Tell us a bit about yourself?
6 years at EY in the UX/DX group. I've been simplifying user experience for a long time.Now a UX/Content Strategy director in USQ.
Prior to EY you had several interesting jobs, such as a chef and raging war against amphibians, what is something you learned from one of your previous positions that you apply to your position now at EY?
As a chef (a sous-chef actually—I wasn’t the big kahuna) I learned that in a professional setting, the opportunity for creative expression comes only after a mastery of fundamentals. You have to know how to make the basics come out right every time before you can bend things to your own will. I think that’s generally true of graphic design, but especially true when trying to make complex concepts and information understandable. Simplicity is hard. Without a good grasp of fundamental rules of alignment, legibility, and hierarchy it’s even harder.
You have quite the commute in to work, what song best describes your ride in?
Jimmy Cliff’s lamentation “Many Rivers to Cross” comes immediately to mind.
“The Passenger” by Iggy Pop (also ably done by Siouxie and the Banshees) captures the usual drone pretty well: “I ride and I ride.”
And “Little Red Light” off the Welcome Interstate Managers album by Fountains of Wayne actually has a lyric about being stuck in traffic on the Tappan Zee: “New York to Nyack feels like a hundred miles.”
Your son wrapped up his radio show earlier this year, any chance he is helping you with this playlist?
No, not this time. We share some musical tastes, but not all. I was very proud when he dedicated part of his last show to his parents. He played some tunes he knows I like, introducing a song from the album 801 Live as something “my Dad says is the best live rock album ever.” Then he had to add “but I don’t agree with him.” He tends to think the pieces I like last too long
Any hidden musical talents?
Very hidden. Indiscernible even. Genetically there’s something there. I’ve got siblings and cousins who are musicians. My brother is the principle tubist for the Virginia Symphony. My younger son (not the DJ) is on his way to a music career. He’s played the violin and viola since he was 4 years old, and is now in his first year at the Cleveland Institute of Music—he’s also got mad sight-reading skills. I might be able to claim some shared ancestry with Canadian violinist Angèle Dubeau. But none of those genes expressed themselves in me. I tried to sing in church, and old ladies in the pews in front of me turned around to see what was making that noise. About the only instrument I can play is iTunes.
Personal plug: Any outside personal projects you are working on that you can share with us?
I have been on the board of The Nyack Center, a local not-for-profit that has before-school breakfast and after-school homework and activities groups to provide low- to no-cost childcare and educational support for low-income working families in our local school system. I still help them out with some communications.
I also do design work for The Sidney Hillman Foundation. They are dedicated to promoting progressive, pro-labor journalism primarily through moderated panel discussions and annual awards. I’ve done some identity work for them, and handle programs, presentations, signage, and such for their award events. I get to flex some otherwise underused design muscles, and get the added benefit of hob-nobbing with some journalist heroes on the judging panel, including Hendrik Hertzberg, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Jelani Cobb, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Other recent projects include replacing the diverter stem in our old three-handled tub/shower, replacing the pop-up drain mechanism in the basin, and the filler valve and tank seal in the toilet. It seems my plumbing planet is in retrograde.
What is something people don’t know about you because the right question hasn’t gotten around to you yet?
I've been simplifying stuff for a long time, including IRS forms, SEC disclosures, FSO statements, and the like, but I'm keen on Chicago Blues which has little or nothing to do with my work.
Favorite concert you’ve been to?
I’ve had the privilege of seeing a few good ones: The Ramones playing an abandoned bowling alley (I’ve got an album signed by all four of them), King Crimson during their Discipline tour, Talking Heads, and Burning Spear. But my all-time favorite was seeing King Sunny Adé at a small club south of Rochester NY. The place was too small to have a stage, so the distinction between the large band and the dancing audience of mostly expatriate Nigerians got kind of blurry. It became more of a multi-hour party with music than a concert.
Favorite band, concert, musical experience?
My fav's relative to this playlist may be Sonny Boy Williamson, but my favorite concert may have been King Crimson, which is a bit beyond classic blues.
If you had an entrance theme song notifying everyone in the office of your arrival, what would it be?
From a blues perspective, it would be Dust My Broom by Elmore James.
If you had one song to play while people waited for you to pick up the phone, what would it be?
LATEST MIX
Bluesy
From the Mississippi delta to Chicago and beyond, blues is the backbone of American music