spilled over into my random passion to make organic artisan sourdough bread in 2016. Today, I have an artisan sourdough micro-bakery on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank, California. We’ve been open since August 2021 and are rated #1 on yelp for Best Bread in Burbank! And I’m still running my studio and graphic design businesses!

Adding to what you’ve just read, I gravitated toward music at an early age. I enjoyed music class in elementary school and played percussion in the school band. In junior high I was in orchestra where our school Broadway musical productions rivaled professional companies. I also loved the industrial arts classes (wood shop, metal shop, plastics & leather work, drafting and print shop) where I learned skills I still use to this day. In high school, my favorite class was photography where I spent many hours in the darkroom developing film and prints. And during this time, I got into motorcycles, even bringing a dead Honda 305 back to life and making it my own ride. I also got into stereo hi-fi systems and thus began my journey down that road.

As you can see, I had many interests but little career direction, until that Air Force aha moment.

Regardless of what interest or passion I’ve gotten into, I’ve found I have an ability to help people solve problems. Those problems can range from “I have a song idea but don’t know how to get it out of my head and onto a record.” Or, “I need a website but don’t know where to begin.” And even, “I’d love to eat bread again but I’m sensitive to gluten.” I love the challenges of how to solve these problems; I learn more with each new situation; and I build relationships that last a long time. And I get paid for what I do. When I started Theta Sound Studio I charged $8 and hour. Now we charge $150 an hour (that includes my services as recording/mixing/mastering engineer). And our bakery sells out most every week.

According to our clients and customers, what sets us apart is the love we put into our endeavors. I love music, I love food, I love life and I love overcoming barriers to success. I love helping others achieve their goals, whether it’s making music or making dinner!

I think it’s the other way around: What can artists and creatives do to make the world better? Artists create the future. If you look around at the things that change the world, there’s art leading the way. And that art carries messages of beauty, wonderment, hope and possibilities. I’ve created art and helped others create art for most of my life. And our micro-bakery is also an aesthetic endeavor filled with creativity and love. Our customers pick up on that vibe and we’ve grown organically since opening in 2021. Society is composed of individuals, each with their own path to optimum survival. If each person consciously supports local artists, creators, and producers of amazing things, the ecosystem will grow and thrive, raising the level of awareness in us all. The higher the awareness, the more one can perceive truth and can be responsible for themselves, their family and the groups they belong to. That’s how I’ve been operating for most of my life, and it has had that effect on thousands of people.