Music has always been something that felt natural to me. As long as I can remember, it seems to have always play a role in my day to day life.  Having a bad day, turn on music to cheer me up. Having a good day, turn on music to celebrate. Hanging out with friends, turn on music to create a more friendly environment. Bored at 4th period English class in Middle School? Run a headphone up my sleeve and listen to music to help me get through the class.

Music was always around me as a kid because both of my parents are very musical individuals. My mother, a music teacher and Trumpet player. My father, a music collector and regular concert goer. My earliest exposure to music included bands like The Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago, The Eagles, and many many more.

The summer after 5th grade I had FINALLY found MY music. Upon being given a DVD compilation of "Weird Al" music videos by my father I came across "Smells Like Nirvana" the parody version of the Nirvana classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I loved the over all vibe of the cover SO MUCH that I NEEDED to listen to the original. My dad had me listen to "Nevermind" and my life was changed forever. I had never been drawn into anything like Nirvana did. It was like crack. I COULDN'T stop listening once I had gotten the sound in my head.  Within a couple of months listening to them, I started looking into similar bands and discovered The Melvins, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, just pretty much any band you would consider "90's Grunge" or any sub-form of it, I was listening to. I really just couldn't stop myself. By 6th grade, all I wanted to do was be Kurt Cobain, and so the magic moment came. Christmas 2007, my parents bought me a Peavy Raptor Electric Guitar (strat-style with a humbucker in the bridge position) and a Line 6 Spider IV 15 watt Guitar Amplifier. NOTHING could have brought me more joy than that night because I KNEW I was going to make this shitty little guitar my life. 

I spent the next two years learning just about EVERY Nirvana song ever written. I had gotten really good as sounding like a genuinely awful guitarist, and I LOVED it. By this point, I started looking out a bit more at the "Metal" genera. My primary interests were in bands like Metallica, Korn, Deftones, Slipknot, Rammstein, Tool, pretty much angry, loud, and easy-er to be exposed to. Then came another game-changer of a day when my mother had gotten myself and my long time family friend Brandon tickets to the 2009 Mayhem Festival. This was my first time ever being exposed to the more "Extreme" styles of metal. That year I witnessed bands like Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, White Chapel, Job For A Cowboy, ext ext just absolutely DESTROY. That show LITERALLY changed my life forever because the day after I IMMEDIATELY started listening to more extreme metal styles/bands and REALLY started working on bettering my guitar technique to be able to play these styles of music.

Over the next 3 years I worked my ASS OFF to get better at this music style. My metal-rhythm playing could stand up against any professional. Rock solid and ready. It was during this time that I started to realize that I wanted more out of this music than just being able to play other bands songs. I wanted to write materials for my own band. By sophomore year of high school I had created enough original music to form my own band, but was having NO LUCK with finding anyone local to me to be able to get this music off the ground. It was then that my mother put out a Craig's list add for me, and after a couple of phone calls/meet ups I was finally put in contact with my "Bulgarian Brother", my life long death metal musical partner, drummer Konstantin Dermandjiev. Konstantin and myself started the death metal band "Hate Storm Annihilation" in the spring of 2012. After some local gigging we got on our first European Tour in support of Bloodsoaked for the "Rotting In Europe 2013 Tour". Very briefly after that, we were then back out again in support of Six Feet Under for the  "Christmas in Hell 2013 Tour". Things were moving FAST and it REALLY taught me to grow up just as fast. I was 17 touring Europe. Germany, Poland, Czech, the Netherlands, ext ext. It was really just EVERYTHING I could have ever wanted. And I knew in order to be taken seriously by these 30-50 year olds I REALLY had to make sure I was bringing my "A Game" EVERY night. Be as professional as possible. And really just be ready for everything.

In 2013 we also went out to Mana Studios to record out 2014 full length release "Storm of Flames". This was the ULTIMATE achievement to me. As much as I LOVE going out on the road and playing shows, nothing brings me as much joy as writing/composing does, so to have my own music in physical copy to be able to listen to was just one of the greatest achievements imaginable. The record went on to get multiple publications in various metal magazines and was very highly praised amongst metal audiences (that knew about us, at least haha).

Over the next few years HSA went back out on multiple tours, this time touring state side. Very different then Europe. Not even close to being the same thing in that we were now traveling in vans as opposed to buses, a real bed was rarely a possibility, showering was happening a lot less, and all of the traveling was reliant on the band members. No bus driver or anything like that. The experience was rough, but VERY enjoyable. Every show felt like such an achievement because we were visiting places all over the United States we had never been before and it took SO MUCH blood, sweat, and tears to get there. We had a great time and really did feel like these US runs were our "final tests", so to speak. We were ready for more.

In 2015 I began attending "Columbia College of Chicago" as I began feeling like I wasn't going anywhere with my  musical abilities and I felt that getting a real musical education would help get me out of this rut. I went for the school for 2 semesters and then decided it just wasn't for me. I had a lot of problems with the staff/administration there, and just felt like I needed to be somewhere "better" so to speak.

In 2016 I applied and was accepted to "Berklee College of Music". This was another one of those BIG moments for me as I saw a lot of what Berklee had to offer as a kind of "doorway" forward. I am currently studying there and will be graduating in the Spring of 2019.

Pushing forward to late 2016 I met my "Californian Brother" Spencer Metella. Spencer would soon be asked to join Hate Storm Annihilation on Bass Guitar (as this was a position we had been struggling to keep for a VERY long time). Spencer was the perfect specimen to join our trio of lunatics. In January of 2017 we went to "Gravity Studios" to record our second full length record "Following the Path to Eternal Fire". This record is still since un-released as we're waiting for the right label. HOPEFULLY soon.

In 2016 I also started pre-production work on my long over-due solo side project "The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors". The intent was to take everything that I loved about 90's Alternative Music but blend it with 70's Prog style composition techniques.

In the summer of 2017 I went back to "Gravity Studios" to record this record with the help of my "Puerto Rican Brother in odd-meter crime" William Candelario on drums. My first non-death metal release. VERY VERY exciting. The record came out AMAZING and was          released on 4/20 2018. The title: A Humanistic Perspective.

In 2022 The MU-TH-UR EP was an Earth Day release via Massacre Records In addition, the double CD., A Clock Without A Craftsman, was release in August of 2023 via Massacre Records..

If you've read this far, GOOD FOR YOU! I appreciate your interest in me! I'll be updating this Bio from time to time just to try and keep as accurate of a timeline as humanly possible.

Have a good one!