Q: I didn't know that you are head of recording at Eastern Illinois University. Is that your title there?
A: Audio director and head of recording for the School of Music.

Q: How long have you been there?
A: A year and a half, in our beautiful new building.

Q: The Doudna Fine Arts Center? That's a great building.
A: Isn't it unbelievable? We have lots of technology there. It's really up to date. It's not a conventional studio like here, Pogo Studio. There we have a digital control room in the basement. It's a Pro Tools room that digitally connects to everything else – the performance spaces, the rehearsal spaces – in the building. We can send audio from anywhere in that building to our control room, and we can send signals from our control room to anywhere in the building. It's a wonderful situation, and I'm very happy to be there.

Q: How long have you been teaching audio engineering for Parkland College?
A: Since 1985. They gave me a certificate in recognition of 70 semesters of teaching. This is my 72nd semester of teaching for Parkland here at Pogo, which really makes me feel old. Amazing, isn't it? In 1985, we opened this studio. Some other guys and I had a studio, Faithful Sound, named after a Todd Rundgren song, in an old rundown house in Urbana, from 1980 to '83. That's when we started out. Ever since this studio opened it's been a classroom, and I've been teaching ever since. Now I teach two classes here for Parkland, an introductory and an intermediary course, which is great fun.

Q: How long did you teach at Millikin University?
A: Five years. They have a commercial music program that prepares students to work in the music industry. They teach them recording and music technology and train them in the music business: copyright, publishing, how things work structure-wise and where the money goes. One of the things I did there was bring in guests, whether they be with a recording label or were a rock star, classical musician, inventor, research scientist, songwriter, producer. With people in Los Angeles or New York, we'd talk by phone or computer. I'd take the seniors on field trips, alternating years to either Nashville or Memphis.

Q: How many groups and individuals do you record in a year here at Pogo?
A: It's impossible to say. We do so many different projects, projects that might take an afternoon or extend over a month. It's safe to say I've recorded thousands of individuals and groups here over the years. They're mostly local and regional. I've recorded Alison Krauss, Rascal Flatts and I've done stuff for Fall Out Boy when they were here. I also do the audio recording for the Ellnora Guitar Festival (at Krannert Center).

Q: Do you consider yourself a musician first or a recording engineer first?
A: That's a hard question. If somebody came up to me and said, 'Quick. You have 2 seconds,' I'd say I'm a musician first. That's how I think of myself. Probably the thing I spend most of my time on is being a recording engineer, a producer and an educator.

Q: Are you in any other bands besides Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets?
A: No. I don't have the time. Recently I got to be the guest bassist for the Vertebrats, which was a special thrill because they're just about my favorite group I've ever worked with. Playing with them was probably the way most musicians would feel about getting to play with the Rolling Stones.