I began playing drums at age 12 and trained in classical percussion in high school and university. I started singing in my early 20's. My first professional band was Ligeia, after the seminal Ottawa, Canada band Evil Sinner. The band members of Ligeia included Al Clermont on guitar, later succeeded by Al Levy, John Bates on vocals and Dave Scott on bass. Both Bates and Scott were former members of Annihilator, and Ligeia released a four song demo in 1986 and a two song demo in 1988.

In 1990, John Bates (aka Big John Bates) and myself formed Bates Motel with Brad Ericksson on bass and Marc Beaudoin on guitar. The band played a blend of Metal, Hard Rock, Punk, and Goth. A gig poster offended feminists in Ottawa, Canada and caused an outrage - a poster featuring the artwork of the Marquis de Sade. Bates Motel received attention from the media wishing to capitalize on the controversy. The band's reputation became even more notorious than before. Bates Motel recorded many demos and independent cassettes before breaking up in 1992. The band started a new lineup in Vancouver, releasing the "T.O.O.M." CD, and eventually developed into Big John Bates' eponymous act which he continues to play with today (2018).

I became versed in many different genres such as classical, folk, and jazz percussion. This expansion of my musical skills helped me to land the drumming spot in Infernal Majesty. Their type of music was very complex and therefore it was extremely challenging for me to play. By 2001 I had left Infernal and resumed my own band, Violent Christ. Not only was I the founder of Violent Christ, I was also featured as lead vocalist, on drums, and audio engineer. After Violent Christ broke up, I started my new band Vile Ent, in 2009. My music production skills were much improved by this time. It is from this body of work that I continue to develop.

A spin off from my band Vile Ent spawned my webzine Vile Views which was founded in 2015. It includes album reviews and interviews by yours truly credited by my stage name Vile Ent. The music reviews are mostly Metal.

In 2014 I joined Witchsnake as vocalist. Witchsnake was recorded while improvising songs live off the floor, as opposed to engaging in lengthy production and writing processes.The approach was almost writing songs on the spot. The result was the digital and cassette releases "Witchsnake" (2014) and "Act II" (2015).

Vile Ent continues to the present day and will soon release the song "Deceived" which features Harry Harrison on guitar, a NWOBHM legend (Witchfynde, Savage, Night Vision, as lead vocalist). More projects are planned under the MacSkimming banner in the near future.