Hello! I am Nicholas and I am a lifelong audio engineer and documentarian. My focus has been on underground/DIY (mostly rock) music, but I have worked on many different kinds of music. I have also done forensic audio restoration for legal projects as well as a lot of on-location and post-production audio work for film/video projects. For the last 3 years I have been the only person doing extensive high quality video documentation of the Oakland, CA underground music scene, and have been publishing the best of this footage (with the color and sound laboriously optimized) online, as well as working on a documentary feature on this scene.. This year I am interested in traveling more to check out the music scenes in other cities.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My good friend Danielle recommended this site to me because she has had a positive experience using it.

Interests

• arts
• culture
• performing arts
• street art
• avant-garde art
• diy
• music
• live music
• rock music
• indie pop
• art
• underground culture
• performance art
• dance
• rock
• indie
• indie rock
• experimental music
• indie films
• diy music
• experimental art
• undeground music

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: My (Geffen Records version) CD of Sonic Youth's "Bad Moon Rising" is written in my will as to be incinerated with my body when I die. This record has been directly responsible for my spiritual development starting when I was 15. Other than that, I also love Aphex Twin (especially my playlist of tracks from S.A.W. v.II), Chad VanGaalen (or anything he produces, like his surreal record for Women), anything graced by Nick Delffs/Death Songs (whom I have made several records with), Glenn Gould, John Coltrane (esp. "First Meditations"), Silver Mt. Zion, Karl Blau, LAKE, My Bloody Valentine, Noveller, Thollem McDonas, Wendy Carlos, Deerhoof, Moondog, Half Japanese, Akira (classic Anime film) soundtrack, VU, Tonstartssbandht, early Bratmobile, Mika Miko, RAOOUL, Sleater-Kinney ("Call the Doctor," "The Hot Rock," and "The Woods"), Glenn Branca, Laura Marling, Arvo Part, The Band, Bite Size, DEVO, Father Murphy, Grinderman (and really any Nick Cave project), The Jesus Lizard, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, New Order, Julie Doiron, Guided by Voices, Unwound, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Charlemagne Palestine, Terry Riley, Charles Mingus, Old Time Relijun, Galaxie 500, Cat Power, James Brown, US Maple, Zdrastvootie, Throbbing Gristle (that video of their 1980 SF live performance of "Discipline" changed my life), Olympia gang (past and present) of fine musicians (esp. Khaela Maricich, Phil Elverum, and Arrington de Dionyso), Cliff Martinez scores, John Carpenter scores, anything recorded by Rudy van Gelder (who was probably the best music recording engineer of all time), I love Steve Albini's recordings of Low.

Movies: Sex Lies and Videotape (my hands down favorite film), Sherman's March (I'm currently repeatedly rewatching this), Fearless (Peter Weir), Being There, Persona, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Almodóvar's films speak to my fascination with soap opera), Soapdish, Network, A Face In The Crowd, Dr. Strangelove, 12 Monkeys, Orlando (Sally Potter), RW Fassbinder films, Breaking the Waves, D.A.R.Y.L., The Goonies, Big Trouble in Little China, Lost in Translation, Akira, Six Degrees of Separation, Fresh, Flight of the Navigator, The Shawshank Redemption, Thelma and Louise (!), Manufacturing Consent (Noam Chomsky doc), Superman, The Princess Bride, Witches of Eastwick, Naked Gun films, Half Japanese: The Band that Would Be King (this film introduced me to Jad Fair when I was 17, and when I was 30 I got to make a record with him), Blade Runner ("Director's Cut" only, I hate the overly saturated color correction on "The Final Cut"), The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Last Temptation of Christ, Clue, Working Girl, Boyz N the Hood, The Manhattan Project, War Games (there was some coldish/desaturated film stock in the 80's whch was great for nerdy films), I Love You to Death, Before Sunset, Jesus is Magic, Theo & Thea and the 7 Dwarves, Head-On, Capote, Woody Allen movies, Whoopi Goldberg movies, The Russians Are Coming, Cary Grant movies, Heat, Michael Clayton (this is the last film I've seen that seemed to redefine a modern aesthetic), Funny Ha Ha, The Brown Bunny, Ed Wood (the movie)

Television: I don't have cable but I have Netflix and an antenna for my TV. For current broadcast TV I only watch PBS and the France24 news channel. I have the "My So-Called Life," "thirtysomething," and "Kids in the Hall" DVD box sets.

Books: My dad's new book is incredible.

My favorite dancer is Phoebe Osborne and my favorite performance artist is Steph Lister (both in Oakland). My favorite painters are Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gerhard Richter, and Egon Schiele.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've recorded some music which, many years later, I still listen to recreationally several times a week because I haven't heard anything else like it and it elevates me to the highest spiritual state.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Lots of stories about the music scenes I've been in. I've lived in a dozen cities.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, United States