I've a feeling I'm not in syracuse anymore

Syracuse, NY. Home of winter. Home of all the most supportive people PJ has ever met. His home.

PJ grew up with parents who exposed him to some of his earliest influences. PJ remembers coming home from school and arranging his textbooks on his bed to become his first drum kit. PJ would play along to everything from Frank Sinatra to blink-182 to Snoop Dogg.

In 8th grade, PJ started his first band playing bass. That didn't go so well. The guitarist told PJ to sit behind the kit and encouraged him to keep at it. Apparently lessons on stringed instruments can't surpass natural drive.

2 years later, PJ joined Lee Terrace; his first band as a drummer. They were a Grateful Dead-esque jam band, but once he joined, their sound started to form. They'd play a few Sublime covers and started to come into their own. PJ never thought they'd grow to be one of the most respected prog-rock bands in the local scene, opening for national acts such as Tim Reynolds, Kung Fu, and Zach Deputy. Lee Terrace did short runs in the Northeast US for nearly a decade, putting out two full-length albums with Cayuga Records both nominated for SAMMYs.

A few months after having joined Lee Terrace, a friend of a friend asked if PJ would be interested in trying out for a new band they were putting together. They had already self-released a completely electronic full-length album, but they wanted to round out the sound with a live act. Phantom Chemistry gave PJ some of the weirdest experiences of his life. Phantom Chemistry meshed the sounds of Daft Punk with actual punk-rock. By the end of their run, they released 4 full-length albums and a handful of EPs; 3 of the albums being nominated for SAMMYs. Phantom Chemistry opened for acts such as Rubblebucket, Dynamo, and Matt & Kim.

With PJ's daily listening being rooted in hip-hop, early influences in cabaret and punk, and two bands forcing him out of his comfort zone, PJ found his place working with numerous artists in a wide-variety of genres. PJ can stay in the pocket, but when given the opportunity to improvise,  he's down to clown with polyrhythms and compound-meter.

Looking for his next big move, PJ jumped on an opportunity to move west and pursue a career drumming. PJ is looking to make new friends in the local scene and industry. Give him a shot and let's see what you can do together.