Q: Who are your musical influences?
  Bobby McFerrin, Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry),  Lisa Gerrard, Yma Sumac, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Claude Debussy, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Sting, The Story, Ferron, Bulgarian women’s choirs, Tuvan groups, East Indian classical…

 Q: Who were your favorites when you were a teenager?
  Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Yes, Little Feat, Genesis (early), David Bowie, John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Todd Rundgren, Jan Hammer, Chick Corea…

 Q: What other interests do you have besides music?
  Gourmet cooking, computers, traveling, reading (non-fiction), rituals. I used to be a clothing and accessory designer, but gave it up completely in /07.

 Q: What kind of childhood did you have?
  I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies with no one my age around to hang out with. I went to a one-room schoolhouse, the only one in my grade. No competition! Consequently I spent a lot of time roaming the countryside daydreaming. I think it made me an independent person with an adventurous streak.

 Q: What countries have you been to?
  Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bali, Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan (lived there for 4 years), Russia (Republic of Tuva), England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Greece, Crete, Czech Republic, Albania, all over USA

 Q: What is your approach to songwriting?
  I tend to use a Rhodes piano sound, finding it inspirational. In my earlier das I was very technologically inclined with all the new keyboards that came out, and I would make use of a variety of sounds.

  For the lyrically based stuff, the music and melody usually come at the same time. I’ll open my mouth and something will fall out (hopefully not drool), usually phonetically pleasing at first, which will evolve into a catch phrase. This could be a subject that’s been percolating sub-consciously for a while. If I’m lucky, a verse and/or a chorus will appear right away. It’s rare that the whole thing is finished in one sitting. After that it can be a chore. It’s easy for me to spew out a whole pile of incomplete ditties in quick succession. After a while, I can see how some of them fit together like jigsaw pieces.

  As for the imaginary language stuff, ('vocables'), I like to start out with a percussion track from various sources. It could also be an interesting finger-picking guitar pattern, or almost any ethnic instrument that is new to me. Then I might add keyboards for a basic progression or another rhythmic pattern. I’ll record several layers of improvised vocals, in groups of textural similarities. There might be overtoning parts or variations. Generally I like to think in terms of using the voice as an instrument.

In 2007 I began to experiment with live vocal looping using Ableton Live software. These types of compositions are semi-structured and allow for a lot of improvisation and variation for live performance situations.

Another recent development is writing for overtone choirs, which is a rare and specialized new discipline globally. I belong to two overtone choirs in Europe (European Overtone Choir and Spektrum) where these pieces may be worked out.