FAVORITES

Food: Pizza made East of the Mississippi
Beer: Smithwick's
Soda: Moxie (it's Ted Williams' drink of choice, how can you go wrong?)
Movies: Blackbeard's Ghost, Braveheart, Star Wars (A New Hope)
TV shows: Mad Men, Arrested Development, South Park, The Daily Show
Bands: I've always enjoyed Ben Folds, The Police, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Pink Floyd.  Some of my newer discoveries are The Foo Fighters, Mute Math, The Gorillaz, Nada Surf... boy the list goes on.  I've recently started my Rap and Hip Hop education thanks to my manager Steve, and my sister Anne.  Always interested in new stuff.
Songs: So hard to answer this one.  Right now here's 5 of my favorite songs in no particular order: Stardust (Hoagland Howard Carmichael), Across the Universe (John Lennon), Summertime (George Gershwin) (Louie Armstrong & Etta James version), Everything Means Nothing to Me (Elliott Smith), Sweet Song (Blur)
Sports team: Boston Red Sox... What are you gonna do about it?
Books: The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho), Momo (Michael Ende), Enders Game (Orson Scott Card), The Human Adventure (William McNamara, O.C.D.)
Superhero: I appreciate Superman.  His biggest enemy is expectation... and kryptonite.
Video game: Super Mario Kart 64, Tekken Tag, Rock Band series, GTA series, Left 4 Dead
Shaimus song to play live: Probably Like a Fool.  It's difficult, but when it's locked in, it rocks hhhaaarrddddd.
Shaimus song to listen to: Let Go
Non-music activity: Love to build things... I never got over arts and crafts.  Drawing, sculpting, making videos are some of my favorite visual-arts activities.  I love being active, biking, running, hiking (esp when there are steep inclines and rocks), playing baseball, catching frisbees, doing front flips, climbing trees, burning things with a magnifying glass, wrestling with the waves in the ocean, and just jumping up and down (which can be pretty hard to do in the sand).

If you could get away with one crime scot-free, what would you do?
I've always wanted to steal a cop car.  Traffic would be my bitch.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Flying would be the best superpower imaginable.  I've actually gotten very frustrated that I couldn't fly before.. I almost expect that I can...  I'd rip through the sky at incredible speeds and enjoy the burn of the wind on my skin.  I'd most likely fly naked too.  What could be better than that?

What are your favorite and least favorite things about living in Los Angeles?

Favorite: Best place for BBQs.  There are about 300 beautiful days a year (not to mention we're next to the Pacific Ocean), so I never feel bad if I just want to chill indoors.  Coming from the east coast, it took me a while to develop this attitude. Least favorite: It's a challenge to get anywhere without a car.

If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing right now?
I might be playing a sport... most likely baseball.  In high-school I went to my baseball coach and told him that I was a little concerned that saturday practices would conflict with orchestra rehearsals.  He told me, "Oh, there won't be a conflict," and for a second I thought I might be able to have both be in my life!  My coach quickly followed up with, "you choose one or the other."  It was like I was punched in the stomach.  I handed him my uniform and walked out of the locker-room utterly depressed.  Thinking back I am always happy that I chose music over baseball.  Maybe I was crushed by an intolerant old guy, but I should really be thanking him for making the decision so clear.  Music never rejected me the way sports did, but if I never had music, I believe I would have made sports work.  The discipline, the love for the game, the sheer joy of performing and expressing yourself on a high level with other people are all parallels to the qualities I love most about music.