For as long as I can remember I've had a love of music. I began playing the saxophone in band when I was in fifth grade but found myself fascinated with the drums. In seventh grade I was given the chance to play a drum set on instrument switch day and found that I could play a basic beat relatively well just from watching and copying the drummers in class. This was the deciding factor for me and somehow talked my parents into buying me a drum set. I continued playing saxophone in school through my senior year, but my real love was playing the drums.
I have been playing the drums for about 13 years now and have been in a few different bands. Until college, however, my musical endeavors were very limited. During my second semester here at BYU-Idaho I moved in with some guys that wanted to start a band that lasted for almost two years and included a recorded full length album and shows all around the southeast Idaho area. We called ourselves The Final Element and had some great experiences, but as with all things it couldn't last forever. After the demise of that band I joined another couple of guys and began playing with them under the name The Climbing. What set this band apart was the level of talent with its two founders, Jason Call and Steven Biringer. Both men had previously been signed to separate record labels with separate bands, but had met on tour and became close friends when they discovered their mutual membership in the Church. After leaving their bands to serve missions in Peru and California they returned and began The Climbing as a low key project here at BYU-Idaho.
Now, almost two years since we met The Climbing has played countless shows around Idaho and Utah and have opened for acts like Sugar Ray and Sherwood and have also had guest vocals from MXPX, Anberlin, and The Scene Aesthetic on our albums. Music, and more particularly drumming, is a lifelong passion that I will continue doing as long as I'm able to and I hope that I can continue to grow as a musician and share my music with anyone who will listen.
I consider myself relatively experienced in the world of web design. That said, I can't say that I've learned an immense quantity of information, but I have taken away a few things that I feel will help me in the future.
One thing I learned that was very valuable was how to use the image replacement technique in order to have picture on a site that still function as plaintext for better accessibility to those online who may be sight impaired. I also learned more HTML5 elements and feel that I have a greater grasp on HTML5 that will help me as the world moves to this standard. These coding practices have helped me in my education and will be a benefit to me as I enter the workforce and have greater knowledge and understanding of how these principles function.
